Good-Bye, Charlie

May the World Finally See YOU

Warning: This is me writing from my heart, unedited and raw. It may not be polished, but it’s honest. Later, I’ll rework this into something that fits more cleanly into Opulence Vision. For now, I just need to share. There will be a second part to this - I wrote a whole thing, but I will break this up in 2 pieces, and let this post just honour the man that passed.

This was never meant to be a political or religious site - I never wanted to bring politics into this space because I admit, it's not my thing, and it can get messy. This was meant to be a page about evolution, about finding your passion, and about reaching your highest potential. But there is something in my soul that needs to say something about Charlie Kirk, because as I've been reviewing as many videos I can of him since his passing, just so I can find the person that everyone is hating on, I have come to realize that Charlie has a lot of values in common with myself, and the mission he was on is very much in line with what I'm trying to do on here as well, we just have different verbiage that we're using. Maybe he wasn't a perfect person, maybe he did say things that rubbed people the wrong way, maybe he was wrong about some things, but as I watched him, all the footage I've seen of him, he really just wanted everyone to reach their potential - to him, the way to prosperity was to find work that is meaningful, find a partner and love them with all that you have, and have children that will continue your legacy. He wanted that for everyone.

Before last week, I was familliar with Charlie Kirk - for whatever reason, his debates at college campuses was constantly in my algorithm. If I'm going to be completely honest, I watched with an open-mind, and agreed with stuff he would say, but I would still immediately dismiss him or think he's a bad person because I was conditioned to believe that he wasn't someone I should associate with.

And then he died last week, assassinated in cold blood for all of us to see on our phones; truthfully, when I watched it, I got the exact same feeling I had when the Twin Towers were hit on 9/11/01 (which is strange because he was assassinated the day before 9/11). It's that feeling that something is deeply wrong and nothing will ever be the same. Because when they put a hit on Charlie Kirk, they put a hit on our democracy in these "free nations". It sent a message that if you don't agree with something and say it out loud, your life is now fair game. Charlie knew this, and he put himself out there anyways because he was fighting for what he believed was right.

What was even worse than watching that man get shot in the neck and have his blood spill out every which way, was the immediate reaction of people online, cheering, celebrating, mocking, and even justifying his assassination. I'm gonna be real honest right now: the way I felt about seeing all of those reactions, even those that were just justifying his death while posting cherry-picked quotes to vilify him, is the exact feeling I get when I watch people from Isreal and IDF soldiers, cheer for the death of Palestinians and laugh about it. It's the same energy. And it's disgusting.

How did we get here in our timeline—where we’ve become so desensitized to death that we can cheer for someone being shot right in front of us? A man who, to those in his life, was a good person—a devoted husband, a loving father. Someone most people never truly listened to, yet were conditioned to believe was dangerous.

And now, by justifying his death with out-of-context soundbites, I have to ask: where is the line? If someone says something we don’t like, does that mean their life no longer matters?

Do words now justify killing?

Here are some clips to help shed light on the man that I've been listening to since his public execution. The first is to show the context of the most viral soundbite, of him saying he doesn't believe in empathy, because my friends, CONTEXT MATTERS:

He was simply saying he didn't believe in the concept of empathy because it suggests that you understand what a person is feeling, and it's impossible to to know what a person is feeling because you're not living in their shoes. Sympathy, on the other hand, is when you feel for someone, and that's what he prefers. This is the soundbite that caused THOUSANDS of people online laughing and saying he doesn't deserve any empathy from anyone.

There was another quote of his that went viral: "If I see a Black pilot, I'm gonna be like, "Boy, I hope he's qualified."

Sounds pretty damaging right? Here's more dialogue to get the full picture:

KOLVET: We've all been in the back of a plane when the turbulence hits or when you're flying through a storm and you're like, "I'm so glad I saw the guy with the right stuff and the square jaw get into the cockpit before we took off. And I feel better now, thinking about that." 

KIRK: You wanna go thought crime? I'm sorry, but if I see a Black pilot, I'm gonna be like, "Boy, I hope he's qualified."

KOLVET: But you wouldn't have done that before!

KIRK: That's not an immediate … that's not who I am. That's not what I believe. 

NEFF: It is the reality the left has created. 

KIRK: I want to be as blunt as possible because now I'm connecting two dots. Wait a second, this CEO just said that he's forcing that a white qualified guy is not gonna get the job. So I see this guy, he might be a nice person and I say, "Boy, I hope he's not a Harvard-style affirmative-action student that … landed half of his flight-simulator trials." 

KOLVET: Such a good point. That's so fair. 

KIRK: It also … creates unhealthy thinking patterns. I don't wanna think that way. And no one should, right? … And by the way, then you couple it with the FAA, air-traffic control, they got a bunch of morons and affirmative-action people. 

He was talking about how with Affirmative Action, it makes people wonder if a POC was hired based on merit and their expertise, or if they were chosen to fill a quota. He wasn't saying this in a negative way from what I'm hearing - it's just a thought that others have also had, he's just saying it outloud. Whether or not he is correct in his thinking, it was a truth that he probably shares with other people, and discussions like that need to be explored. As someone that would benefit from Affirmative Action and DEI, I wouldn't want someone thinking that I just got the job because HR needed to fulfill a race or gender quota - I'd want to get that job because I was the right fit for it.

Here is the full video if you want to watch, the exact time stamp for this reference starts at 50:19. Now again, Charlie wasn't the most politically correct person, and he definitely says things that are irritating to some people, but deep down, he still sounds like a good person overall.

Another accusation was that he was a white supremist and racist - here are a couple of clips to show his stance:

I have looked up the organization Blexit, and it looks like they're doing amazing things for the inner-city communities in America. Now, would a white supremist and a racist invest and be a founder of a company based on empowering the Black community? You can read more about it HERE.

When people accused him of being a white supremist, they could never provide any proof or evidence - they just always come up to the mic, fully fired up, ready to call him names, but without anything to back it up. Here is another clip from a college debate:

What I think many people misunderstood about Charlie's approach was that they believed he was denying the lived experience of African American citizens by saying that white priviledge doesn 't exist - what I believe he was trying to do, was to discourage people from having a victim mindset, and instead, help empower indivuals to move beyond what they believe is limiting them. From reading the Blexit website, it sounds like that's what they are trying to do - they are working with the people to help empower them. To me, that has more power than rioting on the streets. Because at the end of the day, all those riots and all the looting that goes unchecked, it's the poor citizens of those neighbourhoods that have to clean it all up and start again. They are the ones suffering from those actions. And those that are destroying the streets and looting stores - they don't grow to be better people from those experiences.

Another accusation was that Charlie Kirk was a homophobe - and again, from watching numerous videos, it doesn't seem that way to me. He was a hardcore Christian, yes, so the Bible tells him that man and woman should be together, but he never treated anyone disrespectfully for their lifestyles. In the clip below he shows this sentiment:

Pretty beautiful, right? To encourage people to see themselves beyond their sexuality and carry themselves accordingly?

As soon as he was assassinated, there was an outpour of celebration, and others justifying his death, as they accused him of hate speech and being a far-right extremist, but here is a clip of him telling off an actual extremist:

I still have yet to see the man that warrants thousands of people to celebrate his death in such a classless and demonic way.

And perhaps he didn't believe in the trans-movement, but he never discriminated against them, or intentionally led anyone to hate them, he simply wished that they took different measures to honour and love the body they were gifted with. He believed that was the path that would lead them to the most satisfaction in life:

Say what you want about Charlie Kirk, but his guy really took the jabs from South Park with so much grace and class - you can tell he was low-key bummed about it, but he still tried to be a good sport. Here's one for all of you Master Debaters:

Before last week, as I've mentioned, I didn't do much research on Charlie Kirk - I've seen some of his stuff, I thought he was smart, but I also still thought he was a bad dude because admittedly, I was brainwashed. And I get it, when he wears that red hat and he supports Trump, the immediate reaction in this political climate is to call him a racist and a fascist and all the other buzzwords these kids are now using willy nilly. But after his assassination, I took an honest look, because I wanted to see for myself, this man that was murdered in front of everyone. And my honest opinion: we lost a great man this week. That was a really big loss for humanity for so many reasons. I shake as I type this, because I don't take this lightly, and I'm really at a lost for words, but I feel it so deeply in my soul.

The knee-jerk reactions of so many people online, and even many people I know, has not just been disappointing...it's been terrifying. Where are these people's souls that they can't just stop and respect that a wife lost her devoted husband, and two very young children will grow up without their father. A man who would've loved that family so much. A man who had values that I wish more people had, because if we did, this world would be such a better place for everyone.

And I get it, there are people all around the world that are losing their lives also, and I have cried for those lives too. I have said this many times already, I haven't been able to go out to parties or to just live normally since October 7th - it affected me more than people understand. But Charlie Kirk's death was a public execution on North American soil, a place where we are still free to exchange our thoughts. It was an execution of a man for just having open debates with college students, and half the population cheered for it. Do you understand how broken society is right now?

So if I've expressed similar opinions, is my life in danger?

I am terrified because there are people out there that are just salivating at the thought of violence, in order to "even the playing field". Young kids calling for the assassinations of other people, propping up figures like Luigi - people that stroke the fires of hate, for those really unhinged to pull the trigger. There is something insidious growing inside of people that believe that violence is the answer - that they will get their way if people have fear inside of them. They don't want to work with the system we have, because these kids believe the system is broken. But the question is: what are they replacing it with?

If you are someone that celebrated or even justified this assassination, especially those that didn't even just do the research before you condenmed him to hell, please take time and reflect on the type of person you are becoming, and how you are influencing others. You don't have to like the man, but at least just give some time to breath and respect his family before you go on and slander his character and what he stood for. Because after watching him speak in many videos, he truly and courageously stood for something - and those that mocked and justified his death showed that they don't stand for anything. Respectfully, I wish you well, and I hope you find peace in your heart, but I truly do not feel safe in your presence or your communities.

If Charlie Kirk felt dangerous to you, maybe it wasn’t because of who he was, but because he challenged a belief you’ve clung to as reality. Perhaps his words unsettled the world you’ve built in your mind—simply by daring to speak his own.

Rest in Peace, Charlie Kirk. I wish I had the chance to have a conversation with you while you were here, but I'm grateful to have the opportunity to hear you speak and to feel your passion. You were a good one. I wish more people will see that in your wake.

This one made me ugly cry for a good long time.