The US military is pissed. Zionists are pissed. A US service member just burned himself alive as a martyr for the cause of the Palestinian people, and pro-Israel reactionaries cannot cope with that fact that a US soldier, someone who is supposed to represent the power of the regime and its ideology would go to such lengths to protest the genocide committed by them. They’re blaming echo chambers and anarchism, and trying their best to make it seem like his actions were somehow illogical. Zionist media is even claiming his actions were comparable to a suicide bombing.
I never thought I would see a soldier of the regime go to such lengths to defend the masses of another nation. However it seems this man came to understand imperialism and the evils of the United States while serving in the military. In a way, he did one of the logical things that someone can do when they realize they exist in a way that advances imperialism and human suffering, which is to self-destruct. This man is a comrade, despite what his uniform may have said. Some people may take issue with the fact that he was a soldier for the US, but this seems stubborn. Wouldn’t you want more soldiers to do what this man did? Or something even half as good? If rogue US military soldiers defend Palestine, why would we go against that? In fact, we should encourage more service members to go rogue so the people of this country can have a formation that actually defends their freedom.
All over the web, people are telling this hero to rest in power. The gods will certainly reward someone who sacrificed everything and was willing to physically burn to death for the people of Palestine. This was almost like self-crucifying. We will most likely hear slander and smear campaigns from the propagandists of the regime soon trying to discredit his actions just as did for George Floyd or any person who became a symbol of resistance. However the masses and our comrades cannot be fooled so easily by bourgeois media. The day of judgment will come for the zionists, and they will be made to pay for their crimes.
From the river to the sea!
Yes, he could've done material damage. But idealist nonsense still lingers in our minds, to a point that martyrdom is prefered than doing actual material damage.
He did what a depressed disillusioned soldier could do. Should we encourage more soldiers to off themselves? They already have been for decades. If one wanted to effective sabatoge for Israeli occupation in particular, he'd have to reinlist but there is no guarantee that he'd be stationed in israel to be in proximity to sabatoge the operation. If he spoke the local languages there is a chance he could try to work with Hamas, but there is a high chance of rejection because this could be a way to inject a spy in the most obvious manner as far as Hamas understands.
Being socially alienated also makes it difficult to coordinate to do a more effective sabatoge. Had he done something less desparate he might have been able to share his millitary insights to improve the protests. He could have worked to be an effective propaganda tool for longer if he could keep his record clean. With that he'd be supported and alive. But he was so alienated that he'd dead now.
I hate that in theory capitalists could wait out left wingers by waiting for dissidents to off themselves. I don't care that it's unpopular. I won't stand by leftists offing themselves. It doesn't fix anything and it weakens the left.
what you think of as "the left" doesn't exist in the United States outside of isolated online subcultures. There is no "left" that is "weakened" by Bushnell's sacrifice. The tragedy here isn't one fewer potential DSA dipshit phonebanking for Biden to "save democracy". The tragedy here is that dying in a way that even mildly inconveniences the empire, for all its desperation and futility, will likely produce a greater material impact than nearly everyone here will accomplish in a lifetime of reading, posting, or holding up signs.