When the World Goes Dark
The other day, I was scrolling, as you do, and the news broke: Charlie Kirk had been assassinated. Now, before you clutch your pearls, this is not a political piece. This is not about who he was, what he stood for, or whether you agreed with him. This is about the reaction that followed, which was, frankly, shocking. People were cheering. People were making memes. People were celebrating. And my gut reaction? Absolute disgust.
See, I don’t care if you adored him or couldn’t stand the sight of him. Death, violence, turbulence, chaos of that magnitude is not a time to crack jokes and pour champagne. It is a tragedy. Not just for the person whose life ended, but for society as a whole. When we start celebrating violence, we are revealing just how unhealed our own souls really are.
Because violence, and the celebration of it, is the language of trauma. It’s the language of an unregulated nervous system. It’s primal, it’s primitive, and it keeps us stuck in survival mode. We cannot pretend to be striving for a better world while laughing at the destruction of another human being.
The Problem with Partying Over Pain
Let’s be real for a second. We love to think we’re evolved creatures, sipping oat milk lattes and journaling about our manifestation goals. But scratch beneath the surface, and sometimes we’re no better than medieval villagers cheering at a public hanging. And no, I’m not being dramatic. We have history repeating itself in the comment sections of FaceBook.
When people celebrate violence, they are feeding into the very thing they claim to despise. Hate fuels hate. War fuels war. Cruelty fuels cruelty. You cannot fight fire with fire and expect anything other than a giant bloody inferno. We know this, and yet here we are, treating someone’s death like a sporting event.
And here’s the kicker: that kind of energy never stays contained. You might think you’re just making a cheeky meme for likes, but what you’re really doing is normalising cruelty. You’re saying, “Yes, let’s cheer when people get hurt.” And if that becomes the cultural standard, no one is safe. Not you. Not me. Not anyone.
What It Says About Us
If you feel joy when someone is killed, that’s not a reflection of them. That’s a reflection of you. It’s your unhealed wounds showing. It’s your anger, your grief, your bitterness, spilling out like an overflowing bin on a hot day. And sure, those emotions are valid. You can hate someone’s actions, you can feel frustrated at their words, but celebrating their demise? That’s when it crosses a line.
Violence is never just about one moment. It ripples. It hits families. It traumatises communities. It shocks the world. And if your first instinct is to cheer, maybe that’s your sign to sit down and ask yourself some hard questions. Why does this feel good? Why does pain make me feel relief? What does that say about my state of mind?
Because let’s be clear: healed people do not clap when someone is shot. Healed people mourn the fact that the world got darker, even if it got darker for someone they didn’t like. Healed people know that community, compassion, and connection are the only way forward.
The Cycle of Violence
Why We’re Stuck Here
Here’s the thing about violence: it doesn’t end with one person. It spirals. You kill one leader, another one steps in. You silence one voice, ten more rise up, louder and angrier than before. Violence never ends cycles, it just feeds them. And yet, people still think it’s a solution.
Celebrating violence is like clapping for a car crash. It’s not fixing the roads, it’s not saving the driver, it’s just revelling in destruction. And honestly? That energy seeps into your own life. If you celebrate harm, don’t be surprised when your own life feels heavy with it.
How Trauma Plays Its Part
A lot of this comes down to trauma. Generational, personal, collective. We are walking around as hurt children in grown-up bodies. And when something shocking happens, that inner child sometimes claps, because it feels like justice. But it’s not justice. It’s just trauma trying to find release in the ugliest way possible.
The problem is, when you give trauma the microphone, it only ever sings one song: destruction. Healing means changing the track. It means saying no, we are not clapping at this. We are grieving that the world is once again caught in violence.
Violence Is Not Entertainment
We live in an era where everything is content. The assassination wasn’t even cold news before TikToks popped up, jokes were made, and memes circulated. But violence is not entertainment. Someone’s death is not a punchline. We need to start treating these moments with the gravity they deserve, not as fuel for engagement.
What We Should Be Celebrating Instead
Community
Instead of pouring our energy into cheering violence, what if we poured it into building stronger communities? Into connecting with our neighbours, checking in on our friends, and remembering what actually matters. Connection is what keeps us safe, not cruelty.
When we turn our attention to community, suddenly violence looks small. It looks pointless. Because community is about growth, expansion, and joy. And that’s something violence will never be able to touch.
Compassion
Compassion is not weakness. It is power. It is radical to say, “I don’t agree with this person, but I will not celebrate their death.” It is strength to choose empathy when the world chooses hate. Compassion doesn’t mean excusing behaviour, it means refusing to let hate take up residence in your heart.
It’s easy to hate. It’s lazy, even. Compassion takes courage. It’s not as flashy as posting a meme, but it’s the only way we ever shift the narrative.
Healing
At the end of the day, celebration belongs to healing. Celebrate your growth, your milestones, your friendships, your messy attempts at doing better. Celebrate your survival. Celebrate your joy. Violence doesn’t deserve a party. Your healing does.
When we celebrate healing, we break cycles. We start to shift from primitive mindsets into evolved ones. And that’s where real progress begins.
We’re not here to cheer at chaos. We’re here to build something better.
Choosing a Different Future
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the world glorifying destruction. I don’t want to cheer at chaos. I want to laugh at stupid TikToks, drink my matcha latte in peace, and build a life that feels like mine. I want us to celebrate birthdays, not death days. Anniversaries, not assassinations. New connections, not broken systems.
We are not here to keep playing caveman. We are here to evolve. To grow. To remind ourselves that even when the world feels like a dumpster fire, we can still choose how we react to it. We can still choose not to feed the flames.
So the next time you see people celebrating violence, remember this: it is never OK. It is a reflection of their wounds, not their wisdom. And you don’t need to join in. You get to choose differently. You get to choose healing, compassion, and community. Because those are the only things worth celebrating.
We Need to Stop Clapping for Basic Decency – Chaos, Crumbs and Clarity
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