Aaron Bushnell's Refusal to Dissociate: Reflections from an Anarchist Therapist
Channel: Come Together Counseling
Date: 2024-03-16

What's in a label?

Some conservatives, including his own mom, have been deriding Aaron Bushnell as "crazy" or "mentally ill" following his recent self immolation in protest of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. It's much more conceivable to them that Aaron's sense of reality was totally off base than to imagine that maybe - MAYBE - he has a point. The genocide must be stopped.

As an anarchist therapist and scholar of history, this is something I can affirm happens again and again. Whenever someone speaks truth to power, they will be the one who is labeled unwell, a problem, rather than the problem that they've identified. Our society should be thankful that people can tell the truth in difficult circumstances, yet so often we punish people.

From my perspective, "crazy" or "mentally ill" is not even a framework I would use. Instead I would look at Aaron's actions, indeed the story of his life, as being a disavowal of dissociation. He was someone who had political convictions, presence of mind, and a determination to act.

Does that mean we all should go out and set ourselves on fire as well? I don't think so. Instead, I think that what Aaron is asking of us, is for us to break our dissociation as much as we can as well. And with a clear presence of mind, decide for ourselves what we would like to do about injustice in the world.

Journaling prompts: What happened? How are you feeling about it? What is this connected to in your history?

00:00 Introduction
00:45 Chapter One: What is a healthy response to genocide?
03:32 Chapter Two: Aaron has been refusing to dissociate this whole time!
10:16 Chapter Three: A Brief History of Self Immolation
12:07 Chapter Four: What does it mean to be crazy?
17:18 Chapter Five: What Aaron is asking of us
24:09 A Conclusion and A Question

Sources:

Philly Palestine Coalition Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillypalestinecoalition/

Community of Jesus: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/community-of-jesus-orleans-cape-cod-massachusetts-abuse-allegations-wbz-tv/

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/school-of-secrets-grenville-christian-college/

CrimethInc. article: https://crimethinc.com/2024/02/29/memories-of-aaron-bushnell-as-recounted-by-his-friends

Group Behavior Gal TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellamestyanekyoung

Self Immolation History and Images: https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7126655

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108231887

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50181502

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/self-immolation-survivor-looks-back-at-arab-spring-a-1072814.html

https://www.facebook.com/USAFQuincyRecruiting/photos

Book Covers from Amazon

Stef Kaufman on the Death Panel podcast:  https://soundcloud.com/deathpanel/legitimate-protest-and-the-construction-of-reason-w-stefanie-lyn-kaufman-mthimkhulu-022924

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cometogethercounseling?fan_landing=true

Intro/Outro music by CAMPERGRAY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3geOZzWJmUTkxpX8BPIRTI