Meme culture poisoned a generation, and only seems to get worse.
By Kyan Feser
Staff Writer
Editorial
“Notices bulge OwO what’s this?”
This message was engraved onto a bullet by Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old killer of Charlie Kirk.
As a victim of childhood internet access, I recognized the phrase instantly, and it is not political. Rather, it references a sexually-charged sector of the furry community, an art community focused on anthropomorphic animals.
Aside from the large queer population of furries, the phrase is simply a meme, and served no political purpose with Kirk.
In fact, most of the engravings on Robinson’s bullet casings were steeped in internet culture. One even referenced the alt-right meme “Bella Ciao,” an antifascist anthem ironically associated with followers of Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist.
So why these engravings? Robinson explained for himself over text, court documents revealed:
“The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme, if I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on fox new I might have a stroke.”
Boom, the kicker. They were all a “big meme.” I am not surprised that Tyler Robinson was radicalized, and it starts with modern meme culture.
I have laughed at memes my entire life, so I’m familiar with the culture. That said, memes are shifting in a concerning way. In my eyes, what started as genuine gags have evolved into one of two things: coping mechanisms or radicalization tools.
On the side of coping mechanisms, it seems people cannot be serious anymore. Memes follow any tragedy, and distasteful memes at that. In recent memory I have seen countless memes about Diddy, d4vd (musician turned pedophile and murderer), and of course, Kirk.
None of these memes discuss something serious, but instead make light of heinous situations. They place layers of irony onto something sinister, allowing people to desensitize themselves and laugh them off.
I have heard young kids say “no Diddy” or “don’t Diddy me” without understanding the context, and growing up in such an uncaring, unserious environment kills empathy. Memes are breeding nihilism.
Even in non-political memes I feel this nihilistic tone: a feeling of “we have to joke about everything, otherwise we will remember our awful world,” and it is killing my generation. Nothing matters anymore, everything is a big joke, so why even try in this world?
Congratulations! If you feel this way you are one step closer to radicalization, and memes will do the trick.
To me, memes have felt extremely political since the 2016 election. Communities like 4chan (the infamous message board, or at least its political users) and other right-leaning groups have embraced memes to promote their rhetoric, and the algorithm loves them for it.
The more controversial the better, and right-leaning posts tend to spark conversation. Interacting with one feeds users more, and pipelines are born.
Similarly, these conservative memes can equally radicalize leftists, as exposure to constant hatred can fuel similar emotions. Combine these pipelines with the general “nothing matters” undertone of memes, and you get Tyler Robinson.
Furthermore, Robinson was heavily involved with Discord, a messaging app notorious for its problematic communities.
Court documents revealed Robinson’s confessions on the app, and how his acquaintances condoned the murder, if not ignored the weight of the situation. If Robinson surrounded himself with these people, then the assasination was honestly inevitable.
In the end, Charlie Kirk’s assasination feels less like a statement, and more like a joke. A national “shitpost,” in a sense — the logical climax of a meme-ridden ecosphere where the ultimate joke is life itself.
What Robinson brought was not freedom, but the birth of a martyr for alt-right politicians who seek to marginalize people, and we have already seen the effects of the murder.
Kirk feels like the beginning, and I predict many more assassinations in the future.
