Left-handed individuals celebrate Aaron Bushnell’s tragic death and show indifference towards potential copycats.
Progressives emphasize the importance of handling mental-health issues responsibly and sensitively. This is why trigger warnings, sensitivity readers, and similar measures are advocated for, right?
However, some on the left seem to abandon these principles when it comes to using mental health as a tool to promote their own agenda. They are willing to exploit and glorify a suicide to further their cause.
In the wake of Aaron Bushnell’s suicide, a member of the Air Force who took his own life in protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza, certain prominent left-wing figures have recklessly responded in a way that seems to glorify his death.
While it is important to acknowledge the struggles of someone who was clearly suffering, it is concerning to see influential figures praising his actions, especially considering the well-documented “contagion” effect that glorifying suicide can have.
Left-wing academic Cornel West, presidential candidate Jill Stein, former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, and others have hailed Bushnell as a hero, with some even calling him a martyr. This narrative of suicide as a form of political protest has been widely spread on social media platforms like TikTok.
This is dangerous, especially for vulnerable young individuals who may be influenced by such messages. The glamorization of suicide has been shown to prompt copycat behavior, putting more lives at risk.
Not everyone on the left has embraced this narrative, with voices like Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern criticizing the valorization of suicide as a legitimate form of protest.
Critics of Israel’s actions have the right to raise their concerns, but it is important to do so without endangering the lives of vulnerable individuals.
Brad Polumbo is an independent journalist, YouTuber and co-founder of BASEDPolitics.
Twitter: @Brad_Polumbo
