Albert Einstein, eminent physist, ardent humanitarian and devoted socialist, said the following in a May 1949 article in Monthly Review:
"This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career."
Such explains to a large degree how our society operates and why it is sick, terribly unhealthy. If dissenting from the societal norm of competition and the corresponding worship of acquisitive success deems one as mentally ill, as ardent proponents of capitalism suggest, then I am as mentally ill as Prof. Einstein.
Bushnell reminded me of Thich Quang Duc’s (in)famous self-immolation in 1963. However, I don’t know the specifics of the Bushnell case and so it is impossible to say anything definite. Regardless, I will say this: if we accept the wholesale murder of innocents, who are we to condemn suicide as a means of protest? If you condone one (murder), you have to condone the other (suicide). Every suicide, if it is done in protest and is not aimed at destroying other lives, suggests some circumstance that would make life worth living. There is value in that.
However, there are such things as delusional beliefs and shared delusions. I don’t generally call people crazy. However, it is very strange to be around people in religions which have beliefs which seem almost identical to the delusions a person has when psychotic such as the idea that Satanic forces can be in toys or shampoo or board games, etc. You watch these people discuss things in different youtube channels and you see them reinforce a wholly magical conception of their reality—where, e.g., your desire not to go out with your friends on Saturday night because you feel tired is the devil intervening and talking you out of it because you need to go to their function in order to find a husband —and the devil doesn’t want you to find a husband.
These are actual conversations I’ve seen on youtube. They are attempting to pull other people into this world view that they lack all agency and the devil is constantly controlling their minds.
One can hear it on Christian radio as well—people are given a narrative that if they adopt they will also be embracing many psychotic features such as grandiosity and paranoia. However, they usually don’t become fully immersed in their delusions (though there is a risk of this) to the degree that they cannot function.
These religious groups engage in manipulation and so forth. They end up getting people into a state which is not too dissimilar to a psychotic state but is more balanced. When functional, it perhaps is more like a highly imaginative child’s state. I would not call it healthy!
I'm new to you and your writing, but so far I find you to be wise and your writing to be extremely valuable. Thank you for taking the time to express these critical thoughts so well. It will arm me with better, more concise ways to advocate for justice in the face of my government's inhuman actions. I aspire to do the same for others.
Mental illness vs health must always be defined, in some capacity, by the normative. There is no description in nature or objective account that says it is bad to have psychotic delusions of your organs being replaced, or being so depressed that you want to kill yourself. That fundamentally involves a judgement (even if it seems easy and obvious, and even though it is informed by reality)
I also think it is quite a sleight of hand to say that condemning self-immolation is equivalent to condemning all heterodox beliefs. Nobody is earnestly arguing that having different beliefs in and of itself is not something we should say constitutes illness. Feeling sad or upset should not be considered illness.
I do have some sympathy for your line of reasoning, but I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider the desire to self immolate in the context that this individual did to be considered illness however. It falls well outside cultural norms and involves harm to self and fails rationality.
This is definitely one of the most crucial topics, and the vital insights you shared are incredibly invaluable. Undoubtedly, neglecting our mental health can have a profound impact on our lives, leading to intolerable moral decline and failure. Misinterpretations and misconceptions about mental illness can also contribute to stigma and prevent us from seeing the whole picture or the truth. Before we judge Aaron Bushnell's behavior and mental health or define his actions as self-sacrifice or suicide, we must differentiate between being mentally unwell, as you thoughtfully call it, being insane, and being a psychopath. There is nothing to be ashamed of for being mentally unwell because we are humans, and, predictably, we can encounter some tragic or unpleasant events or stressors that can trigger major depression disorder or anxiety. Being mentally unwell, it is not necessary to lead to self-harm, depending on the severity of our condition and our coping with it. Being insane is a severe condition that can lead not only to harming ourselves but also to harming others, which doesn't apply to Aaron, as he never hurt anyone before, and this proved that he never intended suicide. Being a psychopath is the most dangerous and unfortunately common condition in our world; they cope only by constantly harming, manipulating, and stealing others' lives without any regard for the laws or feeling guilty. Sadly, Aaron didn't intend suicide or self-sacrifice; he was forced to sacrifice himself or extinguished by a psychopath leadership and power that led us since the inception of our humanity and victimized by an insane and unjust society; they only survive by destroying our dreams and shedding our blood; and to do that, they must distract us from our primary goal, and rather than fighting for our freedom, we argue with each other about our religious beliefs and how we define Aaron's behavior. Because they fear their power, they must keep them silent; our world's psychopath leaders continue manipulating our heroes, who are torn between two options: being children's killers or sending a false message to the world that they are merely insane and not capable of fighting for their freedom. Aaron's self-sacrifice didn't intend to raise awareness for Gaza's genocides, as the world already knows about it; it was a wake-up call for his peers so they don't end up with the same destiny and to remind them of the King's message "A time to break the silence."
I truly appreciate your tremendous efforts and priceless wisdom.
I don't know if people are questioning Bushnell's sanity merely because he didn't conform to social norms. I think they are appealing to a natural law that transcends social norms, i.e. that it is natural for us to preserve our lives and unnatural for us to seek to destroy our own lives.
Albert Einstein, eminent physist, ardent humanitarian and devoted socialist, said the following in a May 1949 article in Monthly Review:
"This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career."
Such explains to a large degree how our society operates and why it is sick, terribly unhealthy. If dissenting from the societal norm of competition and the corresponding worship of acquisitive success deems one as mentally ill, as ardent proponents of capitalism suggest, then I am as mentally ill as Prof. Einstein.
Thanks for this thoughtful piece of writing, Jeffrey. I'm sad for Aaron Bushnell, but have a lot of respect for the statement he made.
A fascinating article - and commentaries/responses. Thank you for this discussion!
Bushnell reminded me of Thich Quang Duc’s (in)famous self-immolation in 1963. However, I don’t know the specifics of the Bushnell case and so it is impossible to say anything definite. Regardless, I will say this: if we accept the wholesale murder of innocents, who are we to condemn suicide as a means of protest? If you condone one (murder), you have to condone the other (suicide). Every suicide, if it is done in protest and is not aimed at destroying other lives, suggests some circumstance that would make life worth living. There is value in that.
I agree with most of this.
However, there are such things as delusional beliefs and shared delusions. I don’t generally call people crazy. However, it is very strange to be around people in religions which have beliefs which seem almost identical to the delusions a person has when psychotic such as the idea that Satanic forces can be in toys or shampoo or board games, etc. You watch these people discuss things in different youtube channels and you see them reinforce a wholly magical conception of their reality—where, e.g., your desire not to go out with your friends on Saturday night because you feel tired is the devil intervening and talking you out of it because you need to go to their function in order to find a husband —and the devil doesn’t want you to find a husband.
These are actual conversations I’ve seen on youtube. They are attempting to pull other people into this world view that they lack all agency and the devil is constantly controlling their minds.
One can hear it on Christian radio as well—people are given a narrative that if they adopt they will also be embracing many psychotic features such as grandiosity and paranoia. However, they usually don’t become fully immersed in their delusions (though there is a risk of this) to the degree that they cannot function.
These religious groups engage in manipulation and so forth. They end up getting people into a state which is not too dissimilar to a psychotic state but is more balanced. When functional, it perhaps is more like a highly imaginative child’s state. I would not call it healthy!
I'm new to you and your writing, but so far I find you to be wise and your writing to be extremely valuable. Thank you for taking the time to express these critical thoughts so well. It will arm me with better, more concise ways to advocate for justice in the face of my government's inhuman actions. I aspire to do the same for others.
Mental illness vs health must always be defined, in some capacity, by the normative. There is no description in nature or objective account that says it is bad to have psychotic delusions of your organs being replaced, or being so depressed that you want to kill yourself. That fundamentally involves a judgement (even if it seems easy and obvious, and even though it is informed by reality)
I also think it is quite a sleight of hand to say that condemning self-immolation is equivalent to condemning all heterodox beliefs. Nobody is earnestly arguing that having different beliefs in and of itself is not something we should say constitutes illness. Feeling sad or upset should not be considered illness.
I do have some sympathy for your line of reasoning, but I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider the desire to self immolate in the context that this individual did to be considered illness however. It falls well outside cultural norms and involves harm to self and fails rationality.
This is definitely one of the most crucial topics, and the vital insights you shared are incredibly invaluable. Undoubtedly, neglecting our mental health can have a profound impact on our lives, leading to intolerable moral decline and failure. Misinterpretations and misconceptions about mental illness can also contribute to stigma and prevent us from seeing the whole picture or the truth. Before we judge Aaron Bushnell's behavior and mental health or define his actions as self-sacrifice or suicide, we must differentiate between being mentally unwell, as you thoughtfully call it, being insane, and being a psychopath. There is nothing to be ashamed of for being mentally unwell because we are humans, and, predictably, we can encounter some tragic or unpleasant events or stressors that can trigger major depression disorder or anxiety. Being mentally unwell, it is not necessary to lead to self-harm, depending on the severity of our condition and our coping with it. Being insane is a severe condition that can lead not only to harming ourselves but also to harming others, which doesn't apply to Aaron, as he never hurt anyone before, and this proved that he never intended suicide. Being a psychopath is the most dangerous and unfortunately common condition in our world; they cope only by constantly harming, manipulating, and stealing others' lives without any regard for the laws or feeling guilty. Sadly, Aaron didn't intend suicide or self-sacrifice; he was forced to sacrifice himself or extinguished by a psychopath leadership and power that led us since the inception of our humanity and victimized by an insane and unjust society; they only survive by destroying our dreams and shedding our blood; and to do that, they must distract us from our primary goal, and rather than fighting for our freedom, we argue with each other about our religious beliefs and how we define Aaron's behavior. Because they fear their power, they must keep them silent; our world's psychopath leaders continue manipulating our heroes, who are torn between two options: being children's killers or sending a false message to the world that they are merely insane and not capable of fighting for their freedom. Aaron's self-sacrifice didn't intend to raise awareness for Gaza's genocides, as the world already knows about it; it was a wake-up call for his peers so they don't end up with the same destiny and to remind them of the King's message "A time to break the silence."
I truly appreciate your tremendous efforts and priceless wisdom.
I don't know if people are questioning Bushnell's sanity merely because he didn't conform to social norms. I think they are appealing to a natural law that transcends social norms, i.e. that it is natural for us to preserve our lives and unnatural for us to seek to destroy our own lives.
ZioTurd Genocider Shitpiro is the one with the mental illness!
Zionism is a disease. Speaking TRUTH is the cure! Free Palestine 🇵🇸