I’m not sure how to feel about the level of support shown for Bushnell, when previous self-immolators have been thoroughly ignored.
Part of me is glad that his death is not in vain, and his friends and family can take some solace in that fact.
But part of me is terrified that 20 more people are going to try similar stunts and achieve… less-than-nothing.
There are already too many martyrs. We need agitators. You can’t agitate if you’re dead or otherwise removed.
Please: If you’re considering Aaron Bushnell an inspiration, be inspired by the fact that he did something unusual, not that he did something self-destructive. Go throw some soup on a Van Gogh instead.
I worry about this too. I don’t like self immolation as a form of protest. Normally I’d say it accomplishes nothing, but in this case it did draw a lot of attention – that by no means though should be an endorsement for others to do this. We can find better, equally effective ways to organize. There’s already enough senseless death going on.
I appreciate his gesture, but I wish he hadn’t done it. I wish he was alive.
You are correct… Bushnell isn’t even the first USian to self-immolate as a form of protest this decade - the others barely made the news.
While I can’t bring myself to criticise people like Bushnell (for obvious reasons), I also cannot endorse it. I don’t want to die for a cause - I want to make the fascists die for theirs.
I don’t want to die for a cause - I want to make the fascists die for theirs.
Honestly this is one of the best quotables I’ve found on the internet this year. Permission to steal?
Except for that last part. Don’t waste food. And don’t destroy unique stuff.(Yes, the van Gogh was protected by glass iirc, but most other paintings aren’t) Plenty of ways to get attention without doing irreversible damage to art.
(Yes, the van Gogh was protected by glass iirc, but most other paintings aren’t)
The van Gogh was chosen specifically because it was protected by glass.
previous self-immolators have been thoroughly ignored
Arguably a self imolator ended the war in Vietnam. He absolutely got the ball rolling.
Arguably a self imolator ended the war in Vietnam.
No, he fucking didn’t. The Vietnamese breaking the US military through the use of force ended the war in Vietnam.
No. The Vietnamese did not “break” the US military. We got tired of being there, though.
You’re literally calling for domestic terrorism on American soil. You aren’t a victim here, bro. No one is trying to take your tendies. Go outside, touch some grass, have a drink, and get yourself a hooker. Some post-nut clarity will do you good.
You’re literally calling for domestic terrorism on American soil.
And that’s a bad thing because…?
Ah yes, it’s liberals who are the problem. It’s liberals who want you to bent to authority, for sure. It’s liberals who are supporting the IDF
You’re attempting sarcasm, but it kinda falls flat when the liberals did indeed line up to give more funding to Israel right alongside the conservatives.
