We’re now a few weeks after the killing of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Officer, Brian Thompson. Plenty has been written about the killing, all the way from the details of the killing to thoughts about the person who supposedly pulled the trigger, Luigi Mangione. I’m not sure I have much to add, but as this event does touch on healthcare, and by extension Paramedicine, as well as class consciousness and Communism we’re going to touch on a few issues.
First, to get it out of the way, I am not shedding a single tear for Thompson. As CEO of a major insurance provider in America, he was responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands. We don’t have cold hard facts, it’s simply not possible to track how many individuals have implicitly died because of the healthcare system in America. However, it is estimated that between 40,000 to 80,000 people a year die due to a lack of insurance while it’s possible another 150,000 die from a lack of treatment. Thompson was a cold-blooded murderer, who gladly killed anyone and everyone in the service of capitalism and his self-interests.
At the same time, while I find the online reaction to Luigi funny and endearing, I do not support his actions. It has nothing to do with the idea of him being a murderer. I am a pacifist, but I also understand that in order for the revolution to take place bloodshed will occur. Rather, I don’t support what Luigi did because of the concept of propaganda of the deed. If you’re not familiar with that term you may be familiar with the concept of adventurism. Propaganda of the deed and adventurism are one and the same. It is an action by someone, or even a group, that is taken to bring about change but will not affect it because a singular act without collective support is doomed to fail. It’s not that I’m upset that Luigi Mangione gunned down Brian Thompson, it’s that I wish this had taken place against the backdrop of an actual revolution.
What does this have to do with Paramedicine? We deal every single day with the ramifications of a healthcare system that works to serve the interests of capital as opposed to the interests of the people. So many of our patients, the ones who most love to label as system abusers, are simply existing as the system allows them to exist. They can’t afford insurance, or if they can insurance has denied their claims for coverage. The system has broken them, but that’s the point. To break the proletariat so that the overlords of capital can profit. Brian Thompson was one such overlord, someone who built his personal empire upon the pain and suffering of the proletariat. For some reason, most within Paramedicine don’t make this connection and instead paint the proletariat as the villains of our story. Brian Thompson was the villain, and unfortunately, his successor will step right into the same role and continue to gleefully be the villain.
Is Luigi Mangione a hero? I’d argue that anyone committing propaganda of the deed is not a hero. Whatever Luigi’s motivations may have been, as enthralling as it may be to see some people rally around his actions, no change has been affected. I don’t harbor any ill will towards Luigi, I understand why he did what he did. I empathize with him far more than I ever will a bourgeoise murderer like Brian Thompson. At the same time, I want more than what Luigi was able to deliver. I want a wholesale revolution and to start on the path towards a classless, moneyless society. The people matter, not profits. Brian Thompson valued profits over people, murdering people at will to line his pockets. Keep that in mind the next time you get a call for that regular, they’re not the villain of the story, the bourgeoisie behind the various insurance companies who have led them to their current place in life are the real villains.
Lead photo courtesy of No Photographer – New York City Closed Circuit Television
