Guest Post by Caitlin Johnstone
Thought experiment:
Think of an acquaintance of yours. Not someone you’re particularly close to, just some guy in the cast of extras from the scenery of your life. Now, imagine learning that that guy is a serial murderer, who has been prowling the streets for years stabbing people to death. Imagine he goes his whole life without ever suffering any consequences for murdering all those people, and then when he dies, everyone wants to talk about how great he was and share heartwarming anecdotes about him. If you try to bring up the whole serial killing thing, people react with sputtering outrage that you would dare to speak ill of such a noble and wonderful person.
“Look, I didn’t agree with everything he did, but you can’t just let one not-so-great thing from a man’s life eclipse all the other good things he’s accomplished,” they protest. “For example, did you know he was a baseball captain at Yale?”
“But… what about all those people he murdered?” you reply.
“God, why can’t you just pay respect to a great man in our time of mourning??” they shout in exasperation.
Continue reading “If You Murdered A Bunch Of People, Mass Murder Is Your Single Defining Legacy”
