Following the widespread media attention of alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione, Joshua McCormack discusses the repercussions this may have on American society.
Assassination is an interesting word. It dresses murder in extravagant clothing, lends the monstrous act an air of romanticism, or legitimacy. Conjuring up fantastical images of slick spies engaged in various acts of righteous espionage, or even a misunderstood anti-hero fighting corruption.
Ironically, both sides of the American political divide were also briefly united: in their politicisation of Mangione's alleged act, they bestowed on him a cloak of political legitimacy
In the weeks since Luigi Mangione's alleged killing of United Healthcare (UHC) CEO Brian Thompson, the label ‘assassin’ has risen in tandem with ‘murderer’ in public discourse surrounding Mangione. Radical-left commentators – be they news outlets, influencers, or political activists – favoured the language of assassination. ‘No sir, it was not mere murder, it was activism, a rallying cry, a wake up call, a blow to the corrupt elites who perpetuate the vile injustices of the US Healthcare system’. Meanwhile, those on the political right howled 'Communist,' 'Anti-Capitalist,' and 'Marxist’. Ironically, both sides of the American political divide were also briefly united: in their politicisation of Mangione's alleged act, they bestowed on him a cloak of political legitimacy – the right doing the exact opposite of what it wanted: making a figurehead in the latest of the ‘cultural wars’.
Yet despite all of that, Mangione remains an alleged killer.
On 4 December 2024, Mangione allegedly snuck up behind Brian Thomspon in Midtown Manhattan while his back was turned, gunned down the CEO, and then fled the scene. With that killing blow, the healthcare executives, profiteering for years off of the misery and manipulation of hundreds and thousands of sick Americans, realised the error of their ways. Their Ivory Towers crumbled. Consumed by a burning desire to repent, executives launched initiatives to overhaul their companies' malpractices, donated their fortunes to charity, and spent the rest of their days working in soup kitchens...
Oh wait. Nevermind.
The evil practices of such corporations were not suddenly reduced to ruin because the CEO of one of the most questionable organisations – United Healthcare – was killed. Mangione knew this.
There is much we still do not know of the case, but reports state Mangione was not insured under UHC. Instead, he likely selected the company – and Brian Thompson – for its notable public presence, and infamous reputation.
Friends of Mangione have claimed that he had an axe to grind with the US Healthcare Industry, sparked by his experience wrestling with debilitating back pain that was not corrected by a different insurance company. While we don't know the name of that organisation, United Healthcare UHC is a textbook example of the malpractices encouraged by profit hungry executives, happy to step on the corpses of their customers in order to claim their next bonus, bending whatever rules, laws, and norms they can to increase profit.
Some of UHC’s documented actions include: Overbilling the US State for medical procedures that they should be covering; ignoring the advice of their healthcare providers in order to deny insurance claims; denial of procedure based on cost instead of medical necessity; steering claimants to subsidiaries of UHC’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, in order to increase profits; and denial of funds for procedures mere days before they were due to take place.
But killing through inaction is surely still killing.
This is not to mention the countless victims of a system purposefully designed to be opaque, muddled, labyrinthian, and near impossible to navigate. The internet is rife with stories of people who could have survived an illness had they not had to wade through miles of bureaucracy to reach the procedure they were owed.
This, of course, is its own kind of killing, yet entirely legal. Shielded from scrutiny by politicians in the pockets of healthcare executives. Indirect. Slow. Scattered across so many different departments and people that almost everyone can blame someone else. But killing through inaction is surely still killing.
None of this excuses Mangione's alleged crime, of course. The discourse around the deplorable nature of the US Healthcare system has churned for decades, and will continue to do so for many decades to come sadly; Mangione did not awaken some sleeping giant, nor has his act sparked any material or substantial change for the better.
In response to his personal aggrievement, he could have campaigned to improve healthcare, ventured into politics with a view to change the law. Instead, he took the path of violence. While he might have made himself a noteworthy figure, he is no hero.
I find it strangely hard to believe that Mangione would have attracted the same kind of following he has, if he weren't a young man, with conventionally attractive features.
The real heroes in the US are the people actively trying to change the system, who sadly do not seem to enjoy the same level of recognition that Mangione has, but will doubtless do far more good than him. NGOs like the Institute of Medicine, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program have advocated directly to senators and politicians in the House for improvements to the health service, with the ultimate aim of Universal Healthcare provided by the government. Their most notable achievement was helping to push for the creation of the ACA/Obama Care, and they continue to push everyday for further improvements.
I find it strangely hard to believe that Mangione would have attracted the same kind of following he has, if he weren't a young man, with conventionally attractive features. Replace him with, let’s say, a working class person of colour, and I have a strange suspicion that he would have drummed up significantly less support.