The Ravens Nest

Another Letter To The Left

Let’s come to an understanding right here, right now.

I am talking a specific brand of fuckin’ lame, here. I’m talking about the people who celebrate…specifically celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk.

While not being a fan of his rather ignorant takes on gaming and gamers, my regret only now was not engaging him on certain takes. I’m fairly certain might have shared some ground, however, the way he framed his statements made it read as though his mind was made up. Not exactly the kind of way to attempt opening debate to an embattled group who were undergoing a sustained campaign of slanderous and libelous statements that, oddly enough, continues to this day, though in far smaller and shrinking pockets than ever because that USAID Money is running out. So, obviously not a fan of his but figured, at the time, not every little swing needed my energy. He’s one dude and we have a virtual shit pit on our hands that we are gonna have to clean up but we have to get this constant overcorrection culture nonsense out of our hobbies because that’s what they are, our attempts to kinda step back, refresh and come back in ready to go.

I ruck seven miles a day, five days a week, round trip. Regularly crushing anywhere from 20k to 30k steps per day. Today, played the hell out of some F-Zero, Galaga, Galaxian, MegaManZ, Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Tetris. GameBoy Advance SP.

Oh yeah, it’s old and it still works. Same as the other stuff. I really don’t get a lot of time to sit down and really play as I’d like sometimes. Sometimes, I don’t get to play at all.

Beside the point, those of you, no matter what industry you’re in. You really don’t understand, and I know you’re hearing that so much that your ears and eyes are probably numb as shit to receiving it but you have to grasp the gravity of what is going on here.

As many problems as I’ve had with some of his statements, I can say that, doomscrolling YouTube shorts at times, I’d come across his videos and even saw some longer-form content. I didn’t have to like him but I certainly respected him and, had I met him in person and he just asked me my opinions on gaming, I could have happily and concisely pointed out the many benefits of gaming and some sensible means of educating parents. Anything done in a healthy manner isn’t a bad thing. Overindulgence is always going to have suboptimal outcomes eventually, on that, I can agree with him and there’s more common ground than not but I certainly respected what he did.

Here’s the thing, you have had Anita Sarkeesian giving a world tour, grifting off of gamers. I don’t think they’ve faced a Q&A without screeners and handlers in their lives. I really don’t think that her or her ilk ever faced or would address civil criticisms without screaming behind their Invisible, Impenetrable Shield Wall of Buzzwords. They could cut off interviews if the slightest criticism were ever entertained and that’s why Charlie Kirk has my respect. Always has. I don’t have to like him but I do have to share this existence with him and I’ve never seen him as a threat and you know that we have a definite difference in theology. I mean there’s a difference of opinion there. I don’t want to convert the guy. I’m sure he’d prefer if I did. He can prefer. It’s fine. As long as it stopped there, pretty sure I can share a neighborhood with the guy. Pretty sure he’d be alright in my book in other ways. Certainly didn’t come across as a threat to me so, nothing to worry about.

Aside from that, I’ve watched what was claimed to have been said versus what was said in full context and there are some issues, minor things with which I take umbridge but now that I’d like to ask him some clarifying statements, you seem to celebrate that the decision was now made for me that I should not ask him those questions which may suit to expose weaknesses in his argument as much as they may provide further evidence to his point and perhaps clarify, specify and fully substantiate what was said and what was meant and that I should not receive a direct answer to those questions.

If you celebrate that. Get lost. Seriously. People I know, love, care about don’t do that. Yanno what? You have truly lost the plot here. Suddenly, the party crying about “Separation of Families” couldn’t give a fuck less about that statement, could they?

Charlie Kirk defended the Second Amendment. Rightfully so. He understood what that meant. Every single one of us that defends it does. It means that yeah, we could find ourselves at the end of someone’s knife on public transit or in someone’s crosshairs trying to send a message that they’re the moral arbiter and thou shalt not hear this. That message was clear; Silence!

Charlie Kirk went out there and endured some serious slings and arrows. Wasn’t a fan but wasn’t opposed to him. Mad respect always. Did it pretty well and looked to me like he was having fun doing it.

Charlie was the nice guy. He was the one guy who would let you put your obnoxious peacocking on full display and then…talk. That’s literally all that he did, he just talked. He made sense, more often than not, stated some solid facts. Everyone said that he was cool under pressure but from every video of him I’ve seen, he looks like he’s having the time of his life. Yes, he championed free speech. He would let you state whatever you wanted to state to him and then he’d respond, discuss, ask questions, etc and move on to the next person. Literally shared his platform with anyone who wanted to. Anyone. Including you. Including the person who killed him. You’re celebrating that murder. You really shouldn’t be and not just for the sake of being polite and decent, dare I say, civilized but because showing some solidarity in condemning the violence, standing against it which might have gone a long way in the longer term to perhaps actually turning the temperature down, you went full Insanity Wolf and turned that fucker up to 11 and pulled the knob from the mounted potentiometer. What comes next will be nothing in the least to celebrate. Not for you. Not for anyone.

You dug up tweets, posts, videos and whatever you could compile for a kangaroo court of public opinion and no path to redemption was ever there, let’s face it. It became a religion and anyone unwilling to either be manipulated into a state of constant anxiety if they hadn’t already been bankrupted, destroyed socially and occupationally and almost without consequence until they were exposed by their own words. Time and again, the means of crushing someone with or without merit came and the hits never stopped coming. Even if you weren’t one of the specifically targeted groups, at best you were a useful idiot, deferring to the term putting the word “ally” in it’s place only to find that it became a beautiful euphemism for what you were to them all along: expendable. Think of that for a second. At best, you might have bought yourself a few more minutes in the walled garden there. Eventually even you weren’t pure enough to keep. They were eating their own seven years back and now look at it, right there on the Severely Endangered list. Nice. And it’s your own fault.

Celebrating his death, that’s where we part ways because, to me, that means you’re telling me to shut up or face death. Without even thinking about it, fuck no. Eat an entire buffet of dicks. My takeaway from Charlie’s murder? Talk. Whether they like it or not. Here’s the thing. I’m not scared of you. Not at all. You killed one of us. You created millions more. Not just here but around the world as well. No one is shutting up now. It’s about to get a whole lot louder.

Look, I don’t care how you voted, okay? You lost, obviously but you celebrated a premeditated murder over words. You are uncivilized. You got me all kinds of fucked up if you think that I think that those with whom I severely disagree should die. Look, if Anita Sarkeesian suddenly died from a freak illness, I’d light the candle on the altar for her, same as I would Charlie because she might have made me roll my eyes so hard I saw my brain but she’s a human being with a family and I’m not a straight up ghoul. You are. You celebrate total obliteration of everyone who doesn’t think like you and you fail to understand that you are pushing to make that a rule of the game while you are crying about people who are celebrating publicly, in real time, getting fired. They’re also spreading misinformation about him as well. Misinformation that has been debunked by people with 30 seconds and a Google Search burning holes in the tips of their thumbs.

That rule…Covid…Subsection Three. Weren’t you shutting down discourse literally every where you could and celebrating getting people fired from their jobs for not taking the shot? Yeah, spare us the tears. You’re now, verifiably spreading misinformation and making defamatory and libelous statements. Like are you guys just hoping that repetition of the Wall of Buzzwords still works? Is that what’s taking place? It doesn’t. Your limit on use has been up.

That’s when Nick Freitas made it all make sense and others warned of it too. The Wall of Buzzwords was not there to protect you from criticism, it was to brainwash yourself into believing that we were anything less than human and thus born bound for Hell and by disposing of us, that makes you the good guy. You must understand that the further you push, the more backlash you can expect. In my spirituality we have a sort of fuck around and find out stanza that informs our behavior and it is the following:

“Where you see evil, call it evil

and make no truces with your enemies…”

-Havamal, Stanza 127.

That is what I’m calling you. To your face. You are evil and honestly, the only way for me to believe that you’re possibly bordering irredeemable is if you have the same murderous desires that you share with the killer, it’s one that I, myself, cannot associate with and won’t. I think at this point, you are incapable of living in a civilized society. Yeah, all it takes is one dumb fuckin’ post online to fuck your entire world up, ain’t it? That is a rule you weaponized. If you own a business, I hope we weren’t doing business before for your sake because we won’t after this, for every firing, adios! I don’t feel a thing for you. Nothing. Erika can’t get another Charlie. Those two adorable kids won’t have Daddy around anymore. You can get another job. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Only now would you disgustingly attempt to mock free speech with such a short memory, let’s list those greatest hits, shall we?

1. Freedom of Speech Does Not Mean Freedom From Consequences!

2. Freedom of Speech Does Not Mean Freedom of Reach!

3. Freedom of Speech is Violence!

4. Freedom of Speech is White Supremacist!

5. Free Speech Is Fascist!

and oh, so many more but why only the one E.P.? Because it’s a repetitive loop. The NPC Meme becomes reality. Repetitive messaging over a long enough period of time, keeping someone in a constant state of terror …what do you think that does to someone?

Listen, I know what I’m about to say is going to sound completely insane but if you’ve ever seen how the inside of a prison works, I assure you, the control of the many by the few has and can be achieved and maintained under a certain set of conditions. If control begins to break down, you start separating the troublemakers from the rest. Message is clear. Fuck with me, face exile. You find out pretty quick where the tyrant is. There’s more than one way to isolate someone, isn’t there?

Problem. The word is out. You thought you were safe but you are not safe, not even fucking close. We kinda thought we made ourselves clear with the responses to the people who publicly celebrated President Trump being shot. We Elected Him. There’s a map with a lotta red, I’ve shown it before. That group of exiles got together and made a firm statement in a peaceful and effective response. You respond by celebrating the death and destruction the policies you back cause and be damned if you’re not leveraging that into the next crisis.

I’m also not blanket bashing trans people. Firm believer that this is all on the individual and that individual has been identified, arrested and is now in custody. There will be a trial and we’ll see whether that comes out guilty or not guilty. If convicted, well, let’s say it’s a good thing it’s not me in charge of sentencing. If found not guilty because of some measure of reasonable doubt, well that’s gonna be a problem because that’s a killer I want brought to justice, same as I would for anyone else. Now, here’s where it’s gonna get uncomfortable.

Is it the media’s brainwashing or is it the shooter solely at fault? I’m going to go with the shooter and constant bombardment of messaging like that fear porn-based propaganda that may have served as the instigating factor for motive. Premeditated, I think that goes without saying and if you support that, I don’t care what your reason is, we’re done. I don’t think I care to be around people so threatened by words that they feel a man’s life was forfeit because he had common verbal exchanges in an open forum. I can’t trust you. You’d turn on me in a heartbeat or whenever is convenient, whichever’s first.

You have my word that I’ll still never take part in calling your workplace and canceling you. I know you’d do it to me but I won’t pretend that you haven’t done some of these things to me. Some of it funded with money stolen from my paycheck that I bust ass to earn. Oh no, you’ve set the rules. This is your game. I’ve been giving the warning since The PATRIOT Act that you have to be careful of that which you weaponize because it will be turned on you, eventually.

Now, here it is and you keep wondering how we got here? It’s only a mystery to you now.

…or is it?

No.

Nothing I do, say, have ever done, nor will ever do, no matter how miraculous or world-saving would ever be enough and it takes so little energy for me to do just that…nothing. Nothing at all.

I won’t cancel you but I don’t have to stop your cancelation by others.