Inky | Hapless schmuck, former insomniac, comic nerd, inking enthusiast, writer, enjoyer of nachos. 18+ only
x.x yee I don't like the martyrdom either, better to live.
same here. disregarding his personal life and relations, you could argue the act makes for a powerful statement, but a statement by itself accomplishes nothing. or that it serves as inspiration for people to fight back against the oppressors... but what if it doesn't? that's just one less life who CAN fight back. it just feels like a waste.
Saying it makes a powerful statement also risks encouraging others on the precipice to believe that they can allow themselves to give into their ideation if it has meaning as a political protest...
My understanding is that in the broader context of the South Vietnam Buddhist Crisis, Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation (and the terrible, terrible response of the government) was important in ending it (the American government, which the South Vietnamese government relied on for support, basically gave tacit approval for the South Vietnamese government to be coup'd). But that's the only case where I think it did help achieve the person's goal, in all the other cases in the modern era I'm not aware of self-immolation leading to the thing the person was protesting changing in response.