Yes, another post about the climate of “political rhetoric” that at this point is surely unneeded. I’ll make it quick, because it’s something that I have yet to see pointed out.
Personally, for quite some time I’ve been expecting there to be something like Tuscon, and I believe that there will be more incidents like it in the next few years. This is because we’re going through a major societal shift which is generating a lot of conflict about the proper path forward; conflict that isn’t necessarily reconcilable through compromise. In times like these there is always a rise in political violence from all sides, so it’s hardly a shock.
Was the shooter influenced by this political climate, and if so, to what extent? I have no idea and won’t pretend to. But the details of any individual case aren’t necessarily important. I’m too young to have experienced a comparable time (say the 60s-70s) but history shows that some attacks against political leaders are for rational reasons and some for irrational, some by lone wolves and some by conspirators…it’s really a grab bag and motive doesn’t necessarily mean anything to the course of history. How do you compare JFK to RFK?
At the end of the day we don’t have a lot of control over whether the perpetrators carry out their attacks, that’s just life. Fortunately, what matters a lot more is the reaction of everyone else, and this is something that we do have control over and is a direct byproduct of the overall environment of political rhetoric. I obviously have personal sympathy for victims but as long as we have a stable social climate violence will not lead to social disintegration no matter who is hurt, while a poisonous climate can spiral quickly out of control by fostering a widespread breakdown in trust and an increase in tribalism.
To me the question isn’t about whether the climate influenced him to action, but how it influences our social response. On that I have to say that it seems we’re doing quite poorly; which I have been fearing would happen even as it seemed inevitable. But honestly, even when it comes to rhetoric I view it more tragically than feeling the need to condemn because I view our problems as a symptom of a failed paradigm that neither major ideology can address. Until there is something major that we can all work towards as a society, I fear ugliness will continue to increase. I just hope that that “something” isn’t War, which it too often is.