When Political Opponents (and CEOs) Become Enemies, the whole Political Process is Degraded

 

     Recently, with the brazen murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson some of my more liberal Progressive acquaintances have posted memes praising his death or joking about it. This is a human being that was murdered at point-blank range. His “crime” seemingly is twofold: being rich and representing healthcare which can burden the poor with financial hardship. Words written on bullet casings, presumably by the murderer suggest that the murder may have something to do with a denied insurance claim. Apparently, a year ago the CEO had authorized a highly inaccurate AI method to deny claims. That is rather horrific but even if is true, it does not justify harm. Was it an assassination? Yes, it seems so. In any case, I found the memes distasteful and another example of demonizing. One of my MAGA acquaintances also posted a similar meme. Anti-corporatism has a robust history on the political left, especially among those real neo-Marxists that make up a part of the extreme left. I do get the backlash against corporate power and the super-wealthy. It has become so unfair as to be grotesque. However, regarding income inequality, it is important to point out that helping the poor is the goal, not punishing the rich. I don’t see increasing taxes on the rich as punishing them, but rather, it is obviously making them pay a higher cost, which is fair for hoarding so much wealth.

     Demonization is a tool that makes opponents into enemies. Contests, including political contests, should be approached with a sense of sportsmanship or something like it. Seeking to humiliate one’s opponent should not be a goal. Mutual respect is important. I wrote recently about demonization by climate activists of climate skeptics, moderate environmentalists, and fossil fuel executives. Ted Nordhaus mentioned a fictional book popular with activists that depicts the assassination of fossil fuel executives. Nordhaus noted that the next step after demonization is political violence. I thought that was unlikely. Now, perhaps, I am not quite so sure.

     Of course, demonization happens on the political right as well. Nordhaus talked about dehumanizing rhetoric, something Trump has indulged in extensively. The examples are so numerous I won’t recount them here. Trump, as a grievance-based populist, often suggests that harsh rhetoric is just politics. It doesn’t have to be, and it would be much better if it wasn’t.

     Now that the murderer has been caught, I am hoping to see less praise for his murder. I noticed some people praised him once, but others were more inclined to reiterate that praise many times. Now we find that the murderer also praised and admired other murderers, namely the Unabomber who terrorized for decades.

     Again, it is not wrong to suggest that healthcare companies like UHC are unfair and callous. However, murder is not the solution in a civilized society. Back when I could afford health care, I was covered by UHC, and I was sometimes not happy about the high premiums and the coverage, and I had a $10,000 deductible. Luckily, I didn’t have any medical debt. I am going on 60 years old, and I currently do not have any health insurance. I have to be as careful as I can with my health. Right now, Obamacare is not even an option.

     I admit that I was shocked by the lack of empathy for the man murdered. The callousness of the healthcare system was overcome by the callousness of the lack of empathy and also the fact that the lack of empathy went viral. The selling of “merch” like t-shirts celebrating the premeditated murder are apparently abounding and calling the McDonald’s worker a snitch for alerting police and even dissing McDonalds. CNN noted:

“In a Facebook post by UnitedHealth Group expressing sadness about UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson’s death received 62,000 reactions – 57,000 of them laughing emojis.”

     Many people experience unfair claims denials from healthcare companies. I have heard it said that UHC denied a much higher percentage of claims than others and that it is the eighth-largest company in the world. I have also heard that the U.S. healthcare industry rakes in more than $40 billion in profit each year. I am in favor of universal health care or at least well-subsidized health care. While I understand the sense of injustice against our unfair healthcare system, the solution is certainly not to act barbarically and laugh about someone’s murder. I am ashamed of my acquaintances of any political view who celebrate the murder, and I won’t forget who acted as such. There is quite a bit of unfairness in the world in our human-created systems but to condone cold-blooded murder is not helpful despite those who suggest it is including those who say the murder is forcing healthcare companies to change their policies. Certainly, they are concerned as security details are being added for more CEOs and at executive headquarters. This creates a system where people live in fear of vigilante justice crusaders. Sure, they can afford protection more than those bilked by the system. Most people would choose unfair medical bills over death. The following meme sums it up and adds in the guillotine jokes by Marxist sympathizers that this whole viral thing reminded me of.

“The idea that vengeance against evil makes you just as bad as the evil you are taking up arms against feels very much like something the bad guys would make up and spread across popular culture to make sure we don’t shove their head in a guillotine, just saying”

It doesn’t make you just as bad, it makes you much worse. You are the bad guy too. I mean, in this post there are three bad guys – the murderer, the healthcare company's unfairness, and those who praise murder. This will fall away and be forgotten but I probably won’t forget those who laughed and joked at violence and death for a momentary feeling of comeuppance.

Mangione confessed in his Manifesto, saying the murder had to be done, basically to prove a point. It is a dangerous trend. It is terrorism. I read that wanted posters for other healthcare executives have popped up in New York City. Perhaps Elon Musk is correct to say that tackling Type 2 diabetes should be a major priority for our healthcare systems where one in ten people (or about 38 million Americans) suffer from it. Musk posted:

"Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public. Nothing else is even close”

References:

 

The Memo: Populist rage comes to forefront in reaction to UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing. Niall Stanage. December 7, 2024. The Hill.   The Memo: Populist rage comes to forefront in reaction to UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing  

On Cockroaches, the Climate Movement, and Democracy: Why the Escalating Rhetoric and Tactics of the Climate Movement, Sooner or Later, Is Likely to End in Political Violence. Ted Nordhaus. The Breakthrough Journal. October 14, 2024. On Cockroaches, the Climate Movement, and Democracy (breakthroughjournal.org)

1-star McDonald’s reviews and sympathetic merch: Companies try to stop online support for CEO killer suspect. Jordan Valinsky. CNN. December 10, 2024. 1-star McDonald’s reviews and sympathetic merch: Companies try to stop online support for CEO killer suspect | CNN Business