Maybe this is disrespectful, but has anybody else been listening to “Born in the USA” a lot since Bushnell’s self-immolation? Given the song’s themes of US imperialism and working class issues, from the perspective of a (former rather than active) member of the US Armed Forces, you know.
I dunno. There’s just something kind of… I dunno how to put it other than “painfully captivating” about someone famous only for his death, especially when that death happened “right before your eyes” in a sense. This tiny moment when this soul enters our collective awareness at the same time as he leaves it, having chosen to dedicate that singular moment to what he stood for. There is only so much we can learn about who he was as a person before that point, and nothing more we will learn after that point because there is literally nothing after that point. It’s like starting a book in medias res right at the end.
Sigh. I hope Bushnell enjoys the afterlife. Free Palestine; death to fascism, colonialism, and imperialism; long live the Palestinians. Though he burned himself and his death was very striking, let us organize and fight and let us remember the myriads killed in this genocide.
Maybe this is disrespectful, but has anybody else been listening to “Born in the USA” a lot since Bushnell’s self-immolation? Given the song’s themes of US imperialism and working class issues, from the perspective of a (former rather than active) member of the US Armed Forces, you know.
I dunno. There’s just something kind of… I dunno how to put it other than “painfully captivating” about someone famous only for his death, especially when that death happened “right before your eyes” in a sense. This tiny moment when this soul enters our collective awareness at the same time as he leaves it, having chosen to dedicate that singular moment to what he stood for. There is only so much we can learn about who he was as a person before that point, and nothing more we will learn after that point because there is literally nothing after that point. It’s like starting a book in medias res right at the end.
Sigh. I hope Bushnell enjoys the afterlife. Free Palestine; death to fascism, colonialism, and imperialism; long live the Palestinians. Though he burned himself and his death was very striking, let us organize and fight and let us remember the myriads killed in this genocide.
This reminded me that the Rascal Flatts cover of this song exists and I must share my pain
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: