I think this overanalyzes the situation. The people who celebrate this act are (from what i have observed, not measured) progressive. In their celebration they often express the oppressor characterization of Thompson. That archtype is imprinted on him and is therefore an acceptable target for "progress by any means necessary". This is a newer form of base racism applied to a social strata instead of genetics. Choose a group, generalize to subhuman state, and your actions are now just.
Another example of this is when people celebrated the massacre of farmer families on Oct 7, many of whom provided social services to Gazans.
That is the point. Once we engage in moral typecasting, villain vs. victim, anything goes. It is the mechanism by which acts that in absence of context would be deemed immoral can *feel* moral.
There is also something to the cultural relavism of "bad", eg the popularity of the "antihero." Does the act define the person or does the person define the act?
I think this overanalyzes the situation. The people who celebrate this act are (from what i have observed, not measured) progressive. In their celebration they often express the oppressor characterization of Thompson. That archtype is imprinted on him and is therefore an acceptable target for "progress by any means necessary". This is a newer form of base racism applied to a social strata instead of genetics. Choose a group, generalize to subhuman state, and your actions are now just.
Another example of this is when people celebrated the massacre of farmer families on Oct 7, many of whom provided social services to Gazans.
That is the point. Once we engage in moral typecasting, villain vs. victim, anything goes. It is the mechanism by which acts that in absence of context would be deemed immoral can *feel* moral.
There is also something to the cultural relavism of "bad", eg the popularity of the "antihero." Does the act define the person or does the person define the act?
I blame Seinfeld. (Kidding but ..)
https://open.substack.com/pub/bariweiss/p/villains-evil-hollywood-nosferatu-robert-eggers