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I feel ashamed of how I used to think and act.

Hey friend, I would like to offer you a reframing of this situation. Despite being exposed to some of the strongest cultural indoctrination into warmongering and the military, you made it out and embraced empathy and learning. That's huge. I'm proud of you, that's a positive change most people never make. You should be proud of it.

I just hope that is makes it’s way down the ranks

You have a powerful and important story. Sharing it like you did just now helps more than hopes can. Keep sharing it, you never know who might be reading it and encouraged to question the lessons they were taught.

Cringing and being disappointed in our previous selves is a good thing. It shows growth and learning. Don't be too hard on yourself

I’m 100% with you. The deprogramming took years. It feels like I wasted so much of my life, and I’m still trying to figure out where I fit in. What’s almost worse than knowing so many vets are still so brainwashed is watching people who didn’t go through the same programming shill even harder for regressive destruction. I work on a construction site and have to listen to these overconfident fascist blowhards rant all day.

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you continue to tell it. Your point about high school education is important.

At the time the Iraq war was kicking off, I happened to have a history teacher that made us spend every Friday discussing current events. She made it clear to us that the premise of WMDs in Iraq was a lie and that the war would turn out like Vietnam. All these years later these ideas are not controversial, but way back then she said it when many people were saying the opposite. Needless to say, it kept me out of the military and helped me understand what was going on. Critical thinking is so important and we need capable public educators who can encourage young people to think for themselves. It can have a major impact on the life paths people choose.

crazy radical anarchist

Yeah because setting ourselves on fire is just something us "crazy radical anarchists" do on a regular basis.

Weeeelllll back in the day we called soldiers "baby killers" and then after 9/11 we had to jerk every military member off we saw and repeat "thank you for your service" with a handful of dick.

Just watched that documentary earlier this week. Really good documentary and highly recommend it.

You are correct... Bushnell isn't even the first USian to self-immolate as a form of protest this decade - the others barely made the news.

While I can't bring myself to criticise people like Bushnell (for obvious reasons), I also cannot endorse it. I don't want to die for a cause - I want to make the fascists die for theirs.

I worry about this too. I don't like self immolation as a form of protest. Normally I'd say it accomplishes nothing, but in this case it did draw a lot of attention -- that by no means though should be an endorsement for others to do this. We can find better, equally effective ways to organize. There's already enough senseless death going on.

I appreciate his gesture, but I wish he hadn't done it. I wish he was alive.

Except for that last part. Don't waste food. And don't destroy unique stuff.(Yes, the van Gogh was protected by glass iirc, but most other paintings aren't) Plenty of ways to get attention without doing irreversible damage to art.

But that means a bunch of GOP Reps and Senators are tankies. They love sucking off Russia!

Does he believe in the state using force to kill and brutally suppress its citizens to enforce their rule and limit democratic freedoms?

Because you can be a leftist and not support that shit by holding positive views of the Soviet Union or China. We don’t call those people tankies, we call tankies tankies.

Holy shit that is him, he's not even mentioned in the article.