Listen to his “Mission Statement” performed by Elliot Crown:
Play some music on the piano for this great artist Malachi Ritscher: AMERICAN anti-war protester.
On Friday morning, Nov. 3rd, 2006, near the Ohio Street exit off the Kennedy expressway, during rush hour in Chicago, activist, musician, photographer, and sound engineer Malachi Ritscher doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire, at the Millennium Flame Monument.
When I heard of him that Novemeber 2006, I wrote an ode:
Chariots of Fire take Malachi to Heaven
The Main Stream Media ignored him. He set himself on fire agaist a sign that read: “thou shalt not kill” and set up a video on a tripod and recorded the whole thing. He killed himself (The videotape is with the police, never to be seen).
I put my ode on his blog. Alas I cannot find the words.
Porno messages advertising smut sites smothered my message at the time in 2006. Malachi Ritscher did not die in vain. He is a unique casualty of war and his brave message rings loud.
He publicly burned himself to death in Chicago USA rather than pay taxes that would go to kill others. He committed the most painful form of suicide in a public way to bring attention to the case for ending the war.
informatron 18 April 2009
(poiuytr: updated as requested 11May09)
-----------------
Here are links:
Malachi Ritscher photo : “One last shot, October 2006”
One last shot October 2006
his self-penned obituary: http://www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htm
and “mission statement”: http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm
a page documenting a recent arrest:
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery83.htm
There’s also been some interesting discussion over on the Chicago Reader’s website: http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/post-no-bills/2006/11/07/malachi-ritschers-apparent-suicide/
Malachi at Wiki
And here is Al Jazeera English 11-minute segment which includes interviews with Bruno Johnson, the jazz producer who received postsuicide instructions from Malachi Ritscher, as well as musicians Michael Zerang and Dave Rempis.
49 comments:
I don't necessarily agree with everything Malachi says, but what strikes one like a punch to the solar plexus is the luminous serenity he exudes as he states an obvious fact most of us usually avoid: We only have the one death. Let us make something of it.
Malachi Ritscher's death should not be in vain.
Never let Americans forget his heroic act, no matter how much they wish to hide it.
Most people have never heard of Malachi Ritscher or his actions, but they should.
This blog once wished to set up a section for heroes. Among Americans, I can think of only a few who qualify at the moment: Cynthia McKinney, conscientious objector Lt Ehren Watada and the handful of others who refused to serve or deserted and, now, Malachi Ritscher. Are there any others?
Who wants to be a hero when they can be a martyr? In spite of his disclaimer, Malachi Ritscher was one. Just as Joan of Arc was. Or the countless Muslims are who lay down their lives daily in order to save the world.
Malachi Ritscher's story is very inspiring. I'd never heard of him before. Now that I have, I'll not forget his name and deed. Indeed, may his death not have been in vain.
Mandolin
Here are links:
Malachi Ritscher photo : “One last shot, October 2006”
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery98.htm
his self-penned obituary: http://www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htm
and “mission statement”: http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm
a page documenting a recent arrest:
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery83.htm
There’s also been some interesting discussion about Malachi over on the Chicago Reader’s website: http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/post-no-bills/2006/11/07/malachi-ritschers-apparent-suicide/
Here is his wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malachi_Ritscher
Unfortunately I could not find the thread where a few of his friends paid homage to him, and where I posted my words "Chariots of fire...", and which were then smothered by adds to porno sites.
He sure did pick an appropriate location for his last act: The Flame of the Millennium Monument.
"...stainless steel sculpture, designed by Leonardo Nierman, stands twenty-five feet tall and weighs over seven tons. The piece represents a flame in the wind, as the source of light bringing wisdom and clarity in the new millennium."
http://www.gatewaygreen.org/wdk_gg/wcm/content/programs/international_sculpture_program.jsp
informatron
A wholly poetic man and life. Thanks for additional info. Worth having a closer look at it to understand the fearlessness of the act and its justification.
Malachi R. was certainly admirable. But wasn't his self-immolation just a bit too excessive? Or am I seeing this from the wrong perspective?
And here you can find an 11 minute report by nobody else but Aljazeera English (very informative - scroll down)
http://article19-videoblog.tumblr.com/post/97604947/mission-chariots-of-fire-take-malachi-to-heaven
Right then, I saw the Aljazeera vd. It answers Anon 18.24's query. Aljazeera's own conclusion: Malachai Ritscher died in vain because the video tape of his death was not released seems excessive. Now that we've heard his story, we don't really need to see how he died. We have imagination enough to supply the details. And honour his sacrifice of the only thing remaining him, his body.
No wonder the antiwar protest movement in the US never achieved anything at all if an original, courageous person like Malachai Ritscher killed himself and others had the fear of god put into them through multiple arrests. And now, in any case, they are all too taken up with their own economic problems to have a thought to spare for America's crimes abroad. Howver fabulous, I greatly regret Ritscher's death myself.
Off-topic now - and no disrespect meant - one aspect of all these wars we generally overlook, though poiuytr did bring it up recently in connection with Israel:
The Crusade Against Population
by George C. Leef, Posted May 1, 2009 Population Control: Real Costs, Illusory Benefits by Steven W. Mosher (Transaction Publishers, 2008); 300 pages.
You have probably never heard of Dr. Reimert Ravenholt, but he was one of the most influential people of the 20th century. More than anyone else, Ravenholt was responsible for putting together the worldwide network of population-control programs and agencies. Appointed in 1966 to be the first director of the Office of Population in the United States Agency for International Development, Ravenholt was an arch-Malthusian who saw human fertility as a looming planetary disaster. Backed by a large supply of federal tax dollars, he zealously went about promoting contraception, sterilization, and abortion as the cure for the “plague” of too many children.
The result of Ravenholt’s global crusade against human fertility (which almost always proceeds under such euphemisms as “family planning” or “reproductive health”) has been what Steven Mosher calls in his book Population Control the “white pestilence” — that is, a dearth of children in the population. Mosher, president of Population Research Institute, argues strongly that the Malthusian worry that people would breed themselves into disaster was always wrong, but we do face, if not a disaster, at least severe socioeconomic problems from the fact that in many countries the fertility rate has been below the population-replacement rate for decades.
Mosher has put his finger on another instance of the general case that government intervention in the spontaneous order of the world is counterproductive. When government intervenes, resources are squandered to “solve” a small or imaginary problem and in doing so it creates a large and real problem. I’m delighted that the author has shown that the population-control movement is another of those blunders. As he puts it,
For over half a century, the population controllers have perpetrated a gigantic, costly and inhumane fraud upon the human race, defrauding the people of developing countries of their progeny and the people of the developed world their pocketbooks.
A passionately held but erroneous belief supported by government money and force is always harmful, and Mosher makes a good case that the population- control crusade is one of the worst ever.
The population-control bureaucracy, he shows, usually relies on deception, coercion, and even violence to accomplish its objectives. Local officials are generally paid (with money that came initially from American taxpayers) on the basis of the number of sterilizations and abortions they bring about. Most of them are not much concerned about the rights of the individuals. Mosher recounts many heart-wrenching stories about the despicable tactics of the anti-childbirth enforcers. In any population, you’ll find a percentage of people who have no qualms about using force against their fellow citizens. In Nazi Germany, they were drawn to the Gestapo; in the Soviet Union, to the KGB. Today, that kind of person can find satisfying employment in the “family planning” apparatus in many countries in Asia, Africa, and South America.
All right, it’s too bad if population-control officials sometimes go overboard, but isn’t it crucial that “we” do something to stop human breeding before it’s too late? “We” must take action unless “we” want to face widespread famine, resource depletion, and pollution, don’t we? That is the justification advanced not just by the Ravenholts of the world, but also by the “greens” who proclaim that the world’s population needs to fall dramatically to reach the point of “sustainability.” (Mosher cites one “expert” who states that the ideal population for the United States is only 90 million — less than one-third its present size.) These alarmists have propounded the widely accepted idea that it is irresponsible for parents to have more than two children and that they’re being really friendly to Mother Earth if they have just one child, or none at all.
Mosher offers a powerful rebuttal to the addled notion that it is “healthy” to have a small population and harmful to have a large one. He writes, Malthusian pie-sharing ignores mankind’s most common response to the needs of a growing population: We alter apparently fixed conditions by expanding the inventory of goods and services available. A community with more children is generally going to hire another teacher, not begin rationing downward the years of education that each student will receive.
The larger the population, the more extensive the division of labor can be and the more improvements are discovered. People aren’t pollution.
As I had anticipated, Mosher cites the work of the late Julian Simon, that bête noir of the gloom-and-doom crowd. In his book The Ultimate Resource, Simon punctured the theories of the population-control advocates by showing that larger populations stimulate production. People are not just mouths; they also have brains. After Simon’s work, the idea that population control is imperative stood on ice just as thin as the labor theory of value did, and Mosher reminds us of that.
Population and foreign affairs
As feeble as population-control theory is, there has never been any real debate over the wisdom of population-control programs in government circles. They have been in the hands of zealots such as Ravenholt all along. When challenged on occasion by members of Congress who think their programs are a waste of money, the population-control bureaucracy usually responds by dismissing the skeptics as religious simpletons.
Even the military is, at a strategic level, behind population-control programs in other countries. Mosher reports on a 1988 Pentagon document maintaining that American security is threatened by the combination of low fertility in the West and high fertility in lesser-developed countries. The LDCs might field huge armies against dwindling numbers of American and NATO troops! It is truly an instance of generals’ preparing to fight the last war, or more accurately several wars back. Massive infantry armies predominated in the mid 20th century, but even if poor nations could arm and support huge numbers of soldiers, they are hardly a threat to the United States and its very high-tech military.
On the contrary, Mosher argues, America’s anti-natal campaign engenders hostility that does threaten the country with harm. That’s particularly true in Islamic countries, where contraception and abortion are seen as sacrilegious. Despite efforts at masking the truth, people in those countries know that the United States is behind the population-control measures they detest. “It is no accident,” Mosher writes, “that U.S.-funded medical clinics are targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan, since they are seen as promoting contraception, sterilization, abortion, and sex education, all activities which are anathema not just to the mullahs, but to village elders as well.” So instead of improving America’s strategic position and security, U.S. population-control programs are actually adding fuel to the fire of militant Islam’s hatred of America.
It is ironic that some of the most adamant population-control advocates are environmentalists who believe that it’s always bad to tamper with nature. The anti-natal tampering is leading to some very serious consequences. Consider what the Chinese have managed to do. Owing to their mania for family planning, in just a few decades they will be looking at some unpleasant demographics — a cohort of older people that’s much bigger than the work force needed to support it, and a shortage of young women for young Chinese men to marry. The latter problem is due to the fact that boys are culturally preferred and under China’s draconian one-child policy, female babies are often aborted. Chinese growth and modernization may come to a grinding halt once population numbers reverse.
Most European countries are also facing a demographic crisis. Throughout Europe, the low fertility rates do not result from strict population-control programs, but rather from the confluence of the welfare state and the propaganda that small families are more “responsible.” Mosher points out that those economies face stagnation, as fewer and fewer young workers are available to take the place of those who retire. Furthermore, state pension plans will “hemorrhage red ink” trying to pay all the promised benefits to an elderly cohort that outnumbers the young. European political leaders have been aware of this looming crisis for years and have attempted to reverse the fertility trend with incentives for families to have more children. Those efforts, however, have barely changed the trend lines and Mosher contends that they can’t work. In perhaps the most incendiary lines of this incendiary book, he writes,
The welfare state itself, with its high tax rates and usurpation of family functions, relentlessly drives down fertility. In this sense, it is paternalistic government itself that is the problem.
Humanity has recovered from population disasters in the past, such as the Black Death, but that didn’t distort the balance of the population between old and young. Nor was it coupled with the nasty intergenerational politics of the modern welfare state. Mosher’s excellent discussion of the long-run population problems Americans have created with their tampering with the natural order through population control and welfarism makes his book one of the most thought-provoking I have read in years.
And yet, despite the fact that fertility has been falling around the world and total population is expected to peak in the middle of this century and then begin falling, the anti-fertility movement just keeps going and going, pushing contraception and sterilization in poor countries where serious health needs go unmet. Mosher thinks it is time to take the batteries out of this Energizer Bunny by eliminating its government funding.
Population Control should provoke a long-overdue reassessment of “family planning” programs and the impact of the welfare state.
In connection with above or on its own, an absolute must for anyone interested in Demographics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
After reading the Malachai Ritscher entry in Wikepedia, watching the Al Jazeera video and, naturally, listening to his Mission Statement read out above, two things come to mind.
One - Only if some novelist turns Ritscher into a bestseller can we hope to see him become a US icon. Perhaps the student Jennifer Diaz will do the job?
Two - What struck me in the vd was the loneliness projected. The scene where Ritscher stands on the street corner, a small placard aloft, literally broke my heart. This is the plague which kills millions not Swine Flu and god knows what other kind of diseases they sit and dream up in their labs.
Take the bloggers, now, how many come here because they have nowhere else to go, no-one else to share with?
Their economy may be floundering, their politics lying in perfect tatters, but, lord, their social engineering, of which demographics is such an essential part, has turned out to be a smashing success.
The Flame of the Millenium Monument at Chigago will never be the same for anyone who visits, it is sacred place for Truth.
I liked your comment Anon 09:24. Malachai Ritscher was a loner. This was pointed out on several occasions. How far can a loner hope to go to bring about political change in our crazy world? Whatever, Ritscher will turn into a legend within no time at all and then his job will really be done. Take it from me, long after we've forgotten punks like Bush and Rumsfeld, we'll still be remembering Malachai. The collective memory will see to that.
Amazing, we are not getting any porno blockages here as we give Malachi the respect he deserves.
The Western antiwar movement has been virtually silent about Malachai Ritscher.
Most of these "peace" organizations and groups do not even mention him.
No suprising though, the American antiwar movement in particular is "opposed" to war for all the wrong reasons ... namely, that the USA is not winning.
"Saddam's Execution : The Western Anti-war Movement - the Left Boot of Imperialism?"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=KOL20070101&articleId=4272
15.18
Thanks for that.
Re your reference: Nice thoughts that reflect the man in the street, in the Arab world, at least.
One thing is for sure. The Pentagon has billions to make sure nothing comes out to the public about what is wrong with war.
If Malachi did not give instructions through his mailed parcel, nobody would have known of his act.
The assassination of Saddam was done on a Moslem Feast.
Those ZioUSA psyops really planned to humiliate anybody who resisted, even those who resisted in their thoughts.
I am glad we pay homage to Malachi, who was thought to be dead and gone. This is an act of resistance. Malachi lives!
Yes, all together now, Malachi lives and with him that wholly disregarded commandment: Thou shalt not kill.
Shades of Hasan Akbar, another antiwar hero:
"U.S. soldier kills 5 fellow troops at Baghdad base"
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=1584700&sponsor=
Strange how these things break at the same time, the Malachi story here, then the US soldier killing 5 of his fellow-troops in Baghdad.
Anon 15:18 - When will we see there is no antiwar movement in the west at all. The sheeple are all in favour of others dying so long as their lifestyle remains unaffected. Of course, they haven't really realised yet what effect all these wars will have on their cherished living standards and quality of life.
Having absorbed the updated version, it is obvious Malachai was that rare thing, a man of personal honour and principle. Not just the usual slave running around in circles. Perhaps even the last of the heroes. Though god knows human beings are as capable of the grandiose as of the mediocre.
I remind readers world approaches Greatest and Grandest of Ages.
Sufi.
Consolation for Malachai Ritscher's spirit.
I was very moved by Malachai's tragic fate and the beauty of his self-sacrifice to a higher cause. That anyone could have used porno spam to block out his story is truly disgusting.
Lead US to peace Malachai. We are horribly weary of this daily dying.
Multiply the epitaphs in honour of the graveless man, Malachai, who found the cause greater than preseving life.
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly." (Macbeth)
To burn to death is a horrible way to go. And brave, brave, brave.
I looked up that link, thanks.
Malachai Ritscher was certainly compus mentis, since he was so eloquent.
It's a pity he passed up that opportunity to take out Donald Rumsfeld.
Thank you very much. Ritscher could have done many things, true, but this was probably more on the lines of active-passive suicide. He took "Thou shalt not kill" seriously enough to have spared Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush II. But made an exception in his own case. Also a way to show personal honour and a respect for deep-seated principles. Anyway, now we need someone to remove that scoundrel Gates from our vicinity.
Yes, I suppose what Ritscher did conveys a much better message than killing Rumsfeld would have. Rumsfeld and all the others are sorely in need of execution though.
Let us set up a Malachai Ritscher foundation to illuminate his life and philosophy. Perhaps Informatron could send the comments logged in here, etc. to his friend and music producer and that might well be the beginning of due attention.
Exercise our ghosts and lay them to rest. They'll be all the happier for being free of the living at long last.
You see the message got garbled in transmission, and it was such a profound, tragic one. That's why we're trying to make up for past failure.
Re 12.44 Embarking on an adventure to follow-up to find a contact, I instead found many lovely complementary works put together by others like minded as us here, who, in one way or another, celebrated Malachi. Demonstration, music, poetry, theater, art exhibit.
May I suggest that if you visit any of these links below, and if you are so inclined, please leave a link-back notice in the comments to our celebration page here.
For example, leave something like this, if not already done -- "Malachi has not been forgotten see Mission: Chariots of Fire take Malachi to Heaven (permalink)
Here are the beautiful videos, some hardly seen by anybody (perhaps poiuytr could post the one or two up front embedded -- they are all worth seeing).
Malachi Ritscher Memorial Action (96 views):
"I Heard You Malachi" banner unfurled at The Flame Of The Millennium statue, Kennedy expressway, to remember a man who committed suicide at this site in protest of the Iraq War, about a year ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Zcs86lnyc
The Silence of Malachi Ritscher (156 views): - In this segment, we revisit the case of Malachi Ritscher -- the famed activist who killed himself in protest of the war, and the effect he had on one artistically-minded Chicago group. THEATRE 5.2.1, a Chicago non-profit-pending theatre company, is producing their 3rd play, a new script by Kevin Kilroy. The Silence of Malachi Ritscher, explores the compelling true story of Malachi Ritscher, an activist and Renaissance man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSqXh8H_Ngw
Text discussion of above Theater show here:
http://www.punkplanet.com/coproducer521/blog/silence_of_malachi_ritscher
Flame Of The Millennium (7262 views)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FofY90ULnw
"Lead U.S. To Peace" - for Rebecca Louise Gentry (3231 views)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkiH7RkgEck
Consuming War - Dec 10, 2007 On Sunday from 3 to 5 PM, the Hyde Park Art Center hosts an opening reception for a new exhibit called Consuming War, which “addresses the ways the American media and consumer culture have manipulated and influenced our perceptions of war, often turning it into a spectacle for American consumption."
If you show up early, at 2 PM, you can catch the “Concert for Malachi,” a musical tribute with percussionist Michael Zerang and pianist Jim Baker. The Malachi Ritscher family contributed in support of this event. (unfortunately no music, and no mention of Malachi, in this short but interesting anti-war art video)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2392627719061081624&hl=en
informatron
Right, informatron, we hear you and we shall try and do as you suggest. We hope recognition for Malachai's extraordinary heroism will spread far and wide. Not just among the few privileged persons who knew him from before or who happened to visit this blog and got to know him posthumously. But better late than never, don't you think?
More (by informarton):
Malachi (song dedicated to)
Mecca Normal live in Olympia WA May 3, 2008. Recorded by J. Free. Film by Jean Smith.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8iwj9DkNY4
Anti-War Paintings by BillyDOOM23
#1- Malachi Ritscher- who self-immolated in Chicago before the Democratic convention.
#2- Scars and Scrapes Forever- a flag for our bloody history
#3- Gas Can
#4- Dirty Bomb
#5- Divided America War Dollar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8_L62IugH0
10.53
Yes, clearly it was to cover up. But where it occurred to me was on some BB connected to Malachi's site. I could not find it. There were only about ten comments max before they started spamming with porno adds. I reposted my comments several times, and each time they were drowned out. Others did too.
Now I can't find this thread.
I did not keep a copy of my comment. But that experience made me resolve to bring out Malachi's story and tell the world about the sordid way the Zionists treat a peace loving human being.
informatron
You mean the Zionists treat every human being on eath they encounter. They are hate-defined, brutality-orientated.
I feel sad for the poem you lost, informatron. A lost ode for a lost life. Only neither is really lost, are they? Both are sources of energy and endurance, hence change. That is a law of nature, isn't it? Unassailable and available to us for the good of mankind.
33Mandolin (6 hours ago) - Malachai hasn't been forgotten. See Chariots of Fire Have Taken Malachai to Heaven on "InsurrectionDaily.Blogspot" dot com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FofY90ULnw
Informatron, If I may ask, what is a "permalink"? Thanks.
"Informatron, If I may ask, what is a "permalink"? Thanks."
You are a beautiful person to leave the remark. However, there is no link-back to this page: the link-back is this:
http://insurrectiondaily.blogspot.com/2009/05/mission-chariots-of-fire-take-malachi.html#comments
Just so the people who read your advice can find us.
Best
Sorry, informatron about messing up the You Tube message. The thing is it was the first time I was using the damned thing in this way. I signed on, then I tried to post my few lines. It didn't work. Then I thought they don't accept links perhaps and I tried to cheat. Anyway, I find You Tube far from efficient. But that might simply be my lack of familiarity with the system. Cheers,
Mandolin
RAGE is the word of the day. Then peace as the Sun rises to bring a new life. Peace and Justice.
love
Why RAGE? Unless you're a Tamil. Then it would be rage mingled with despair. The rest of the message is perfect.
Tiens, what a coincidence, this mention of the Tamils. I wonder what Malachai would have made of the suicide of several of the Tigers. Approved, disapproved? In any case, I can't imagine him not showing understanding for their situation.
I don't know anything about the Tamils: are they good or bad? Please clarify.
Read the papers, visit their site. You'll find out fast enough.
Malachai Ritscher haunts the imagination, doesn't he? Below a hint of the personal as well:
Buried on Ritscher's own web site, Chicago Rash Audio Potential, a compendium of invaluable show postings, artwork, and photography, were a suicide note and an obituary. Both indicated that he was deeply troubled by the war in Iraq and pinpointed it as a motive for suicide (no method was specified), though there were indications that he might have had other issues as well. "He had a son, from whom he was estranged (at the son's request), and two grandchildren," read the obit. "He had many acquaintances, but few friends; and wrote his own obituary, because no one else really knew him." Ritscher was a familiar face at antiwar protests, and he was arrested more than once for his involvement. A note found at the scene of the immolation reportedly read "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Sad that someone should need to write their own obituary.
Exemplary behaviour. A man given to acts of selflessness, unlike most of us guided by selfishness alone.
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