Blackcap Blog

Published at 09:25 on 8 December 2024

So, former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been put into a forever box courtesy of an as of this time still unknown individual.

The snarky, irreverent tone of the above implies that perhaps I find it hard to be terribly saddened by the news. And that would be a correct implication, thanks to the general nature of the US health insurance industry, and the nature of this insurer in particular.

I am hardly the only one. You can’t swing a dead cat on social media without coming across memes that are much more explicit in their support of the shooting than I will ever be.

The thing is, politically-motivated violence, particularly politically-motivated killing, usually comes with some sort of manifesto on the part of the killer. Those who kill for political motives generally only do so because they care a lot about something, enough to literally kill over it. Such individuals are seldom quiet about their politics. Yet, no manifesto here.

Or maybe there is a manifesto (of sorts) after all?

The other thing I will say is that it all shows how class society values some lives over others. The news media has been talking about the shooting — and the search for the shooter — basically nonstop for days now. So much news coverage for one dead capitalist.

UnitedHealthcare has one of the highest claims denial rates out there, yet you don’t hear much in the news about all the deaths those denials cause.

Because of course you don’t. In any class society, some lives matter more than others.

Update: It was, as surmised above, a politically-motivated act. The suspect has been found, and he had a manifesto on him.