Ever since Luigi Mangione was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's in connection with the murder of CEO Brian Thompson reporters in all media have been shocked - shocked terribly - by two aspects of this suspected murderer's case. First is the popular public perception that Mangione is both a hero and handsome. The second universal reaction of print and electronic media in amazed disbelief that this scion of wealth, privilege and exceptional education could be a cold-blooded murderer.
Let me address the first perception now. Mangione is no hero. UnitedHealth Care is, by all accounts,.the heartless, cold-blooded killer of many.people whose medical care might reduce UnitedHealth Care's profits by a few pennies. That is vile. That is wrong. That is capitalism. Unless we are ready to stringently enforce an humane moral code on medical insurers, the heartless capitalism of UnitedHealth Care will continue to be the norm. Killing is inherently wrong. Killing one CEO blindly intent on increased profits only makes room for another of his ilk with better personal security to take his place. Not only is the Thompson murder inherently wrong, it was entirely pointless.
As for Luigi Mangione's attractiveness, that's undeniable. The men and women attracted to him must answer for their own compromised morals and their lack of decency and clear thinking.
What concerns me most is the second matter, theaà media's comprehensive inability to understand how Mangione could become a murderer. The first mistake lies in that word "become". How, they ask, does a young man of wealth, privilege and superior education become a murderer? The media ask this as if wealth, privilege and education inoculated one against illegality, crime and sociopathy. The answer is in the question. We have examples of great sociopathy from the educated and rich all the time though we choose to reward the sociopaths with wealth, privilege and educate them to be more antisocial than they already are.
Take as current examples both Donald John Trump and his bosom buddy, Elon Musk. Neither man has the least scintilla of decency, sense of shame or feeling for humanity at large. Trump can vilify destitute people who come to our borders in the hope of earning an infinitesimal piece of what we call "The American Dream". For their temerity in begging for a crust from the great American feast, Trump.would separate them from their children, send them to vile, for profit camps and then deport them to countries that they fled in fear of their lives Musk would minutely examine government with an object of slashing the largely mythical "waste, fraud and abuse" in all areas excepting the military where actual "waste, fraud and abuse" is truly rampant and also excepting the billions of taxpayer dollars that have massively enriched.him. Musk would ravage USAID (U. S. Agency for International Developmen) because some branches found that his SkyLink was involved in some shady practices while, in Trumpean fashion, calling the Agency investigating Musk's criminal organization a "criminal organization".
We have had examples aplenty of Luigi Mangiones/Elon Musks over more than a century, at least since Harry K. Thaw shot Sanford White in Madison Square's Roof Garden in 1906 and probably as far back as when, during our Civil War, wealthy people could hire a substitute when drafted for military service. Money and social standing always trump (a term from games of cards though apt in our political context too) duty and justice with money trumping all.
What is remarkable is that there aren't more handsome sociopaths committing crimes out on our streets. But then again, they have corporate boardrooms in which.their crimes are muffled by actuarial tables and defended by highly paid.attornies adept at making the law conform to the desires of the highest bidder. One might think that Lady Justice often peeks beneath her blindfold to be enchanted by a pretty face while collecting cash in some fulsome fold of her flowing skirts. We shall see what peeking and profiting will make of Luigi Mangione's case as this dreadful year drags on.
The ultimate point here is that plenty of people are brought up in famous and toney private schools, ivy League colleges and business schools to believe in their blackest of black hearts that they are a perversion of the Nietschean Superman. Their every whim and act are above reproach because they are handsome, well connected, monied and privileged regardless of any crime they commit, regardless of the number of ugly, friendless, poor or underprivileged who die or are afflicted with the hell of unremitting poverty.
Are we truly so jaded, unfeeling and selfish that we will follow in the footsteps of Donald J. Trump, Elon Musk and Luigi Mangione? Can those amongst us charged with speaking truth to power truly not see the dense forest of criminals hiding behind the pretty face of a Luigi Mangione?
