Crazy? Probably. I mean mental health is this country has been fucked for awhile.
But setting yourself on fire takes some goddamn resolve. He’s clearly trying to get out this message that was so important to him. The saddest part of this whole thing was believing that we wouldn’t be jaded enough to just scoff and change the channel.
Sure it sounds crazy, but goddamn have I been feeling like this whole country has been conned lately. Inflation keeps going up, we keep getting poorer, and the billionaires keep making record profits. Like what the actual fuck? This guy may not have gotten everything right, but the idea that we’ve been conned out of the America Dream by a kleptocracy (the billionaires) that actually rules this country and have been taught by media that we’re helpless in making any real change absolutely rings true.
He posted online to explain his reasoning for this action: https://open.substack.com/pub/theponzipapers/p/i-have-set-myself-on-fire-outside?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Just curious, but was any of those suicides you arrived to a case of self immolation? I get giving up on life, but I can just off the top of my head think of 5 ways to off myself that would be much less painful and take less effort.
Setting yourself on fire kinda has a history of being the most extreme form of protest. This guy clearly did it because he believed that he needed to wake people up to the reality of the world he found himself in. But yes, he was probably also depressed. I don’t blame him. The conclusion he came to is goddamn depressing for all of us. Unless you’re a billionaire.