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Recently, Charlie Kirk, a well-known American conservative activist, was shot and killed on the podiumHe is a political ally of Trump and a strong supporter of the MAGA camp. The alleged cause for the murder of Charlie Kirk is not satisfied with his hate speech. This incident happened shortly after Trump himself suffered two assassination attempts, marking a new height of U.S. political violence. This makes people think: Why do political differences in the United States rise to identity opposition, and even make political conflicts slide into violence?
My answer to this question is:Under the influence of right-wing populist thinking, differences constitute conflict and conflict leads to violence.The political system of the United States contains elements of conflict, which are reflected in the political differences between the two parties, the competitiveness of the elections and the pluralism of American values.This conflict is amplified unlimited under the influence of today's U.S. far-right thinking, the diversified identity of various groups exceeds the overall national identity, and will see the groups with political differences as the "other" to be confronted. The assassination of Charlie Kork warns us that when identity becomes extremist and exclusive, society will face a serious risk of escalation of violence.
Photo source: United States
Why was Charlie Kirk the murderer? – American Conservative thought is facing a crisis
Charlie Kork was murdered as a result of the assassination of his political claims by using violence against conservative politicians.These arguments mainly include the extreme conservative cultural values, the fanatical defense of gun ownership, etc. In this incident, the violent attack was not only Charlie Kirk himself, but essentially the overall American conservative thought, opposed to the status quo of the American society under Trump leadership, is the reflection of an interest group within the United States against another interest group.
As a conservative media activist and activist, Charlie Cook has succeeded in shaping a distinctive cultural conservatism identity by emphasizing American values.His speeches and actions not only express political views, but continue to strengthen a specific identity. Different groups form their respective identities based on factors such as race, class, geography, educational background, and are often in a state of competition and conflict between them. Political extremists further strengthen the opposition between groups by exploiting these divisions.
Immigration issues, ethnic relations, and debate over cultural values are all manifestations of this identity conflict. White identity politics emerged as an anxious response to demographic changes, while minority movements for equal rights were also challenges to traditional identity orders. In these conflicts, Politicians like Charlie Kork tend to be a symbol of an identity and are therefore likely to be targeted by opposing identity groups.
Photo source: United States
Who is opposed to Charlie Kirk? — American hatred is being constructed and intensified.
The United States is an immigrant country, and the differences of interests among various groups exist from beginning to end.Conservative and liberal differences have long existed in the United States, but these differences must be amplified to conflict or even extreme violence? obviously not.
But the problem in the United States is right here.The imbalance of economic globalization has damaged the interests of the American working class, and the far right wing has taken advantage of it and divided the group into "we" and "them" camps, thus rising to differences into conflicts. Socrates once asked, how can we know who is our friend and who is our enemy? This "enemy" is a dynamic category, and this construction process is hostility and hatred in the psychological dimension, often with irrational characteristics. Anger arises when we find that someone else's thoughts conflict with what we firmly believe in. In the process of political parties fomenting populist sentiments, the sense of identity is aroused. Groups care only about their own interests and do not care about higher levels of common values, and groups that differ from their own interests are alienated to the “other” who need to oppose them.
Since Trump's first presidential campaign began to use incitement to stir up the wave of populism, the differences deep inside American society have been further amplified. Both parties demonize opponents to fight for voters, political differences are labeled, communication channels between interest groups are broken, each other believes their interests are deprived, and the other is the "guilty" of the result, and hatred emotions are constructed and intensified.
Trump's political style can be summarized as "self-priority" under "America first". This logic is not only reflected in unilateralism and the foreign policy of putting American interests above the multilateral system, but also reflected in the United States. Among them, various political groups and identity groups stick to the interests of their respective camps and put Party struggles are put above the overall interests of the country and ultimately erode the foundations of social consensus, providing the soil for the growth of conflict and violence.。
Credit: Reuters
Why use violence to express political demands? – Harmonious coexistence is not the mainstream of American politics
Differences are differences at the level of ideas, conflicts are non-harmful confrontations at the level of behavior, and violence is extreme acts aimed at harming.The United States itself is a country with diverse values. Differences exist widely in American society, and it is often difficult to blend various ideas. Conflicts may be caused by any pursuit of self-interest. When irreconcilable contradictions are intensified, political violence will appear.
Under the bipartisan system in the United States, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party represent the interests of two groups of people. In order to compete for voters' votes, political parties try their best to promote the rationality of their own values, and attack and belittle the policies of the other camp, which invisibly promotes the intensification of conflicts between "liberals" and "conservatives" and the emergence of political violence.
Among the political violence in the United States, the most direct one is the assassination of politicians, especially the assassination of the president. Its motivation often points to the core ideas of the party, the whole national system or the mainstream order. Since the founding of the United States, nine presidents have been assassinated, including Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy.
Image source: Homemade by the author
The cause of the assassination of the President of the United States can be basically divided into two parts: one is the assassin’s personal motives and spiritual issues; the other is political ideology and extremism. The first situation has a stronger chance and uncertainty, while in the second case, The president was seen as a political symbol or embodiment of oppression, and the assassination of the president became a means of opposing oppression and expressing political demands.Violent acts or death threats against other politicians are also mostly due to these reasons.
Why is political violence focused on the present moment? – The United States is in a deep crisis of political polarization
Political violence is often a concentrated expression of American social contradictions and the background of the times.Lincoln's assassination happened just after the Civil War, which was essentially the outbreak of the irreconcilable contradiction between the existence and abolition of slavery. McKinley's assassination occurred in the early 20th century against the background of the sharp widening gap between the rich and the poor in the United States and the global spread of anarchist ideas. In 2024, Trump, as a Republican candidate, suffered two assassinations, coupled with the assassination of Charlie Kirk in 2025, reflecting the current The U.S. is in a complicated period – an exacerbation of social contradictions, identity cracks, and a severe political polarization.
If we go back as a node from the death of Charlie Kirk, we can find such a causal chain: The fundamental contradictions of the capitalist system – economic inequality – identity crisis – political polarization – political violence.The conflict between the socialization of production and the private possession of the means of production in the United States manifests itself as an extreme concentration of wealth.
Economic inequalities have penetrated into the upper building field and turned into political polarization and opposition. Right-wing politicians have sharply captured the economic anxiety and cultural fears of white people at the bottom, cleverly transferring contradictions to cultural issues such as immigration, race, gender. They have created an opposition between “us” and “them” through incitement, simplifying complex socio-economic issues into non-black-and-white cultural wars. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is at a key point in this vicious cycle. As a star figure in the right-wing camp, Kirk was both the product and driver of political polarization.
Source of Image: CNN
How will the future of American political violence develop?
The future trend of political violence in the United States is deeply concerned, and if fundamental issues such as economic inequality, arms spread and political polarization are not addressed, violent incidents are likely to reappear in key political nodes such as the electoral cycle.
The rise of far-right forces is not an isolated American phenomenon, but an integral part of the entire Western political ecological evolution.In view of the support rate of Western far-right parties, this trend is still on the rise and has no signs of stopping, and the structural factors driving political violence are difficult to eliminate in the short term. The deepening of political polarization provides a distorted argument for the legitimacy of violence. American society has evolved into a multi-incompatible community of values, and political differences have shifted from the policy level to the level of identity, The risk of future political violence in the United States is likely to remain high, causing not only social panic, but also ongoing losses to democracy.
Photo source: French News Agency
In the days following Charlie Kirk's assassination, Trump further stepped up his attacks on the radical left, describing Kirk as "a great man from top to bottom" in Truth Social. Rep. Clay Higgins, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said he would "use the power of Congress and all influence over Big Tech platforms to force a lifelong social media ban on anyone who makes comments or posts that" demean "Kirk's death.It can be seen that Trump and some of his political allies reacted violently to the assassination, but These statements and actions do not help to bridge differences, but may deepen suspicion and hatred between liberals and conservatives, further compromising the space for rational dialogue.
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