RIP Aaron Bushnell. This was PROTEST, not mental illness. Western society is critically ill. We live in an evil empire and are being given the “choice” between fascism at home or genocide abroad. We are all told we have mental illness because WE are fucked up. It is this society that is fucked up.

Eric Isbell
All I can really say is what a waste. Whether it was mental illness or “society” I can’t really say. I won’t deny my Spock brain immediately went to “what’s the point?”. I’m sure this person had friends and family he will leave behind so this act will most likely have far more negative impact than a positive one. But I never really understood this style of protest anyway. It’s not like what he did will change the course of history, so why? Being in the military maybe he felt part of the problem or something.
But in the end it was his choice. I generally don’t go in for the “victim of society” argument, at least to a certain degree. Societal pressure can certainly play a part, but in the end people, especially adults who are not under immediate threat, are responsible for their own decisions. An American decided to immolate himself in protest. I wouldn’t blame Israel, Biden, Trump, or anyone else. It just is what it is. I just feel bad for his family.

Daniel Watts
Was it a waste? It was a useful protest because people are talking about it, and that is as much as any protest can hope for. As far as his personal reasons? Who knows. But it is the second such self-immolation against this war in the US so far. People die all the time, and life is short, if someone has their mind set on using their death to provoking change, who are we to comment on why. At least he didn’t take others with him like terrorists or suicide bombers. People die all the time for nothing, but dying FOR something is noble, even if we can not understand their reasons.

“Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life”.

It is sad, all around. For him and his family. No one act will ever change anyones mind, but my point is that there are more and more people who feel there is nothing more left for them but death and doom. People who DO have mental illness are finding it harder and harder to cope in our failing society, and I only expect it to get worse.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
-Jiddu Krishnamurti

For some Buddhists, self-immolation is not suicide but an act of physical protest that ends in death.

Eric Isbell
But I feel we should ask why, just like we ask why do terrorists do what they do or nations what they do. All things should be questioned. And I have to admit I do not see this as a useful protest at all. Sure people are talking about it, but I really doubt Israel is going to change what they are doing because of it, or the US government for that matter. I mean sure, his life was his own and he can do with it what he chooses. I am not making judgment, just probing the motivation. I do have to admit from a personal perspective I do think it’s a waste. I fully understand sacrificing oneself to save a life (jumping in front of a bullet), but suiciding oneself to make a political statement or make an existential point is just not something I feel makes a whole lot of sense. And I don’t believe this American guy in the air force living in Texas would be in a position to be so doom and gloom to feel he had no other choice. Just personal opinion I suppose.

As to a “failing society”, what exactly are we talking here? Human existence as a whole? America? Western democracy? I mean humans have been killing, genociding, waring, enslaving, etc… since we became human. What’s happening now looks just like the Romans, Nazis, Communists, Atilla, Vikings, Aztecs, Comanche, ancient Somalis, etc… It just seems a continuation of the same cycles. Not saying I feel it is right, but not anything new. To me the only difference is the diminishing resources and environmental degradation, but a different topic altogether I suppose.

Daniel Watts
No, I think it is the same topic, it is just exploding in focused areas. I feel the divide between perception and reality is torquing the average psyche in ways worse than it ever has before. People see that we are running out of options, but being told not to worry about it, or to just buy a game console and zone-out. it is global, but far more prevalent in western cultures for sure. I believe it is indeed the coalescence of many major global social factors like the rise in authoritarianism, extreme poverty and growing wealth gaps, environmental collapse, nuclear war, AI and tech run-wild, social and information isolation and the collapse of support-culture and “place”. We have gone through a lot in the past, but so much is happening now, so fast that people feel like there is no other green pasture to move-on to. It is the helplessness people feel, they have no place, no where to start from and no where to go. This is not MY exact feelings, but I see WHY more and more people feel this way. Some focus on a particular problem or a path they feel they can effect because doing feels better than doing nothing. People protest by putting themselves in mortal danger all the time whether it is by blocking traffic, hunger strikes, forever jail or any number of things. I think the whole point of their actions are to make the rest of us ask ourselves why this is happening, not why they specifically did it.

Eric Isbell
Yeah, I think you are right. But then again maybe we just perceive things going faster due to information. Technology has certainly started moving faster beginning with the industrial revolution, and especially with the internet, which I feel may be the acceleration of all the feelings of disconnectednes and lack of place. But I can’t help wonder if a lot of it is all in our heads. Setting aside population growth and the environment going back about 500 years I wonder if a lot of our problems are just perceived. Or the fact that maybe they were always there and we didn’t start consuming most of our brains with it until recently. Who knows, maybe it’s a good thing in the end. Our communities are still there if we just chose to embrace them, we just choose not to. Maybe it’s a bit off this topic but I find it weird that there are Right leaning Americans that feel they have more in common with someone like Putin than their neighbor with the rainbow flag, and there are lots of left leaning Americans who feel more kinship with Palestinians than their neighbor with the pickup truck with the blue line flag sticker. It’s totally bonkers. Mostly because, at least in my opinion, they do not.

Daniel Watts
I agree. To an extent it is in our heads, but society is forcing folks into their heads and out of community. Daily life for most people is not much affected by global crisis, but it is dominated by a constant feed of generic depersonalized culture piped-in from every source. Those of us who have a wider perspective can more easily navigate, but people who, for instance, grow up in Texas are fed a narrow path and read only from the corporate operating manual of what is important. I think consumer/capitalist culture and the information age are definitely a factor, but the growing threat to global stability IS rising. People spend way more time worrying about things they cannot control than living their own short-ass lives in the here and now.

Eric Isbell
definitely

Daniel Watts
It is also more “fun” to talk about life the universe and everything than it is to work my day job (case in point).

Eric Isbell
That’s for sure.