Caitlin quoted Bukowski today at the end of her writing.
Quoting the same man, I would like to add another...."what matters most is how well you walk through the fire”.
Charles Bukowski
When you read comments every day following or based on the writings by someone like Caitlin, given time, you really start to feel that you know the writers. You often wonder the fires they may have been forced to walk through. Especially the radical commenters. A small comment here about an ethnic background; an historical event that has impacted someone positively or negatively; an opinion seemingly so extreme that you dismiss it as motivated by either hate or anger or misunderstanding. You do not write that person off as a radical but make a mental note to see what they say tomorrow, or next week.
You form a conclusion. It takes time. We have a most interesting cross section of responders.
Right now, we are all walking through Bukowski's fire, as above., some quickly, some slowly. Some feel the flame, some just a fraction of warmth while others wonder what all the fuss is about in the first place.................
.......and then, right in the middle of all this, someone does walk through the fire, literally, and this act forces one to read what he said...... you remember the man, so you read it again. For that person there are no more fires, he has run his race. Words like those are never to be forgotten. Now 14 months past....
A moral and extremely courageous man, Aaron Bushnell, said that he was protesting against "what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers" and declared that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide".
The world should read his words over and over again.
Thank-you for sharing that. you are an astute observer, perhaps one of the few who is capable of walking through the fire, not run madly screaming through it like most of us.
That you can also quote Bukowski sheds light on you, but that you remember Aaron Bushnell is such manner is paradoxical ,because in a sense in his determination to cease to be complicit he fled from the fight. I do not condone or condemn him, such is the enigma of being , to be simultaneously courageous and coward.
An act he thought would be of value .....and it was. His reasons, totally selfless for he gained nothing, but I, like thousands of others, will never forget his motivation.
Do the Zionists not believe their acts are of value? Belief is not material but bares so much weight on us, All beliefs which bring a life to end are for me tragedy,
I appreciate the comment, and I share your sentiment. However, just because you cannot conceive what another can does not negate their perceptions. I do understand how my use of a particular word may be uncomfortable for many, but then again, I am not "the many", I am just one person with my own view.
I can acknowledge the courage it takes to sacrifice one’s life for a cause while simultaneously recognizing the lack of courage in doing so. It takes courage to live, to endure, to fight. The people of Gaza do not set themselves aflame; they fight to live. They refuse to die willingly. The evil forces perpetuating this decades-long tragedy are not troubled by any death, in fact, they applaud when a dissenting voice silences itself.
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you're doing it. Right now.”
“I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I'm about to engage in an extreme act of protest — but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
these statements were not meant for the evil forces.
Perhaps in away yes, his voice is not silenced, if there are others such as yourself who make certain his words do not die. I myself can not reconcile this quandary, the contradictions remain all too tragic, thank-you for not letting his voice be silenced.
(2) Courage comes in many forms. There is (a) courage to sacrifice your life to make a statement or achieve an outcome (b) courage to tolerate unlivable conditions (mentally or physically).
To assert that 'to sacrifice one's life to make/induce a change in another's thinking and on the world' is not courageous would be a blatantly myopic perspective.
You may consider 'a suicide' to be an act lacking courage, but if you've had any experience with suicides (eg. working at a suicide hotline, or having a friend/loved one commit suicide) you would understand (and appreciate) other perspectives other than your own.
Yes , sadly many have taken their own lives. As for you second point, I will not waste your time, you have already identified I am deficient in comprehension skills.
Caitlin quoted Bukowski today at the end of her writing.
Quoting the same man, I would like to add another...."what matters most is how well you walk through the fire”.
Charles Bukowski
When you read comments every day following or based on the writings by someone like Caitlin, given time, you really start to feel that you know the writers. You often wonder the fires they may have been forced to walk through. Especially the radical commenters. A small comment here about an ethnic background; an historical event that has impacted someone positively or negatively; an opinion seemingly so extreme that you dismiss it as motivated by either hate or anger or misunderstanding. You do not write that person off as a radical but make a mental note to see what they say tomorrow, or next week.
You form a conclusion. It takes time. We have a most interesting cross section of responders.
Right now, we are all walking through Bukowski's fire, as above., some quickly, some slowly. Some feel the flame, some just a fraction of warmth while others wonder what all the fuss is about in the first place.................
.......and then, right in the middle of all this, someone does walk through the fire, literally, and this act forces one to read what he said...... you remember the man, so you read it again. For that person there are no more fires, he has run his race. Words like those are never to be forgotten. Now 14 months past....
A moral and extremely courageous man, Aaron Bushnell, said that he was protesting against "what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers" and declared that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide".
The world should read his words over and over again.
Thank-you for sharing that. you are an astute observer, perhaps one of the few who is capable of walking through the fire, not run madly screaming through it like most of us.
That you can also quote Bukowski sheds light on you, but that you remember Aaron Bushnell is such manner is paradoxical ,because in a sense in his determination to cease to be complicit he fled from the fight. I do not condone or condemn him, such is the enigma of being , to be simultaneously courageous and coward.
Tre Peperoncini
An act he thought would be of value .....and it was. His reasons, totally selfless for he gained nothing, but I, like thousands of others, will never forget his motivation.
Reason enough for Aaron..
Let his name, like Rachel Corrie’s, never be forgotten, Con.
Do the Zionists not believe their acts are of value? Belief is not material but bares so much weight on us, All beliefs which bring a life to end are for me tragedy,
there is no way i can conceive of him as a coward. he did not flee the fight, imo.
I appreciate the comment, and I share your sentiment. However, just because you cannot conceive what another can does not negate their perceptions. I do understand how my use of a particular word may be uncomfortable for many, but then again, I am not "the many", I am just one person with my own view.
I can acknowledge the courage it takes to sacrifice one’s life for a cause while simultaneously recognizing the lack of courage in doing so. It takes courage to live, to endure, to fight. The people of Gaza do not set themselves aflame; they fight to live. They refuse to die willingly. The evil forces perpetuating this decades-long tragedy are not troubled by any death, in fact, they applaud when a dissenting voice silences itself.
his voice is not silenced. i'll quote him again:
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you're doing it. Right now.”
“I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I'm about to engage in an extreme act of protest — but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
these statements were not meant for the evil forces.
Perhaps in away yes, his voice is not silenced, if there are others such as yourself who make certain his words do not die. I myself can not reconcile this quandary, the contradictions remain all too tragic, thank-you for not letting his voice be silenced.
>>"The people of Gaza do not set themselves aflame; they fight to live. They refuse to die willingly."
I feel compelled to contradict you on these assertions ->
(1) Suicides in Gaza have increased post Oct.7 (https://rebelmouthedbooks.squarespace.com/blog/2024/5/8/suicide-in-gaza-an-invisible-arm-of-genocide). Not everyone can maintain their sanity and mental health in a Genocide perpetrated by Israel - the likes of which have not been experienced since WW2.
(2) Courage comes in many forms. There is (a) courage to sacrifice your life to make a statement or achieve an outcome (b) courage to tolerate unlivable conditions (mentally or physically).
To assert that 'to sacrifice one's life to make/induce a change in another's thinking and on the world' is not courageous would be a blatantly myopic perspective.
You may consider 'a suicide' to be an act lacking courage, but if you've had any experience with suicides (eg. working at a suicide hotline, or having a friend/loved one commit suicide) you would understand (and appreciate) other perspectives other than your own.
Yes , sadly many have taken their own lives. As for you second point, I will not waste your time, you have already identified I am deficient in comprehension skills.
>>"As for you second point, I will not waste your time, you have already identified I am deficient in comprehension skills."
Thank you, I appreciate that.