I watched the attack of the Capitol, same as you did.

I felt a range of emotions, same as most people: anger, fear, sadness.

I also felt an understanding, not for the actions taken but for where they came from. For eight weeks, many of the people there had been told by their social media feeds, their news networks, maybe their friends and families, some of their politicians and leaders that the election had been stolen from them. There were court cases, which failed. They were then told the system was corrupt and the courts were wrong. Their President told them over and over again how it was all being taken away from them, their way of life, their country and all of their beliefs and identity. They were also told, repeatedly, that anyone who disagreed was an enemy of America.

In this, I would simply say, of course the Capitol was attacked.

What happened was wrong, certainly and they are not blameless, not at all, but also not blameless are every one of the individuals and entities who did it for power, did it for votes, did it for money: the politicians, the media companies, the businesses, the tech companies…all of them.

And I am also to blame.

I mocked. I ridiculed. I cursed, but I never had conversations, as useless as they might have been. I never said: I get it, you feel wronged. I never said: I may disagree entirely with your premise and your motivations, but I get that you feel violated. I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. My beliefs fall outside of these two trains of thought and I’ve been disagreed with my entire life, same as you. I’ve also felt the thrill of suddenly being surrounded by people who believed as I did and understood what I was thinking. It’s intoxicating and validating.

There needs to be a lot more conversations happening in this country, and everywhere else.

And social media algorithms need to be banned for what they are, an enrichment of private companies at the expense of whole countries. And the people that did violence, they need to go to jail along with the people that motivated their actions.

Have a nice day,

Drake