What Luigi Mangione Can Teach The Democratic Party

America is a made for television movie that the world is forced to watch. Things that most countries take for granted, such as healthcare, not only have a tendency to be nonsensical here, but the solutions to fix the flaws must be as dramatic as the systems themselves are absurd. This country is nothing if not entertaining. And like it or not, the Luigi Mangione situation is riveting. 

If you haven’t heard, a suspect has been identified in the murder of Brian Thompson, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was assassinated Paul Castellano-style in public on a Manhattan street for trying to shakedown your grandma after her cancer diagnosis. 

Murder is wrong, that goes without saying, but America has historically accepted murder as long as it is coupled with something resembling a bureaucratic process. It seems murder is only treated as murder if you fail to fill out the proper forms. 

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world, and it spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country on earth. Naturally, you would assume that these high expenditures would lead to better health outcomes. However, the opposite is true. The high cost of care isn’t a result of high quality, instead it is due to a privatized, capitalist healthcare system that routinely denies necessary procedures in order to preserve and grow profits. 

Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, we’re all negatively affected by this. Kamala Queens, Biden Riders, Bernie Bros and even MAGA hat-wearing Trump Humpers can relate to the vulnerability of having their healthcare at the mercy of the profit motive. This vulnerability transcends political affiliation and exposes the universal flaws of the American experiment. 

Brian Thompson, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare, wasn’t a criminal in the traditional sense of the word. His death wasn’t the result of him breaking anything listed in the penal code. His death was due to growing resentment of the awful abuse that everyday Americans face in an abhorrent system designed to bilk them of every dollar they have during times of personal tragedy. 

That doesn’t mean Brian Thompson’s murder was morally right, but I do understand the mentality of those among us who choose to overlook such lapses in morality to momentarily revel in the death of an elite sociopath benefitting from a deeply unethical, and deadly system. 

Americans oftentimes intensely disagree on cultural issues. We argue endlessly about insignificant contrivances that have little effect on any of our actual lives. American politicians are reduced to corporate mascots that loosely figurehead an extremely generalized perception of right wing and left wing policies. They even have fandoms that they cater to. Whether it’s Hulk Hogan ripping his shirt off while endorsing Donald Trump at the RNC or Megan Thee Stallion twerking for Kamala Harris at an Atlanta campaign rally – one thing is clear: policy takes a backseat to spectacle. We on some level understand that we don’t shape policy, and the real problems we face are never a priority for the politicians or the ruling class that funds them. 

Most Americans have been negatively impacted by the American healthcare system. And many people in this country have died or have had their quality of life severely reduced due to health insurance companies refusing to pay for necessary procedures, so when news breaks of a healthcare insurance CEO getting gunned down due to shitty business practices, it naturally unites us. 

And in many ways, UnitedHealthcare was the perfect target. 

UnitedHealthcare is actually one of the worst health insurance providers you can have. The company deployed an artificial intelligence system that automatically denied coverage, resulting in one third of all claims being denied, the highest in the industry. Which is why the death of Brian Thompson has done more to unite the country than any politician in my lifetime.

The assassination spoke to a problem that the majority of the country deals with. I’m not saying that AOC should assassinate Elon Musk, but if the Democratic Party focuses on the legitimate problems that unite us, like the corrupt healthcare system in America, people will vote for them. 

Bernie Sanders and Luigi Mangione are two sides of the same coin. When the pen doesn’t work, and the legislation doesn’t pass, someone will eventually pick up a pistol and take matters into their own hands. And when that happens, people will applaud it. 

An example of this universal acclaim was can be found on none other than Ben Shapiro’s Youtube page. Shapiro made a video claiming that the people cheering for the death of Brian Thompson were “evil leftists.” Nearly every comment on the video from his mostly conservative audience called him an out of touch rich guy. Some even went as far to say that they saw through Shapiro’s act, and that his condemnation of the CEO shooting was the tipping point.

If you don’t want CEO slaughter to be the defining trend of this decade, maybe politicians should listen to someone other than their donors. 

UnitedHealthcare… What a name!

SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK HERE

FOLLOW MY WRITING ON INSTAGRAM HERE

FOLLOW BAY AREA MEMES ON FACEBOOK HERE

FOLLOW BAY AREA MEMES ON INSTAGRAM HERE

PURCHASE MY BOOK HERE

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!