Martyrdom only works when there are people paying attention and
   who value you or your 'cause'.

   In 1990, I was at Hampshire College in Amherst MA (never
   finished *sigh* but I had a lot of fun).

   Anyway, six months into it, a guy in town self-immolated. He set
   himself on fire. Burned himself. I smelled it on the campus.
   Gross, disgusting smell. 9/11 was the next time I smelled that
   smell. Anyway, he got a write-up in the paper. There was a cause
   he was doing it for.

   No followup since then.

   Why?

   Nobody cared.

   He was a martyr for nothing and became a by-word.

   "Don't be like that guy who burned himself up for no reason". I
   have the clipping in my files but I don't know his name. I
   suppose he died happy though, so at least there's that. Here we
   are:
   [1]http://www.nytimes.com/.../amherst-journal-candles-in-the...
   Gregory Levy. He died as a war protest. There. Now I know his
   name.

References

   Visible links
   1. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/us/amherst-journal-candles-in-the-snow-honor-suffering.html