Stunning level of dehumanization

The abandons Saturday Night Live have mentioned various things throughout the show’s 50-year history, which has received enormous cheers from viewers. But the past two Saturdays may have been the first time that person Draw a cry of joy Arrested for cold-blooded assassination

A sudden round of applause went to Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. The husband and father of two teenage sons was walking to an investor meeting in Manhattan. when he was shot in the back and leg Police called the shooting a scene, which Mangione pleaded not guilty to.”premeditated plan ahead Targeted attack–

So how did Mangione become a folk hero? It wasn’t just the crowd that attended. Live broadcast– one Economist / YouGov opinion poll It shows that 39 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds view him favorably at the same time. one An Emerson College poll showed that 41 percent of the cohort found assassination acceptable. At least a hundred people showed up at court hearing To support Mangione

The main explanation for Mangione’s lionization is anger at America’s health care system in general. and especially the health insurance industry. In the high costs, profits and denial of coverage for many, Thompson embodied a system they thought was not merely broken. but also evil They viewed his killing as a protest against a system that had taken advantage of them. No one can credibly argue that Thompson’s murder will do the same thing to fix the problems in America’s health care system. But for some people His murder seemed cathartic. While others greeted the development with open joy.

Hours after Thompson was killed UnitedHealthcare Post Statement on Facebook: “We are deeply saddened and shocked by the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Brian Thompson,” within a few days. More than 71,000 people responded with a laughing emoji.

Reporter Taylor Lawrence tell Piers Morgan was “happy” at news of the shooting. (When Morgan reacts in shock Lawrence then backtracked, saying: “Maybe not happy (But it’s certainly not sympathy.) Professor of Bioethics at St. Petersburg Louis University Share The story of her frustration with UnitedHealthcare Declaring that while she wasn’t celebrating Thompson’s killing she was “not sad” because “the chickens came home to rest,” one person commented on a video of the shooting online. say“Think and deduct with your family. Unfortunately, my regrets are outside the network.” Another write“My only question is, did the CEO of United Healthcare die so quickly or spend months waiting to find out if his insurance would cover the cost of treatment for his fatal gunshot wound?” A street sign in Seattle say–One little CEO Many more to go–

TThe chicken exists People like Jia Tolentino, staff writer for The New YorkerWho said she holdsanti-capitalist view” and believe “America’s health care system is profoundly immoral” in an appearance on Amanpour & Co. to discuss about essay She has written about the murder of Thompson Tolentino. say“There are many different types of violence. Someone shot someone on the street. I think our health care system is quite another one.”

Tolentino picked up the idea. Friedrich Engels’s “social murder” It is a term for a society that maintains the necessary conditions for the survival of its people. For Tolentino Describing America’s policies on minimum wage, housing, and especially health care, she said: “I just think there are a lot of ways to unjustly end someone’s life. And it’s immoral before it’s over.” One of them is the kind of violence that we hold dear in this country. It is a single person who has a weapon intended to harm another person and then causes the crime. But there are many ways to end life early, unfairly, and immorally. And denying health care is one of them.” Mangione is celebrated as a folk hero, she explains, “for taking away people who were seen as a danger to public safety.”

But Tolentino isn’t finished yet.

“If people want to create CEOs of deeply immoral companies, If we want to make their lives happy.” At this point, she smiled and chuckled. “We can do that without shooting them.” She still encouraged. So even though Tolentino doesn’t brazenly support murder, But you could be excused for wondering if she had any sympathy for those who turned Ivy League graduates brazenly accused of murder into folk heroes. In the end In her own estimation, Brian Thompson, the man Mangione shot in the back. He himself is responsible for “Social murder”

Wmany people hat who are celebrating Thompson’s death and destroying UnitedHealthcare Doesn’t seem to understand or doesn’t seem to want to understand. That is, in every modern health care system. Some institutions were charged with overseeing rationing. Some are bureaucratic, others are private, for-profit or not-for-profit insurance companies. In America, it’s a mix of all three. Many insurance companies, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente, are not-for-profit organizations. The largest insurance companies are Medicare and Medicaid, which are single-payer public programs. So is the Department of Veterans Affairs. Other insurance companies It’s a for-profit company, like UnitedHealthcare.

You don’t have to be a big fan of that method. UnitedHealthcare The decision was made in recognition of the difficulty of mediating between providers and patients. Private insurance companies make allocation decisions in a relatively transparent way. But it is often far from simple or entirely fair. But if they didn’t do it Well, someone else has to do it, Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute tells me. The reality of scarcity isn’t their fault, and it’s not “social murder.”

As an intermediary in the health care system, it plays a necessary role in administering rations. UnitedHealthcare It inevitably makes terrible decisions and makes complete mistakes. and even if coverage is cut based on a calculated cost-benefit calculation that is preventable. This may cause serious damage. Something for patients and loved ones to hear. So there is legitimacy to the frustration and anger that many feel, however, resorting to deadly violence is frightening and ominous. So are applause and assassinations.

America’s health care system is definitely flawed. But that’s not his fault. UnitedHealthcare Only countries such as the United Kingdom It provides one-time public health services that Tolentino praises. There is a long waiting list for treatment. Massive personnel shortage and outdated hospital infrastructure. Public satisfaction with the UK National Health Service is Lowest in 40 years– Only 29 per cent of the British public are “somewhat” or “very satisfied” with the NHS.

Alan Milburn, a member of the Labor Party and the British Secretary of State for Health Many years ago I accepted what is still true.: “The NHS system is like any other health system in the world, both public and private. Never or will not provide all the care that is theoretically possible. That might be true. This is despite the fact that all of the UK’s gross domestic product is spent on health care.”

ligamentConsider what happened. When the logic of those celebrating Mangione is applied to other issues. Some Americans believe that abortion is murder. And those who support abortion deserve punishment for their complicity with evil. Imagine that after an attack on an abortion clinic. One reporter said “I just think there are a lot of unfair and immoral ways to end someone’s life before they end it. One of them is the violence that we hold dear in this country. It is a single person who has a weapon intended to harm another person and then causes the crime. But there are many ways to end life early, unfairly, and immorally. Aborting the unborn child is one of them.”

And they may continue. “There are many different types of violence. Someone shot someone on the street. I think the organization that facilitates abortion is another pretty obvious one.”

The list of organizations and individuals that can be targeted because critics on the left or right believe they support policies that lead to endless suffering or death: the gun rights lobby; People who want to protect the police People who oppose childhood vaccinations and those giving those vaccines Group that wants to cut funding for global AIDS initiatives Those who want the United States Withdraw from the Paris climate agreement Those who oppose a higher minimum wage So who decides which Americans are guilty? “Social murder”? The writing team at The New Yorker– And by what act shall we justify those who commit murder by omission rather than by crime? Engels’ words“Disguise, malicious murder. You can’t protect yourself when you murder someone”?

ohDecember 9thBrian Thompson’s family and friends gathered at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, Minnesota, to mourn his loss. Thompson grew up in a working-class family in Manewell, Iowa; He seems to be well-liked by everyone who knows him.

“He was just a farm kid living in rural Iowa,” said Taylor Hill, Thompson’s close friend since childhood. tell at new york times– “Everyone gets along with him. And he gets along with people.” He was a wonderful, goofy, funny, smart person who was there for me throughout the years I knew him.”

at Jewell’s South Hamilton High School. time Thompson is reported to be a student. Star athlete, homecoming king, and class president. One teacher described Thompson as an excellent student, an example of a “smart kid” as a corporate leader. He made himself unrecognizable. Friends and colleagues remember him as mild-mannered and unassuming. Down-to-earth and not self-deprecating. He is an ardent supporter of the Special Olympics. and was a devoted father to his sons, Bryce and Dane. His obituary described his love for his sons:unlimited–

“Brian is a loving, generous and incredibly talented man. He lived life to the fullest and touched so much,” said his wife, Paulette Thompson. told Fox News–

“A lot of people are judging him. Without knowing him at all,” Hill said. time– “And it’s not right. That’s not him. It’s just sad what happened. And it’s even more sad what people are trying to turn him into.”

Thompson Funeral service There were those who loved him at the event. But there must still be dozens of regular soldiers. Drones fly overhead. and a police sniper stationed on the roof of the church. A security code is required to enter the church and Thompson’s home. Received a fake bomb threat After he was assassinated

A celebration of murder and the transformation of accused murderers into sex symbols and modern-day cult hero Robin Hood. It requires an astonishing level of dehumanization. It is only slightly less shocking when the journalists covering the story find ways to make excuses for those celebrating. Because they show social awareness But as angry mobs of social justice activists raged, Their righteous anger needs a target. Figuratively and literally

In the meantime, Bryce and Dane Thompson just spent their first Christmas without their dad.