A Recipe of Homicidal Proportions

Nathan Colebrook contends that Charlie Kirk’s death was symbolic of an elusive monster, and we have only ourselves to blame; an alternative perspective on the mystique of nostalgia.

4-(2-Aminoethyl)benzene-1,2-diol.

A synthesis of tyrosine and DOPA.

The substance is a catechol, where the hydrogen that would normally slot in at the 4^th position on the benzene ring is, instead, substituted for a 2-aminoethyl group. It occupies the role of a cardiotonic drug, a beta-adrenergic agonist, a dopaminergic agent, a sympathomimetic agent, a human, E. Coli, and mouse metabolite, and the conjugate base of a Dopaminium ⁺¹ molecule.

It is an irritant and an environmental and health hazard. 

And, as of late, a proven neurotransmitter of lethal proportions. 

DOPAMINE

Hidden inside the catalytic reaction of tyrosine hydroxylase and DOPA decarboxylase lies the central ingredient to one of the deadliest concoctions of the human mind.  

A chemical compound that, when released on the vast expanse of the nervous system, can inflict insurmountable harm. 

A chemical compound that, combined with the insatiable desire of humankind to long for some form of stability and peace, can inadvertently lead to one becoming self-addicted to their own secretions. 

DOPAMINE → NOSTALGIA

A killer recipe of murderous, mortal and homicidal magnitudes. The stronger the concentration of its central most ingredient, the more ravenous we become. The more ravenous we become, the more insatiable we become. And the more insatiable we become, the more inclined we are to turn on one another to initiate total genocide in the name of ‘returning to a world of stability’[1]. 

To make sense of the world around us, as humans, we have resorted to the notion of ‘order out of chaos’[2]. In accordance with Jungian psychology, we attempt to create some sense of order out of a world that perpetually moves too fast, or is beyond our understanding, by resorting to the mythological, rather than the factual. 

This was extended by convention through the work of sociologist, Anton Antonovsky, who proposed that we, as humans, have an inner ‘sense of coherence’. A theory that, in its simplicity, describes that one holds a greater degree of internal control when they find meaningful ways to manage external stressors… A role that nostalgia slots in just ever-so-snuggly. 

Of course, having healthy degrees of nostalgia itself isn’t problematic. Being able to hold cherished views of one’s earlier years is constructive.

It’s when, like anything, one invests themselves too much in wrapping their arms around the past that it Frankensteinises itself into something more sinister. 

When one stops cherishing their past, and starts hyperfantasising about a world that they never experienced, to denounce the present as morally corrupted. 

This only comes to our own detriment, as those worlds never existed to begin with. 

The modernisation of nostalgia, especially among the far-right, has morphed it into a potent concoction of longing to regress to a world of ‘non-wokeisms’. A world void of political correctness. A world void of all that ‘accommodating for minorities’ “kafuffle”’[3].

This view of nostalgia only appears to capture the apparent ‘aesthetics’ of a world-gone-by. This view of nostalgia ignores the very real struggles of the past. It ignores the very reasons why we have rid ourselves of all those ‘non-wokeisms’. It ignores the very real struggles of those not born into the higher tiers of society, like my grandparents, who didn’t have running water indoors until their 20s. A world whereby people were hurt, abused, poisoned, murdered, and made victims of genocide for not being born into—what is a pretty well-known fact—the shoes of a white, Christian, well-to-do, heterosexual male. 

We are attracted to the aesthetics of it all; we forget the turmoil and the struggle that came with being human during these periods. 

And the more we glorify this non-existent world, the more we self-induce our own dopamine-dependency to the point of absolute mania. A mania that is designed to harm. A mania that is designed to kill with a bolt-action rifle. 

A sense of nostalgia that Charlie Kirk was enamoured with. 

Of course, no one deserves to die. No one deserves to have their life limited. No one deserves to have death wished upon them. 

But death doesn’t instantaneously fashion you up as a martyr. 

I was introduced to Kirk’s views last year when the Jubilee ‘Surrounded’ series started trending [4]. To call him a ‘conservative’ felt like an insult to all the people I know who consider themselves to be politically ‘conservative’. These people are dedicated supporters of the Liberal Party, but they never go out of their way to justify gun deaths as a necessary harm. They never doubted the scientific prowess of the COVID-19 vaccines, and they made sure they got to the front of the queue to receive them in 2021. They usually don’t go out of their way to question the qualifications of those who have a different skin colour from them. 

Kirk’s worldview was steeped in a nostalgia so toxic that it led him to believe we could revert to a world that never even existed. A hypertoxic mix of 1950s technicolour and 1600s puritanical tyranny. 

The nostalgia that Kirk preached was not a form of conservatism. It was an extremist form of regressivism. Nostalgic regressivism, where the world’s problems would be solved by ridding us of the ‘wokeisms’, and returning to some strange fantasy world. 

One does not deserve to be parted from this world so soon. But equally, death never grants anyone immunity from the harm of their actions, no matter how they were practised. 

I would argue that his death should be a closing for ending this noxious cycle of seeking to regress into a more dangerous world. 

But in ways more sinister than the rise of Dubai chocolate, I’m afraid regressive nostalgia remains the recipe on trend for the next few years… no matter how many victims it will claim in total. 

End Notes

[1] Youth Engagement to Counter Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that Lead to Terrorism: Report on Findings and Recommendations of Joint OSCE Secretariat - OSCE ODIHR Expert Roundtable. OSCE, 2013, https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/c/b/103352.pdf 

[2] Garcia-Arch, Ballesterno-Arnau, et. al. “Disproven but still believed: The role of information and individual differences in the prediction of topic-related pseudoscience acceptance” Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 36, no. 2, 2022, pp. 268-282, MultiSearch, Waranara Library at Macquarie University 

[3] Davies & McCrae. “An anatomy of the British war on woke” Institute of Race Relations, vol. 65, no. 2, 2023, pp. 3-54, MultiSearch, Waranara Library at Macquarie University 

[4] Wallace, Megan. “Who is Charlie Kirk - and why is the TikTok political pundit's name trending?” Cosmopolitan, 20 Mar. 2025, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a64238062/charlie-kirk/#what-happened-on-the-jubilee-show