re: Charlie Kirk Assassinated at Utah Valley University

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4.0 gpa and over 30 on his ACT. Which over the years I’ve learned means nothing when it comes to the real world. Some of the smartest people I know can’t function in the real world.

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The crisis for lots of modern societies is what to do with young men who feel alienated from the world around them. I forget who said it, but the transition from childhood to adulthood can feel like a 'death.' There were some traditional societies that had 'coming-of-age' ceremonies and the US still has lots of avenues for young people, especially through the military, that could theoretically function as 'coming-of-age' but it really isn't a new problem.

To give a basis of comparison, the 'fin de siecle' period in Europe (which started in France but now generally describes the pre-WWI mood) had men believing the world was crumbling around them, that the end result of the rapid industrialization was both decadence and decay, and had them seeking out alternative ideologies for what they argued was a failed world. The forbearers of fascism fomented in this era, but the reaction to ever increasing industrialization also resulted in the desire to start over again, which would be exemplified by the modernists, who after the 1st WW wanted to recreate the world from the ashes of the old.

I think the contradiction between the internal pessimism of the individual and the decadence of the era was summed up nicely by Octave Mirbeaau's book The Torture Garden, where he said:

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“You’re obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That’s the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world.”

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While I think this is a nice description of that era, and I encourage everyone to read about that era for themselves (especially The Dreyfus Affair by Piers Paul Read), I think we might be at a similar crossroads now. Arguably, alienation from one's surroundings was also a massive theme of Jihadist literature of the past 20 years or so, which I think adds to my suggestion that alienation is an underrated them psychological explanation for a peculiar crisis of modernity. When young people who are particularly energetic have no avenue for their energy, or feel all the new frontiers may be closed to them, I think it can create a desire to search for structure.

I feel like one of the most common themes of American life is to see a talented person who has excelled in school but never finds their footing in adulthood. Either they lose themselves to drugs or some other vice. I knew several people like this growing up, incredibly talented, bright people who set out to make some sort of difference in the world, but could never figure out how. While searching for meaning, they got sidetracked on something else and then lost that brightness that drove their talent. In such a situation, I can easily imagine wanting to lash out at any figure from whom they can gain definition. I don't know what this guy's relationship was with Kirk, but if he was so moved to define some aspect of his relationship with the world as diametrically opposed to what Kirk may or may not have stood for, that might serve as psychological motivation.

Or he could just be a crazy person. But hearing about parts of his upbringing bring to mind many friends I once knew and now I don't who were incredibly talented people who could never find their own way. That situation might as well be the new American tragedy if it is indeed as common in other people's lives as it is/was in mine.

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Yeah, like I follow both Fuentes and Zohran Mamdani on Twitter, and I disagree with them nearly 100%, but I am curious about what they are thinking.

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Thats commendable.

I dont avoid leftist material, just the obvious propaganda. If someone is rational in their approach I will listen.

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Jordan Peterson beats this drum all the time in that the education system is largely run by women and suited for women. It's ill suited for a certain segment of males with certain personality traits. So they go through this 12, 16, 18 year crucible in the education system only to get out and flounder because it has little application or value to the real world.

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It's tough because a lot of that describes me. I was a socially stunted smart kid, that dealt with a lot of isolation in my life due to a skin condition. I was so angry as a kid and young man, didn't really understand women and why nobody wanted to date me. I somehow never fully gave in to the nihilism, but quite frankly it's something I still fight today. Nihilism, much like communism, is a social contagion that only leads to destruction.

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this isn’t uncommon knowledge at this point, but it’s worth noting how into irony/post irony this generation is, in addition to the nihilism, and how that can make their digital footprint extremely difficult to decipher for normal people

I am a sucker for relating everything to history. It's probably a coping mechanism I developed in my own knucklehead youth.

But also, I am definitely not the first to suggest we might have a crisis of related to how we handle young people. Even further, I do wonder whether we do a good job of talent allocation. Hopefully I am wrong though. My solution would be to return to the classical form of education in some respects, especially in light of how prevalent social media is. This might sound idiotic, but having access to the wealth of literature which dealt with eternal themes of youth as well as showing kids that they aren't the first to struggle in the transition between childhood and adulthood should be a net societal good, especially when it doesn't seem like young people read anymore. Hell, it doesn't seem like anyone reads anymore.

FWIW, from The Guardian

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Suspect's high school friend says Robinson was the only 'leftist' in a family of 'very hard' Republicans
Anna Betts
Anna Betts
In a phone interview on Friday, one of Tyler Robinson’s high school friends, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the suspect was “pretty left on everything” and was “the only member of his family that was really leftist”.

“The rest of his family was very hard Republican,” the friend said.

Around sophomore year, the friend said, Robinson became more extreme in his political views and would “always just be ranting and arguing about them”.

The friend said that they played video games together a lot in high school and noted that the bullet engraving with the arrows was a reference to Helldivers 2 – which we mentioned earlier. He said that the arrows specifically were in reference to “calling in a big bomb that exists” in the game “called the 500 kilogram”.

When the friend saw the news on Friday, he said that he was shocked. “I knew he [Robinson] had strong political views, but I never thought it would even go near that far.”

The friend said that he has not spoken to Robinson in years and began to drift apart toward the end of high school. Another high school classmate separately told the Guardian that the friend and Robinson were close in school and would play video games.

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LATEST: The father of the 22-year-old charged in the Charlie Kirk killing saw the photos released by authorities and confronted his son, law enforcement sources told @CBSNews
. Robinson admitted to his dad that he was the person in the photos. His father urged him to turn himself in, but the son said he'd rather commit suicide, the sources said. The father called a pastor who knows the son; the pastor called the US Marshals and other law enforcement agencies. Tyler Robinson is being held on aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, felony discharge of a firearm.
CBS reports he is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. He briefly attended Utah State University. The father owns a business installing kitchen countertops and cabinets; his mother is a licensed social worker. The Robinsons are Mormon and active in the church. Tyler is the oldest of three.

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It's ill suited for a certain segment of males with certain personality traits.

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I mean, the easy option is to go the martial route and join the military. But I think Peterson is probably right about modern education being a system suited for women. I do on occasion meet high schoolers who I can tell are lost and hungry for the structure men seem better suited to provide. I feel bad for them because there is nothing I can do for them. The best I could probably do is to coach a sport or something.