Torrent of hate for US health insurance industry follows CEO’s killing
The shooting death of a UnitedHealthcare executive in Manhattan has unleashed Americans’ frustrations with an industry that often denies coverage and reimbursement for medical claims.
The fatal shooting Wednesday (local time) of a top UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, on a New York City sidewalk has unleashed a torrent of morbid glee from patients and others who say they have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the hardest times of their lives.
“Thoughts and deductibles to the family,” read one comment underneath a video of the shooting posted online by CNN. “Unfortunately my condolences are out-of-network.”
On TikTok, one user wrote, “I’m an ER nurse and the things I’ve seen dying patients get denied for by insurance makes me physically sick. I just can’t feel sympathy for him because of all of those patients and their families.”
Now look.
Obviously the cold blooded murder of a CEO in the cess pit of self interest that is the American Insurance Industry demands tears from us all and a great gnashing of teeth.
Brian Thompson was only paid $10million last year the poor poppet.
Imagine all those millions of Americans his greedy industry deny coverage to every year while he is on over $10million a year.
We should weep. Poor Brian.
However, maybe, just maybe, the ongoing assassination of CEOs might be a good thing for us all?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not justifying the assassination of Brian, I’m just casually observing maybe it would be better regulated.
Like each December we have a purge pf CEOs rather than just picking the odd one off.
A Season of CEO Purge.
I’m feeling festive.
100 Companies produce 71% of CO2.
Those CEOs don’t give a shit about the damage they are doing and clipping the ticket to Armageddon.
Maybe they would give a fuck about the damage their product causes if there’s an annual purge of CEOs each December when it isn’t illegal to shoot them?
Like Christmas Eve each year for 24 hours we can hunt CEOs of corporations linked to human misery.
If they can profit causing pain for selfish venal reasons, let’s spend 24 hours a year annually hunting them for payback.
Again, not supporting the murder of CEOs, just suggesting we could better regulate it better.
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Unfortunately you’d probably get a bit of scope creep and suddenly there’d be no politicians left. Hmmm let’s investigate this further…
The murderer is an unhinged anti corporate climate change activist.
He’s also privileged, rich and got busted while eating at the ultimate American corporate which is also criticized for Amazon land clearances to make more burgers : Macdonalds.
“The murderer is an unhinged anti corporate climate change activist.”
He murdered but one man, Exxon Mobil are killing billions of men, women and children and multiple species and ecosystems. And you cheer them on.
And so many of this governments policies are destroying lives. That is unhinged. The young man is clearly not unhinged, your comment is a reflection of your own unhinged views Keepcalmcarryon back to your own country.
Squeaky are you suggesting a man who shot another in the back in cold blood is not unhinged?
And you are saying it’s ok to kill someone you don’t like?
Just trying to establish the ground rules the left are giving themselves.
Perhaps we could have a 10 most wanted CEO list ….
1. Elon Musk
2. Geoff Bezos
3. Donald Trump (ears don’t count)
……………….
We could set it to music with Lilith responsible for the rythym
Include people who play crap music too loud on expensive car stereos at 2am on your list and I’m in.
Significant political change and economic re-alignments occur through violence or the fear of it. Was FDR’s New Deal and similar changes globally during the 30’s a magnanimous gesture from capital to the working class? Or was it a fear of the violent outcome in Russia in 1917 and the growing communist movement in the US itself?
Murdering a CEO is not going to change the healthcare industry in the US only make it more entrenched and aggressive. Bipartisan consensus on a fully private health system – and I mean one without Medicare and Medicaid which currently provide 50% of hospital revenue – is going to make US healthcare an even darker place than it is now.
The killing of this CEO has raised an old question: Individual terror or mass action?
In November 1938 a young Jewish man named Herschel Grynszpan assassinated a Nazi official in the German embassy in Paris. Leon Trotsky, then living in exile in Mexico, wrote in response:
“In the moral sense, although not for his mode of action, Grynszpan may serve as an example for every young revolutionist. Our open moral solidarity with Grynszpan gives us an added right to say to all other would-be Grynszpans, to all those capable of self-sacrifice in the struggle against despotism and bestiality: Seek another road! Not the loan avenger, but only a great revolutionary mass movement can free the oppressed, a movement that will leave no remnant of the entire structure of class oppression, national oppression, and racial persecution.”
Luigi Mangione may not be an exact parallel for Herschel Grynszpan, nor Brian Thompson for the Nazi official, but Trotsky’s general point is absolutely relevant.
Yes, very thoughtful comparison.
I wonder if the jury will let him off. Or do they only let off white guys who killed blacks..
Youre telling the story.
It’s the social contract. We opted into civilisation as an act and commitment to cooperate.
But what we have done is allow the jungle of competition to be recreated, where the oppressors hunt with lawyers and networks and trust funds. And all we are allowed to do is complain loudly and be ignored as the powerful in this system continue to do what they want. Until we cross the line and get hunted like Palestinians.
So we either need them to submit to better laws on the books or hunting season is inevitable.
Where did Luigi go wrong? Rather than depriving his “victim” of life, he probably should have just dropped him down a NY sewer with a tracking device to ensure it’d be a while before he surfaced – round about the time his insurance claims were honoured.
But I guess with a constant back pain – he could be excused for not thinking straight.
One thing is for sure, Mr Thompson won’t be thinking his farts smell anymore redolent than His denied claimants.
No, having a sore back or getting an insurance claim denied doesn’t mean you can murder someone.
Reality check.
Yet social murder (an unnatural death that is believed to occur due to social, political, or economic oppression) is acceptable? Think not…
Best you don’t look at how many millions Marxism has killed then.
Youre never gonna get into their exclusive Club..they don’t give a shit about you…Stop glazing the 1% donutz.
Such a shame for the poor boy – smart, good looking, privedged 26/7 year old. I am very sad for him and what will happen to him in his young life for doing what he did. Obviously the pain he was in drove him to it as he would’ve just lived his life and done well but if you are in a chronic state of acute pain you do think differently, much more fatalisticly. And after the mid twenties, it’s quite a fatalistic time….no longer a kid, growing up, having some history. The 27 club is a kinda realisation of life and death. Some people choose death. This kid did, although not his own, tho he pretty much signed a death warrant doing what he did.
There are some parallels with the young killer in Christchurch. A manifesto. A gun. A death. Or in the Christchurch fanatics case, many many innocent deaths. In this shooters case, he has much more sympathy because so many people in the US are totally fucked over by the insurance health industry. Why did this privileged kid ruin his life for a cause he didn’t have to really worry about, because like Chris Luxon, he was sorted.
An interesting aside. The CEO wife’s comments after his death were hardly sympathetic and caused one pundit who is a psychology commentator to say look close to home for a contract killing. Crazy. What a baaaad place the US is right now. Contract killings are a usual thing for rich people, apparently. Not the stuff of spy stories. Although this whole thing looks very much like a snuff movie.
“It seems these gunmen and assassins are getting more focussed its not just random kids” Friendlyjordies
https://youtu.be/Tghq69aNYbs
Thanks.. check out this funny fella ….the Aussies nail the laughs every time. Yeah and something wrong with Amerika alright.
Probably.
Killing a geezer won’t solve the problem. I dislike plenty of people but I don’t want to wack them. It’s the old go back in time kill Hitler argument. A myth. To do it like the kid did, wow it’s just pretty terrible for that young shooter, and for the CEO kids at least. Not to mention the CEO himself…51 now dead. This is not the solution to the endemic problem of health care in the US. It has certainly opened the discussion and maybe maybe
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