Here’s a bit of philosophy from 28 January 2008. It’s a blog titled, in a most un-SEO-friendly way: “When is it okay to cheer or laugh that someone died? Or, are The Darwin Awards funny?” This first question re-appeared recently, following footage of stalwart opponent of the working class, Senator Mitch McConnell, freezing mid-sentence at a press conference. The questions arose again. Is it okay to wish someone dead? What if that person is a known oppressor?
So, I ask you, when is it okay to cheer or laugh that someone is dead or has died? Is it ever okay?
The question occurred to me while browsing the internet. Death-wishing is a tradition that spans the spectrum of political belief. A convenient way to eliminate someone annoying is to have death come calling, a liability-free assassination, if you will.
Regardless of my politics, the act of death-wishing makes me nervous. When I hear that someone has died, I don’t consider it an opportunity to make a joke. Especially if they are some kind of entertainer and nothing more.
Test of Righteousness
Now that I’m riding my high horse, let’s test it: what if a terrible person died? What if a sponsor of mass murder like George W. Bush died? Would that be something worth cheering or mocking?
That’s a tough question for me. Let’s review facts. George W. Bush caused the occupation of Iraq. All the death, sorrow and suffering that follows — and is ongoing — is due to in large part to him. Could his passing be a good thing?
Maybe. Even so, it’s not something I would cheer about. It’s too sobering. The guy led the destruction of an entire nation, got lots of Americans and Iraqis killed.
At such a time, it might be time it’s time to breathe easier. It’s a hope that one death might put an end to the war or speed its end. Still, I’m left wondering: how did we get here? How did things get so bad that a clown like George W. Bush became president and caused all this destruction? How did it come to pass that I would feel relief that someone died?
It all reminds me of a guy I once heard interviewed who watched the execution of his daughter’s killer. Did it make him feel better? “I thought it would,” he said, “But I still feel awful. Nothing is going to bring her back. Nothing is going to make me feel better.”
Still, we’re talking about nasty people dying. That’s a gray area.
A time when it is without question immoral to wish another’s death is when the deceased is just an entertainer or someone non-famous.
Death as Entertainment?
Which brings me to the Darwin Awards. They’re “awards” given out to people who die because of their stupid actions. The idea that their death helps the gene pool. I’ve never been a fan of the Darwin Awards. Stupid as the award-winners may be, they had loved ones who grieve their absence. That’s not fodder for a chuckle.
Some may think I’m being uptight, but I’ll parry and counter that. The Darwin Awards are for lame-asses who think they’re superior. Every great story in your life involves you as a potential contender for a Darwin Award. If you haven’t done something crazy and reckless, then you haven’t lived!
Any “I was so drunk and/or stoned” story is only improved if it involves a brush with death. It’s a great story if it comes terrifyingly close to making you a Darwin Award winner.
Then it’s something to share the next time you’re drunk and/or stoned. Cheating death makes a good story.
When death wins, that’s another day at the office, and who wants to laugh at that?
Rewind Review
My opinion hasn’t changed much here, but it has become more articulate. We’re not evil for hoping someone dies or falls ill – if our goal is simply to get them to stop hurting us. If we’re wishing death on someone for no reason, that’s psychotic. If we’re wishing death on them because we don’t like their opinions then maybe we don’t like freedom as much as we claim to.
But in the case of Senator Mitch McConnell and his recent health scare, we are reacting to his repeated, conscious, chosen actions over a decades-long career of making life harder for most Americans. The one most recently sticks out in my mind is when he dithered on paltry subsistence payments to the American people at the height of COVID lock-down.
Summarized: I don’t want to wish ill on anyone, but I also wish they’d stop being dicks.
We ill-wishers are desperately seeking a way for the pain McConnell causes to stop. I fear our mistake is blaming an individual and not a system. We incorrectly think if he were to leave the Senate, that Congress might stop being useless. That’s probably wrong. Another morality-free scumbag would replace him.
I don’t claim to know what the fix for Congress is, but I do claim to know the obvious: they are not serving the American people. They are serving the rich. Until there is a fix, I do hope the immoral clowns running it step down. How that happens I leave to fate.
Photo by Lina White on Unsplash