In Memoriam Aaron Bushnell

On Mortality I

On Mortality I

In Memoriam Aaron Bushnell

Heidegger, I was taught at university, argued that modern society, especially by means of technology, pushes the notion of mortality beyond the horizon of our everyday lives; we forget that we’re mortal and that death is always near.

The media shuns the very notion of death; youth, energy, material success, “positive thinking”, are the focus of our worlds and the reason so few are willing to confront the reality of the Death Cult is because they’re unwilling to confront the reality of death itself.

The ongoing Genocide by Jab, Hospital Holocaust and, even more dramatically: the ongoing genocide in Gaza have pushed the reality of mortality to the fore.

We’re complicit, by virtue of our docility and supine submission, in all three. This fact leaves us exposed to the charge of murder. In the same way that the Nazis argued that there were “no innocent Jews”, the Zionazis currently argue there are “no innocent Palestinians”, the fundamentalist Jihadis, working at the behest of the Deep State, will argue that there are “no innocent Americans, Israelis or Europeans”.

We’re all responsible for what goes on around us. There are those among us who prefer to look away when confronted with the huge increase in death tolls, the strange blood clots, the testimonies of nurses concerning the deadly effects of protocol and the sickening accounts of what is currently going on in Gaza but it’s unwise and imprudent to do so. Burying one’s head in the sand changes nothing.

One of the strongest arguments in favour of pacifism is that we refuse to participate in the violence fostered and furthered by the Satanists governing the Deep State. What they want is bloodshed, misery, pain, death and destruction. By refusing to “defend one’s country” (the oldest trick in the book) one refuses participation in evil. As Smedley Butler pointed out years ago: war is invariably a racket and anyone who thinks otherwise merely a fool. This is why talk of conscription in the UK, talk of creating “war-time” economies, and talk of “supporting Israel and the Ukraine” must be strenuously opposed. We know the aim of the exercise: the escalation of war, the spread of fear and destruction (all in the hope of “building back better”), and the extermination of much of the human race.

What, however, if one has already been tricked into “serving one’s nation with honour” and if one is already directly involved in the crime? Should one release data and “speak out”, in the way that Bradley/Chelsea Manning did, and risk prosecution, or should one follow the example of Aaron Bushnell and sacrifice oneself? Should one make a blood sacrifice? And what if the sacrifice is in vain? Aaron Bushnell’s action wasn’t, apparently, isolated; the first person, a woman, who set herself on fire in protest at the genocide was simply ignored by the media.

What will the effect of Aaron Bushnell’s action be? Have we all become too brutalised by the ongoing genocides to register his pain? Have we all become dumbed down, moral zombies? Will we even recognise the significance of his act? Or will the Satanists of the Deep State simply delight in it?

Little is known about him.

It has been reported[1]:

“Aaron Bushnell walked toward the gates of the Israeli Embassy on Sunday… doused himself with a liquid and set himself on fire. He had posted a video online saying he did not want to be “complicit in genocide.” He shouted “Free Palestine” as he burned.”

Why exactly one of the security detail pointed a gun at him while another tried to extinguish the blaze will remain something of a mystery.

“Bushnell was raised in a religious compound in Orleans, Mass., on Cape Cod, according to Susan Wilkins, 59, who said she was a member of the group from 1970 to 2005. She said that she knew Bushnell and his family on the compound and that he was still a member when she left. Wilkins said she heard through members of Bushnell’s family that he eventually left the group.”

“Wilkins’s account is consistent with those of multiple others who said Bushnell had told them about his childhood in the religious group or who had heard about his affiliation from his family members.”

“The Air Force said in a statement Monday night that Bushnell’s death is under investigation by military officials, a common practice after the death of a service member. He was a cyberdefense operations specialist with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, and had been in the Air Force since May 2020, the service said.”

“Lupe Barboza, 32, said she met Bushnell in San Antonio in 2022 at an event for a socialist organization. She said they bonded over their politics and started working together to deliver clothing and food to people experiencing homelessness.”

 “He was outraged, and he knew that no one who is in charge is listening to the protesters out there every week,” Barboza said. “He knows that he has privilege as a White man and a member of the military.”

“Other friends from San Antonio said they had talked with Bushnell about the Palestinians and their shared distaste for the U.S. role in the Israel-Gaza war.”

Will Aaron Bushnell’s noble sacrifice, his blood sacrifice, be in vain? Is self-destruction permissible under such circumstances? Was it the “right thing to do”? These are thorny questions we must all meditate upon.

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[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/26/israeli-embassy-airman-fire-death-gaza/