cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/16040607
“Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare since 2021, was shot and killed outside an entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, New York City, on December 4, 2024. He was in the city to attend an annual investors meeting for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. Authorities believe the attack was not random. Thompson had been criticized for UnitedHealthcare’s rejection of insurance claims, and his family reported that he had received death threats in the past. The shooting occurred early in the morning, and the suspect, initially described as a white man wearing a mask, fled the scene.”
(edit) I would like to point out that Luigi Mangione is only a suspect and there are currently doubts about the integrity of the evidence.
I did’t cry for the CEO, but also didn’t cheer for the assassin. I don’t know if he was the assassin. Cops seem to think so, but I can’t double-check.
If the assassin’s motive was revenge for someone’s misery or avoidable death, the motive is understandable. People sometimes make such decisions for similar reasons since time unknown.
If the assassin’s political complaint was that the US ranked fourty second in life expectancy among countries, despite ranking first in expense per capita - that is likely true, and should be a big deal as long as it remains so.
(Obviously, it won’t automatically improve from offing a health insurance CEO - many of them are indirectly responsible for many person-years of needless suffering or loss of lives, but there is a socio-economic framework which ensures that their positions get repopulated with their kind of people, so one getting killed can only highlight the problem.)
To any statist wanting to fix their state, I would recommend a tax-based a single-payer healthcare system in an eyeblink.
To other anarchists, I don’t think I’d have to explain the benefits of solidarity and collective bargaining. They’re obvious.
As for the US: not a chance within the next 4 years.