If he makes it, he is going to be infinitely full of regret with the consequences he’ll have to live with.
You think he will not just try to commit suicide again?
Why would you think that people who have the courage to act on their principles would regret it?
The amount of self determination it must take to smell the gasoline and still strike the match makes me think that the people who do this are capable of living with the consequences of their actions.
I think you might not know very much about the pain of third degree burns.
I don’t think it’s realistic to assume you understand the mental state of someone who’s already proved they are capable of setting themselves on fire to make a point.
They were suicidal, and now they’re trapped.
They were suicidal
I’ve not heard any reporting say this. I’ve seen internet commenters presume this, but just because someone engaged in an action that could result in their death, doesn’t mean they’re suicidal.
Starting ones self on fire is a suicide attempt, regardless of political motive. This isn’t the same as sky diving or even trying to see the Titanic in a carbon fiber pod, this is pure and simple, self immolation to death that failed, so far.
You don’t have to be suicidal to jump on a grenade
There is a substantial difference between “being suicidal” in the clinical sense and having decided to commit suicide. We have no reason to believe, lacking an avenue for the “self expression” of immolation, that he would have jumped from a bridge or hung himself in the attic. As far as we can tell, he looked at the present political situation and judged that the most effective thing he could do to accomplish what he believed had to be accomplished was by doing something that required the investment of dying. That’s not the same thing as “being suicidal”, though you and I both disagree with his choice for our respective reasons.
You are technically correct, which I hear is the best kind. Equating this individuals self-immolation to draw attention to and emphasize the situation in Gaza to someone who is struggling with mental health is disingenuous.
Starting ones self on fire is a suicide attempt, regardless of political motive.
Is being a soldier assigned to conduct an assault operation also a suicide attempt?
Knowingly doing something that might kill you is not the sole criteria for a suicide attempt. If they weren’t suicidal it wasn’t a suicide attempt.
Third degree burns don’t hurt because the burns destroyed the nerves. Source: Had 3rd degree burns. The skin graft hurt more.
I think someone who has the self determination to go ahead with this expects to not survive. Doing it and unexpectedly surviving and having to live a likely painful rest of your life is different.
That just means he can do it again.
With severe burns, that won’t be true for likely several years, maybe never.
I think what will hurt worse is that the genocide is still talking place and his sacrifice didn’t move the needle as much as he would have expected.
Every sacrafice slowly moves the public opinion needle. There is never a single instance people can point to that instantly changed everyone’s mind.
That said, after Aaron Bushnell I doubt self immolation is going to make much of an impact anymore. Direct action such as blocking highways and israeli arms factories are much more effective now.
I don’t think you can presume to know what he expected when he hasn’t said what he expected, or to know the effect it’s had within a handful of days.
People very rarely survive significant burns. I know the article says 50/50, but he is essentially dead. The infection risk is just too high.
In Matt Nelson’s words:
“My name is Matt Nelson and I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” he said in a video first uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday. “We are all culpable in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
“We are slaves to capitalism and the military-industrial complex. Most of us are too apathetic to care,” Nelson continued. “The protest I’m about to engage in is a call to our government to stop supplying Israel with the money and weapons it uses to imprison and murder innocent Palestinians, to pressure Israel to end the genocide in Gaza, and to support the [International Criminal Court] indictment of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government.”
“A democracy is supposed to serve the will of the people, not the interests of the wealthy,” he added. “Take the power back. Free Palestine.”
I support Palestine, but self harm isn’t the answer. Protesting in this way doesn’t help anyone.
