“But what if there’s a monster under my bed?!” protested our daughters as my wife and I tucked them in. Our girls had the nighttime jitters and didn’t want us to leave the room.
“Monsters aren’t real,” we explained. “They’re just pretend.” After checking under the beds, we reassured them they were safe.
A monster under the bed? The Boogeyman in the closet? They’re just fairy tales for children.
But as an adult I have to face the grim reality that monsters do exist. No, they don’t have green fur or scales. They don’t cast spells or breathe fire. They come from a factory, and they look deceptively human.
This factory, hidden in the dungeon of radical political ideology, turns humans into monsters. The process evolves and improves, replacing human parts with a monster’s. What once was human joins society as a minted freak of nature. The problem is that we may not know a monster’s identity until the time comes for it to reveal itself.
Some monster models take a lifetime to fashion. Consider, for example, the one that allegedly killed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. The monster factory molded this specimen’s brain long enough for him to be arrested 14 times. Apparently, other family members are creations of this monster factory.
How was the monster free to roam the streets this fateful evening? A judge released him after his 14th crime in January because of his “written promise” to appear in court. With a long rap sheet including violence and theft, why was this monster allowed to roam unsupervised? Was this a judge’s callous disregard for crime? I don’t know, but an innocent woman publicly bled to death while coiled in terror. We are left to wonder if anyone involved in letting the monster roam free is another product of the monster factory.
Other monster models come from the factory’s fast track. The latest example is the 22-year-old suspect who allegedly shot conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. According to this monster’s mother, his ideology changed drastically within one year. To murder someone in cold blood in front of thousands of people because you don’t like his words is a truly monstrous idea! To turn into a monster in such a short time? I wish that were a fairy tale!
Yet, there are many monsters lurking in the shadows we don’t yet know. Perhaps they work in the criminal justice system to let other monsters do the dirty work. Maybe they see the blood of helpless victims in a rail train and pretend nothing happened. They might be the ones who tell us the news on TV and claim the monsters in front of our eyes are actually the victims.
It’s time we face reality: monsters are real! We can’t solve the problems monsters create if we pretend they’re only make believe. Here are some steps I think we should take to save this country from monsters.
Call out the monsters
We need to call a spade a spade (and a monster a monster). If we’re afraid to call out a monster when we see one, we let the monster factory crank out more. When someone insists a monster is really a victim, open the eyes of the blind and never give up. Relentlessly identifying the monsters is a powerful first step.
Invest in monster repellent
A monster needs justice after one bad attack. Even minor offenses should compound the penalty if a monster refuses to stop. Violent tendencies must require supervision. If prison isn’t warranted for a particular offense, a monster who poses a threat needs at least a high-security mental institution. Compassion for the victim means reducing the danger on the streets. Compassion for the criminal is the therapy of punishment. Monsters may only understand the harm they inflict if they feel the discomfort of justice. They may think twice about striking if the stakes are higher.
Don’t support the monster factory
If you have reason to believe an institution could be part of the monster factory, avoid it. Is it really worth the risk? Could you get that prestigious degree somewhere else? Do monsters likely work in that fancy office? Is there a danger of you transforming into a monster yourself? What about your kids in that school? Maybe they might become innocent victims of a monster. Look for institutions whose mission is to find the monster factory and disable it.
Be brave enough to fight the monsters
The monster who killed Iryna casually moped around the rail train while blood tracked his path. As Iryna coiled in horror, the other passengers pretended nothing was happening. I don’t understand this other than fear. Daniel Penny stood up to a monster. Yes, he saw the depths of the monster factory before he came out on top. Maybe no one on that rail train was willing to go through that. It’s time to be brave and fight the monsters. Daniel Penny showed the way. Dismantling the monster factory starts with standing up for the innocent.
My daughters think a monster could be hiding under their bed. This childhood imagination is unfortunately very reasonable. A monster was hiding behind Iryna Zarutska and “got her” when she wasn’t looking. Charlie Kirk fell prey to a monster in broad daylight. The question isn’t if monsters exist. It’s about what they look like and what we should do about them. God forbid my daughters grow up, and, like Iryna, see their fertile imagination come to life!
Real monsters hide under our beds! It’s time we make them fairy tales again!
