Nice Try FBI: I’m still clapping for Luigi

An article titled “ Why I’m not clapping for Luigi Mangione” was posted on Dec 12, following the assassination of United healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The article criticizes Luigi as a technocratic lone wolf who was acting on his own ego rather than collective interests.

What a load of crap. Certainly, Luigi isn’t an ideological anarchist. None the less, his actions were anarchistic —propaganda of the deed. I don’t care about his ideology, I care about the consequences of his actions. This has brought more attention to the problem of for-profit heathcare than decades of protests and advocacy.

Luigi took direct action against a system that is oppressing him and does not work for anyone but the richest Americans. His actions could be characterized as those of the precariat.

Media like this article, attending to the event rather than the system motivating it, obfuscate the real problem. Don’t be distracted by the spectacle. Keep your attention on the problem that is for-profit healthcare.

For profit healthcare is systemic violence that accounts for tens of thousands of Americans dying or going into debt each year. This type of system inevitably generates resentment that will eventually manifest as retaliatory or liberatory violence against the representatives of the system.

For profit healthcare is responsible for the death of those denied and those who do the denial. Luigi is a symptom and we should celebrate the attention that his actions have brought to the problem. I clap.