Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Political suicide
Desperate acts such as self-immolation are often hard for others to understand. This writer makes an attempt, if not to justify these acts, at least to put them in their proper contexts. How convincing is he? Can you sympathise with those who would do themselves in under desperate circumstances? Can such an act make a difference politically? What do you think about Jan Palach?
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I do not find acts such as self-immolation very hard to understand. They are desperate, but there is an idealogical reason behind every single one mentioned in the article. Those ‘rebels’ believed in their actions and hoped that they could change the way other people would look at the cause. They considered their own death as a last resort, “...nothing has a hope of changing, and everything will remain as before. This they cannot believe.” Mohamed Bouazizi himself is a great example that even such desperate act as self-murder can catalyze massive revolutions within Arab world. Even though he had to pay with his own life, his actions were not worthless, because he gave people hope for change. In many countries, the impossible became a reality. In fact, Bouazizi restored people’s faith in freedom and human rights.
ReplyDeleteIn order for these acts to make a difference politically or socially, the communities have to interpret them correctly and have to make the most out of them. They [acts] are the tools of getting people into the streets, of organizing rallies, protests, and the means of overthrowing governments. Again, the Arab Spring is the proof when one individual provoked masses into rallying. However, without the public notice, the acts are hopeless and of no use.
Jan Palach is another example of giving people an impulse for change. Having to live under the communist rule for his whole life, the invasion of the Soviet army in 1968 would be a very bitter pill to swallow. In my opinion, he was quite similar to other revolutionaries, who just could not look at people losing faith and accepting the dim future. Even though the change was not instant, it was 20 years later during an event devoted to Palach, when the protests broke out. These were the signals of the beginning of the end. Each year during the oppression, on the day of his death, people could think of better tomorrow. I believe it was Jan Palach who gave them the chance, so that they could eventually win the fight for freedom.
We may think of political suicide being an useless act of desperation or insanity (perhaps both), but history shows us that it may have some effect. Take the Easter Rising in Ireland, 1916 for example. A group of men declared Ireland's freedom, for which they were killed by British army. The matter was however not settled by this act, because men realized what could they do and Ireland became free soon after this event. “The Bold Fennian Men” (Peadar Kearney, Down by the Gleanside, 1960?) are revered even now and songs are sung in their honor. So why do we doubt whether such suicides have meaning?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, we (majority of people) have life as the highest priority. This is why we do not understand any form of suicide, not to mention political one. Those men who gave their life for their cause are considered not normal (mostly), because their priorities are not similar to our. This can be generalized to all people: “normal” people are these which share our priorities (it may be more complicated than that, but this I think is a safe generalization). Those men who had done such acts hadn't their life as highest priority, and thus we do not understand them. They are also made fun of by public. If anyone knows writer Terry Deary (author of “Horrible History” series) he is a great example. He makes fun of men who did such suicide or anything similar. He is not the only author who uses such humour though. This means that we not only do not understand motives behind these acts, we also thing they are useless (which is not allways true).
In conclusion, I think that men who commit political suicide are very brave and willing to die for their cause, which is a trait I admire. They are revered as heroes (if their idea succedes) or damned as madmen (if it is forgotten), but they all did it because they hoped their selfless act will help others. I would also like to recommend “V for Vendetta” comic series by Alan Moore where similar acts are discussed and justified.