Newsweek article includes Aaron Bushnell’s final post: “What would I do if I was alive during slavery?”
Newsweek article includes Aaron Bushnell’s final post: “What would I do if I was alive during slavery?”
CW for the topic: self-harm
"Many of us like to ask ourselves, "What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?" The answer is, you're doing it.
o7 but also do not self immolate comrades
I’m doing nothing and I feel bad about it, but I don’t know what to do.
Whatever you do, don't self-immolate. Sadly, this guy will get 2-3 days media attention, and then be forgotten, having accomplished nothing. We can all put our energy to better use.
You're only accountable for the things you can control. For most people, that's not very much, sadly. Think about what you can do within your ability, for example, speaking out, attending protests, donating to causes or volunteering for causes that support the people of palestine, etc. Someone might come along and say you're not doing enough, but doing something is always better than doing nothing, no matter how small.
You're only accountable for the things you can control. For most people, that's not very much, sadly.
And I know this not be the best thing to say in this context but you individually also can't do much about what's happening in Palestine. Unless you're in the military, high politics, or some corporate ghoul—you're just a body on the street that'll probably get ignored.
If that frustrates you more, then focus on other things. Build up or get involved at your Union at work, volunteer at an unrelated org like Food Not Bombs, or get involved tutoring or mentoring some kids. Anything you can.
And I'm not trying to dissuade people from getting involved in Palestinian solidarity actions, but if you're prone to take it really hard on yourself if you get involved in them and things just get worse then it may be best to be involved with things you can better control. We don't need comrades self-immolating, in whatever form it takes.
Even on state media TV they're trying their best not to say WHY he did it.. they kinda make it sound like he was just nuts and just did it but without any particular reason.
join an org. We know electoralism doesn't work, we know adventurism doesn't work, this can only be stopped through collective worker action. The power of the proletariat comes from our direct control over the means of production. If we organize we can block arms shipments, strike until our bosses drop their contracts with Israel, etc. I'm a tech worker so I have joined a local group called "tech workers for Palestine". USPCN and other orgs are national. You may have to do some searching, but there are likely people working together in your area.
Social media is okay too. In my estimation the time for "raising awareness" is past. Everyone who's going to get the message has already gotten it. Now is the time to fight. Everyone feels like you, horrified and powerless. We have to give people something real to do, something that makes a concrete difference. No more going home after a peaceful rally wondering if it'll convince anybody. People should go home knowing that the gears were stopped even if only for a moment. That certainty is what will push new people to action and make them keep showing up. As politically advanced people, our task is to start the feedback loop by channeling popular rage into those first productive actions.
Start asking "what's up with Israel" in public more often.
I mean. If this was 1850 I wouldn't tell any abolitionists to burn themselves
His point is that if you doing nothing about terrible things happening now, you would be doing nothing about the terrible things then.
Nothing is about most people can do on their own apart from throwing their own bodies into the machinery of evil to gum up the works
Brown, as with every other man fit to die for a cause, the hour of his physical weakness was the hour of his moral strength - the hour of his defeat was the hour of his triumph - the moment of his capture was the crowning victory of his life. With the Alleghany mountains for his pulpit, the country for his church and the whole civilized world for his audience, he was a thousand times more effective as a preacher than as a warrior, and the consciousness of this fact was the secret of his amazing complacency. Mighty with the sword of steel, he was mightier with the sword of the truth, and with this sword he literally swept the horizon.
Did you write this? Where is this from?
It is Frederick Douglas http://129.71.204.160/history/jbexhibit/bbspr05-0032.html
All Americans, since US of America became a country, have been alive during slavery. Slavery was never fully outlawed. Does any American actually read their constitution? Maybe start with the 13th amendment?
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
it's OK it's slavery for the bads now
Just recieving reports that while Aaron Bushnell's body is a moulderin in the grave, His truth is marching on.
He didn't deserve the fate that he got, he needed help and compassion from people around him. Self-immolation is never a valid form of protest, it's just suicide.
This is one guy, one single guy, has made a statement as powerful as a protest of thousands. You can say it's suicide, but not that it's meaningless. You can say martyrdom is not something to aspire to, but cannot say that it did not take an incredibly rare level of devotion towards a cause that is just. Writing him off as out of his mind is an insult to his determination. I don't think self-immolating is the most productive thing he could have done, but at the end of the day, if it was, I know I wouldn't have the guts to follow through on it.
I never said it was meaningless, just that he needed help since there are better ways to protest without hurting yourself.
He was feeling utterly powerless and thought he was complicit. Also looks like he hated being in the military and was looking to escape which he couldn't do without facing severe consequences
I understand
