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this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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Luigi Mangione represents an idea that is uncomfortable to certain people in power. It's okay to attribute millions of deaths to Hitler when he gives the order to kill and condones the decisions his subordinates make to carry out that order. But they don't want to let the poors normalize the idea that a healthcare CEO should be considered similarly responsible for many intentional deaths when he gives the order to deny as many claims as possible especially when they are clearly valid and urgently needed. Brian Thompson is responsible for many deaths. It's not fair to say he isn't just because he didn't kill directly with a gun.
At the end of the day, I think the problem is that so many people don't identify Thompson as a killer. I think if more people saw Thompson as a killer, sympathy would be less controversial.
I don't condone vigilante murder, but this is a case where I think the calculus that Mangione did to conclude the benefits of his action outweigh the consequences was probably correct and that there wasn't a more reasonable way to address his grievance. And if you do something wrong and it turns out for the best, you still did something wrong, so get outta here ya little rascal and don't let me catch you again.
How so?
There are only so many ways to increase profits in a medical insurance company:
Any CEO sees the same options, so killing one won't really solve anything. You get to send a very public message, yes, how likely is that to change something? Not very, especially with the incoming administration.
So to me, killing a CEO is very likely to result in either imprisonment and/or death and unlikely to directly cause change. It'll spark some discussion on the news, but is that really worth throwing your life away?
Maybe it was the best way he saw to bring immediate attention to his cause, but I don't think it's the best way to actually fix anything. He's a CS student, surely he could learn some hacking skills and access some internal communications that exposes illegal activity, no? That takes longer, but is probably more effective at actually sparking change than murder.
It would be swept under the rug, maybe get prosecuted and fined for q token amount.
There are three ways just off the top of my head that this improves the situation.
It puts fear into the people murdering the masses through policy, other CEOs might think twice now.
It makes people think and talk about this, and put the topic of healthcare CEOs being murderers into the public discourse.
It showcases that public support, actually bipartisan public support exists for positive change, it's just not on the ballot. Some smart politician might figure out how to ride that wave into office.
Will they though? Mangione is behind bars, the media has largely sided with the CEO, and other insurance CEOs are probably getting police protection. The net result is probably more spending on personal protection, video security, etc.
None of this is surprising, and AFAICT, nothing has changed. And I don't expect anything to change. He'd do far more good working for an insurance company and whistleblowing, hacking in from outside and exposing them, or any other number of things.
Are those benefits you mentioned worth throwing your life away for? I personally don't think so, at least not while alternatives exist.
It made another insurance company walk back terms that were going to set a limit on the amount of time surgeries could take or they wouldn't cover them. The company announced it the morning after and walked it back that afternoon.
I'm not sure it justifies things, or the cost this change came at, but it is prettt direct evidence of an insurance company thinking twice
Maybe in the short term, but they'll likely try something similar soon. The problem isn't the policy (which is bad), the problem is the timing. Once Mangione isn't in the spotlight, they'll probably try again.
I know "it will still happen later", but the fact that it didn't happen right now has already saved lives.
People sided with Luigi, and it showed that health insurance CEOs can be shot and killed relatively easily, and that it works in sending a message.
The police protection won't save anyone, but it will remind both them and the masses that this is something that can happen.
Some people did, but not everyone. We get the side from leftists here on Lemmy and other social media platforms that cater to young people on the left, but that's a niche within a niche.
Here are some stats from the Miami herald (media bias says center-left w/ high factual reporting):
This was on Dec. 13, just days after the murder.
It certainly sent a message, but that message was different for different audiences.
who's owns the media?
Lots of people...
lots of very very rich people
Hell, not even that many rich people any more due to all the consolidation.
But bro it is publicly traded company so if you got 401k, then you are likely an "owner" too🤡