EP 19 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STOP SEEING EACH OTHER AS HUMAN?

Some episodes are born from necessity rather than choice. Returning from hiatus, I find myself confronting the devastating death of Charlie Kirk and the shocking responses it provoked across social media. What chills me to the bone isn't just witnessing such callousness, but recognizing it as symptomatic of a deeper national crisis – our collective failure to see humanity in those with whom we disagree.

The reactions to Kirk's death reveal how entrenched we've become in our worldviews, seeing everything through binary lenses where people are categorized as good or bad based solely on political alignment. This tragedy has become a cultural stain, amplified by social media into a spectacle that forces us to question: what does it mean to be "united" in the United States of America? Unity doesn't require abandoning personal beliefs or even liking everyone – it simply asks that we recognize our shared humanity. As I put it, "We don't have to mow our neighbor's lawn, but we can look out for them."

Amid these reflections, life continues its relentless forward motion. I'm moving to a new apartment, which will allow me to fully actualize what this show is meant to be. Simultaneously, I'm processing the loss of my uncle – the person who inspired my musical journey years ago. This juxtaposition of national trauma and personal grief highlights a universal truth: we reach a point in life where childhood fades, loved ones pass away, and everything familiar gradually changes. Dwelling in the past becomes "a disease that you're feeding," while our only healthy option is seeking "broader, brighter horizons." Perhaps this wisdom applies not just to personal grief but to our national condition as well.

Listen now and join me in contemplating how we might rebuild our capacity for empathy in increasingly divided times. Share your thoughts on finding common ground without compromising your values – I'd love to hear your perspective.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you, Hello, and welcome back to the Blake
Cunningham Delirium.
This is not the episode Iwanted to be making after my
hiatus.
I take I like to take hiatuses.

(01:06):
I'm not really set to aparticular schedule for this,
but here we are and here we muststay, because a lot has

(01:27):
happened and it's not in sort ofthe goofy way I want it to
happen.
It's been a strange couple ofweeks for a number of reasons

(02:00):
obvious the devastating death ofCharlie Kirk and the complete
lack of empathy and sympathy andeverything else you want to
call it.

(02:20):
I mean, you can argue thedefinition of it, but you know
what I mean.
And if you're one of thosepeople there's I I don't know
where you can go from here,because you just truly lost

(02:42):
every shred of humanity you haveleft.
And these are people that Iknow have seen this behavior
from them.
But it's also people that Ihave not seen them directly say

(03:05):
it or do it, but just based onthe kinds of things that they've
said or done in the past, Iknow I already know their
reaction to it and I hope thattheir reaction is.
I only hope that their reactionwas something other than that

(03:32):
type of behavior, because sayingit's wrong or immoral is just
too obvious.
Moral is just too obvious.

(03:58):
I I don't even know how toexpress the kind of express this
kind of thing in a way that Idon't know I, I don't want,
Because I can't say, oh, I hatethese people back for acting
this way, because then I'm justI'm not proving their points or
any theories or whatever.
It's just that I'm I'mreciprocating the same negative

(04:25):
energy back that they arespewing out into the world and
still spewing out.
It's not like this has dialed,it's not like the temperature is
dialed down.
Everybody's just so set in theirpreconceived notions of the

(04:50):
world, I guess, and they seethings in such a black and white
way where this thing is bad orthese people are bad because my
worldview tells me they're bad,not because I've taken some

(05:11):
liberty to try to understand,maybe, where they're coming from
, or even just agreeing todisagree but not wish for death
on other people.
I mean, I can't sit here andsay it's wrong because it's like

(05:32):
, just obvious and it haunts meto the core, chills me to the
bone, however you want to say it, to think that there are people
out there doing this kind ofthing, and I know I'm almost a
week's late on the subject, butI'm sure such a traumatic stain

(06:02):
on it's almost I mean I hate togo here, but it's like a stain
on pop culture almost.
It became a pop culturespectacle because of social
media and the horrors of thatand I it's not something I think

(06:26):
we should let go or takelightly anytime soon and just
hope that maybe people get theirheads out of their asses.
I'm not saying they have tocome to this side or that side

(06:47):
or go, you know, change theirentire view, but maybe just
think about us as one entity.
Entity and I think, shoot, Ithink that's something that

(07:16):
maybe we've really lost or maybewe never really had it.
But I think we all need to takea look around and realize that
we live in the United States ofAmerica and think about the

(07:42):
united part and what that reallymeans.
It doesn't necessarily meanthat everybody from all around
the world should pile in to thispatch of dirt we call America
and get along, but it means thatwe're here, we're already here,

(08:07):
we've been here and we should.
You know, we don't have to lookout, we don't have to mow our
neighbor's lawn, but we can lookout for them.

(08:28):
I'm not trying to change thesubject of the conversation, of
the show, this episode, but Ithink it will be okay because
it's coming from a place ofrespect.
It will be okay Because it'scoming from A Place of respect

(08:53):
and I Don't Mean anythingNegative by it and I Really just
hope this is a Pot A and Ireally just hope this is a

(09:21):
turning point upward for thecountry that I live in and the
country that I love, and yeah.
So, other than is this, what'sgoing on?
What's going on?
Oh shoot, but yeah, Other thanthat things are looking, I hope

(09:47):
things start looking upward, butother than that, I'm gonna
here's what I'm gonna do I'mgonna sprinkle in the good news
with the bad news so we can havekind of a a lukewarm ice cream

(10:10):
sandwich.
So I'm moving out, I'm movingto an apartment and that will be
exciting because I can kind offully actualize what this show

(10:37):
is supposed to be and take itfully in the right direction.
And the other news, that's thebad news.
Or, you know, it depends howyou look at it.

(10:59):
I don't want to look at it in agood way, but it's the circle of
life.
My uncle died and it was, youknow natural death.
There's been an overwhelmingtheme of death and things

(11:28):
associated with that with thesepast two-ish weeks.
And it's a bummer for mebecause my uncle was the thing

(11:55):
that got me into music.
You know, I saw him play andthen many, many years later I
started playing.
But it was an experience thatalways kind of stuck with me and

(12:21):
made me more inclined.
I'm sure if I'd never seen thatI'd be less inclined to make my
music that I make and have everreally started any of that,

(12:44):
have ever really started any ofthat.
So it's just weird in life youkinda get to this point where
there's kind of this halfwaypoint where you're not a kid
anymore and seems likeeverything around you starts to

(13:06):
kind of slowly fade or die orchange and there's really
nothing you can do about it.
And the more you live in thepast or look towards the past is

(13:28):
kind of like a disease thatyou're feeding because you just
have to look towards the futureand find broader, brighter
horizons.