Some Want to Watch the World Burn?

In the 1980s I was Action Coordinator for the Central America Response Network. We were a small group of very dedicated volunteers who worked to stop Reagan’s terror campaign of rape, torture and murder in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. We did direct aid to the victims, public education, political lobbying, organizing rallies and protests as well as cultural events.

One of our recurring events: bringing former CIA officials to speak about the terror and disinformation operations that they witnessed and/or participated in.

Those events were very popular, including overflow crowds at UCSB Campbell Hall and the Victoria Street Theater.

At the end of these events, we would announce our pending meetings and invite people to get involved to help put an end to these atrocities. Yet we rarely had anyone new come to a meeting. I could not grasp how a thousand or more people could come to such an event and listen very attentively. Yet they had no interest in doing anything to stop the horror.

After years of this, I had an awful realization: They were not coming to get informed and motivated to act to make the world a more humane and peaceful place. They were coming to listen to how everything was going to hell and enjoying having a front row seat to the spectacle.

This may be obvious to you, dear reader. But I was very slow to grasp this.

I was reminded of this, reading a New York Times article this week by Michelle Goldberg: “The Trump Shooter and the Growing Nihilism of Young Men”. She quoted a line in the 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

We used to have political debates about policies and issues. But the Trump era seems to be a personality cult rather than about any issues. We know little about the young man who shot Trump. He was a registered Republican. Those who knew him said he was not especially political, but the views he expressed were clearly to the right.

Goldberg expressed it this way: “Though details remain sparse, this appears to be a story less about fanatical partisanship than about the crisis of lonely and disconnected young men being radicalized into pure nihilism.”

She went on to say, “The reporting that has emerged so far describes him as an outcast, not an activist.” In high school he apparently had a passion for gun culture and was bullied. He had tried to join a rifle team, but he was rejected for being a bad shot. When he was killed after shooting Trump, he was wearing a “Demolition Ranch” t-shirt. Demolition Ranch is a meeting place for gun fanatics.

Goldberg cites researcher Jacob Ware, who wrote a report “The Third Generation of Online Extremism.” Ware wrote, “Not only are organizations less important; ideologies are less important.” Instead, these individuals are driven by chat rooms where they whip up a sense of impending doom.

Many of these individuals are “Incels.” Young men who are “involuntarily celibate” because they can’t find female companions. They talk about “Going ER.” A reference to Elliot Rodger, who committed mass murder right here in Isla Vista. A suicidal, homicidal rage to express their frustration.

Goldberg quotes journalist Elle Reeve: “If the present reality is corrupt and dying, then you are no longer bound by its moral and ethical restraints.” These people feel liberated by this sense of impending apocalypse.

It is ironic that someone with this view tried to assassinate Trump. Trump is exactly such a person himself and attracts such people. A Trump-supporting Facebook friend of mine posted “We are Nineveh, hopefully.” These people are not ideologically right wing. They are enraged by Biden because he believes there can be a better future if we work together to make it happen.

It is worth noting that Reagan also believed he would preside over Armageddon. How easy it would be to wait for a glorious apocalypse and ascend to an imaginary heaven. Some of us would rather build a better world here on Earth. That is the real struggle we face.