the fire this time, the fire next time
Here are the clinical details as they appeared on the always-reliable Wikipedia:
“On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the United States Air Force, died after setting himself on fire outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.”
I waited a couple of weeks before writing anything on this topic because I didn’t want to seem insensitive to the misguided loss of life. On the contrary, I mourn for Bushnell’s loved ones and pray that his example does not lead any more deluded souls to follow suit.
I recently touched lightly on the topic of suicide and I watched keyboard warriors canonizing Bushnell (until they obediently moved on to the next big thing). Thus, I feel compelled to issue yet another warning.
Let’s begin with what should be obvious: Bushnell’s suicide will not do anything to stop the bombing of Gaza or free a single Israeli hostage. His self-immolation was a horrifically excessive form of virtue signaling/cultic thinking.
Calling him a hero or martyr is merely a far more standard form of virtue signaling/cultic thinking.
Context:
To be radically honest, when Bushnell declared he would no longer take part in “genocide,” I wondered if he had ever considered the difference between the crimes of genocide and collective punishment. But that’s for another post at another time.
For now, I want to focus on this question: Why was it this particular scenario that led him to choose a gruesome symbolic death?
It’s not as if the U.S. government/military — and the bankers and corporations that own them — haven’t been funding and committing atrocities for centuries. (Scan my archives to learn about dozens of examples.)
Side note: What about the 17 or so U.S. military veterans who take their own lives each day? These are virtually anonymous soldier suicides founded in trauma and neglect, not live-streamed spectacles. Where are their trending hashtags?
Another question: If the targeting of innocents drove Bushnell to such an extreme choice, as a taxpayer, did he not feel complicit in the much higher number of subsidized deaths and illnesses caused by corporations profiting mightily off lethal drugs, “food,” chemicals, and the poisoning of our shared eco-system?
(Where was Aaron as the reports of taxpayer-funded, vaccine-related deaths and injuries piled up during the last couple of years?)
Obviously, I’m not suggesting that anyone commit suicide to “protest” Big Pharma. I’m just curious why he and so many others are so suddenly and intensely invested in one issue to the virtual exclusion of all the afflictions going on elsewhere.
As I asked in a recent post (below), could this be about singling out a particular group of people as ongoing, universal scapegoats?
BEFORE THERE’S ANY CONFUSION IN THE COMMENTS, HERE IS THE TAKE-HOME MESSAGE OF THIS POST:
This post is not about Gaza. It’s about top-down programming and the types of reactions and “activism” it spawns.
“Activists” (of all stripes) may start with passion and good intentions but too easily allow the enemy to channel such goodwill into time-wasting, echo chamber ego-fests.
Now… the fire this time is trending.
FYI: Bushnell was not the first to choose self-immolation vis-a-vis Gaza in the past couple of months (details here).
To me, there’s something diabolical afoot when folks who claim to want a better world are violently — and publicly — removing themselves from that world.
Reminder: Manipulated, selective, exhibitionist rage does not serve the interests of anyone except The Powers That Shouldn’t Be™.
Once again, this isn’t about what “side” you’re on or how many articles you’ve consumed. No one reading this can directly alter the current situation in Gaza. Single-minded, digitized fury only serves to divide us further.
On the other hand, everyone reading this can do the much harder work needed to detach from hive minds and algorithmic groupthink to rediscover their intrinsic power and the subversive pleasure of autonomous thought.
I implore all of you to process this with fresh ears, new eyes, and an open, compassionate mind. And remember: None of us is as immune from conditioning as we believe ourselves to be. Thus, the changes we seek must start within.
We can be passionate and sovereign at the same time…
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Well said, as always. Your past activism is expert knowledge on the subject. Thank you
As usual, very well thought out and articulated. Spot on.