What Are We Cheering For?
By United Health Care - Original publication: United Health CareImmediate source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/nyregion/brian-thompson-dead.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78524932
I am deeply concerned about wealth disparity in this country.
I am alarmed at how our politicians prefer working with billionaires over taxing them.
I am frustrated by how special interests are catered to by Congress and how big money steers our politics.
I have been a lifelong advocate for some version of a single-payer healthcare model and spent years volunteering for, and ultimately running, the re-election campaigns of one of the principal authors of "Romneycare," Massachusetts's groundbreaking healthcare reform bill. This bill was designed to be a stopgap measure until the national healthcare system could be fixed.
Most of all, I see the amazing potential of the United States of America—if it can fix these problems that add nothing but debt to society and hold its people down.
But what happened yesterday is deeply troubling and should give all Americans pause.
On December 4, 2024, Brian Thompson—married, father of two sons—was murdered on the streets of New York City. The murder made international news because Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the world's largest healthcare company and the ninth-largest company by revenue. It appeared to be a targeted assassination (the killer and motive remain unknown, but it certainly seems tied to Thompson's work for UnitedHealthcare, and the public is taking it that way).
Here is how the public reacted to this news. Below is a screenshot of UnitedHealthcare's Facebook post mourning the death of their CEO. As of this writing, the post has received over 33,000 reactions, 28,000 of which are people using the laughing emoji.
The American people think this murder is funny. They’re cheering it on.
I understand where the American people are coming from. I really do. The healthcare industry is more unpopular than ever (Gallup), and many people, including myself, have been victimized by it. Our healthcare system is the worst in the developed world. It kills people. And frankly, as the father of two young sons, I question whether I want to raise my kids in a country where getting a curable disease could lead to death or homelessness.
But Brian Thompson—married, father of two, a businessman who does not appear to have broken any laws, at least as far as we are currently aware—did not create that system.
The American people do not understand what just happened. Most know nothing of war. Unfortunately, I’ve seen my share of war. They don’t know anyone who has ever been assassinated. Unfortunately, I know many people who have been assassinated. They don’t realize that when you start settling political disagreements with murder, you’ve turned a corner that leads to a very, very dark society.
They also don’t vote to fix these problems democratically. In a typical presidential election, between 50–60% of eligible voters cast a ballot. In midterm elections, that number drops by about 10%. And in primary elections, where we actually pick the candidates who will lead our country, only about 10–20% of eligible voters bother to go to the polls.
Are the American people so cynical that they can’t be bothered to vote for change but would prefer someone to start murdering the problem away?
What the hell are we laughing about?
