Bushnell argued on Reddit that the Oct 7 attack was justified. He argued that "there are no Israeli 'civilians'" (with the scare quotes around "civilians").
I think Israel is committing war crimes in their response. I think Bushnell's death was a tragedy and he was mentally ill, and hence not fully responsible for the awful things he said…
Bushnell argued on Reddit that the Oct 7 attack was justified. He argued that "there are no Israeli 'civilians'" (with the scare quotes around "civilians").
I think Israel is committing war crimes in their response. I think Bushnell's death was a tragedy and he was mentally ill, and hence not fully responsible for the awful things he said before killing himself. But let's not pretend he was some kind of hero of humanitarianism. The kinds of people who hold him up as a hero are encouraging more lonely, attention-starved young people who are falling down the rabbit-hole of online extremism to commit similar acts of self-destruction, or worse, to take others out with them in some kind of attack. Stochastic terrorism.
Do you have any factual basis of your opinions? For instance, that Bushnell was mentally ill? He may have been, but it's not facially self-evident to me. Had done other things that indicate mental illness? Was he diagnosed? Are you qualified to diagnose? I'm open to the argument, but you're not offering any data.
Fundamentally I don't believe anyone in a fully healthy state of mind self-immolates. Even if you believe a bunch of kind of loopy stuff about the political situation, a rational mind doesn't conclude, "And therefore the _best_ course of action, the way I can 'raise awareness' and change the world toward more justice, is to _set myself on fire_." But you're welcome to split hairs about that if you want.
Bushnell argued on Reddit that the Oct 7 attack was justified. He argued that "there are no Israeli 'civilians'" (with the scare quotes around "civilians").
I think Israel is committing war crimes in their response. I think Bushnell's death was a tragedy and he was mentally ill, and hence not fully responsible for the awful things he said before killing himself. But let's not pretend he was some kind of hero of humanitarianism. The kinds of people who hold him up as a hero are encouraging more lonely, attention-starved young people who are falling down the rabbit-hole of online extremism to commit similar acts of self-destruction, or worse, to take others out with them in some kind of attack. Stochastic terrorism.
Do you have any factual basis of your opinions? For instance, that Bushnell was mentally ill? He may have been, but it's not facially self-evident to me. Had done other things that indicate mental illness? Was he diagnosed? Are you qualified to diagnose? I'm open to the argument, but you're not offering any data.
Fundamentally I don't believe anyone in a fully healthy state of mind self-immolates. Even if you believe a bunch of kind of loopy stuff about the political situation, a rational mind doesn't conclude, "And therefore the _best_ course of action, the way I can 'raise awareness' and change the world toward more justice, is to _set myself on fire_." But you're welcome to split hairs about that if you want.