America's vibe shift

A CEO murder has exposed deep rage, revealed how out-of-touch the media is and created a rare unifying moment. Will it bring lasting change?

Last Wednesday a man armed with a gun, ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street.

The almost immediate response from many was glee. A corporate overlord was experiencing the “find out” part of the adage that begins with “f*ck around”, some said.

Thompson, his company and their profit-centric policies were responsible for corporate manslaughter, they claimed, as they took to comments sections to leave laughing emojis and vent their fury.

Thoughts and prayers were “out of network” or had not been “pre-authorised” they wryly wrote, mocking the well-worn reasons used to deny claims for life-saving care in the United States’ privatised system.

The callous nature of the response stunned the media, and proved how deeply disconnected they are from America’s experience of the health insurance system.

News brands from across the spectrum, from The New York Times and CNN to right wing firebrands like Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly, framed the applause as vulgar at best and hateful at worst.

Shapiro called commentators “evil”, Kelly branded them “ghouls” and The New York Times described a “torrent of hate”.

Their framing revealed their inability to see the bigger picture. They reported like this was simply a tragic story about a businessman being brutally killed on the street. Thompson’s murder was, of course, tragic, but the media completely missed that for the many who have felt betrayed, fleeced or powerless in their dealings with health insurers, the death of one of their CEOs seemed like a rare moment of justice, however warped that may be.

For anyone with a finger on the pulse of public opinion the real question was that in the face of spiralling insurance costs, increased claims denials and little to no reform of a system that routinely bankrupts people, how had something like this not happened sooner?

Audiences were quick to point out that they had reached the end of their rope long ago. These comments from a CNN post on YouTube are just two in amongst tens of thousands.

And this from The New York Times, which was upvoted more than 10,000 times, perfectly describes the blindspot.

The response also revealed how much the press tend to focus on decorum and civility and how little is focused on the systems, policies and structures of society that strip people of their dignity. The media - and I include new-ish players like Shapiro in this - so often frame stories within the bounds of the status quo. This blinkers their view so much that when the sands shift they fail to see it.

In the days that followed the killing those that cheered were emboldened by details that emerged from the investigation. Bullet casings found at the scene had "deny," "delay" and "depose" written on them. They are common phrases used by critics of the insurance industry. And then police found money from the Monopoly board game inside a backpack they believe the gunman had used.

For many spectators this cemented their view that the killer was a Batman-style folk hero who was exacting his revenge on behalf of the people. CCTV images of the suspect - an attractive young man with a huge smile - were published and he quickly became the internet’s new boyfriend. The lust prompted a lookalike contest to be staged, while others made fan-style content about him. Some gave him the superhero name The Adjuster.

The love bombing peaked after a 26-year-old man - Luigi Mangione - was arrested and charged with murder on Monday. With a name, and a digital footprint to scour, the internet went wild. Mangione’s Twitter/X account gained over 300,000 followers in less than a day and Free Luigi trended on the platform.

Reporting since the arrest suggests that Mangione had a back injury and that his mother had also been sick. An x-ray of a spine with pins in it is in his profile header on Twitter/X.

The New York Times report that Mangione appears to take responsibility for the murder in a handwritten 262-word manifesto that was found on him when he was arrested. He references the growth in UnitedHealthcare’s market capitalization and condemns corporations that “continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it”.

I’m curious whether Mangione wrote that before or after the “American public” made their feelings so clear online. It seems that the “American public” have actually had enough, and are enjoying a rare moment of unity on the issue.

Being ground down by the healthcare system appears to be the one thing that brings together left and right in America in 2024. This was brought into sharp focus when Ben Shapiro was attacked by his own viewers when he slammed the left for their response. The hatred of heath insurers also appears to be uniquely immune from the culture war treatment which so often finds and sows division on issues that should be common causes.

It helps that anti-corporate feelings have been brewing for some time. Rising wealth inequality, the fraying of the social contract, the concentration of extreme wealth in the hands of a few have increasingly made the American public hostile to billionaires and Wall Street greed. It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t that long ago internet users were also being chided for mocking the deaths of the five people, many of whom were uber-rich, following the OceanGate Titan submersible explosion.

The ugly online response to Thompson’s death also fits with American’s increasing embrace of coarseness. As public discourse degrades and recommendation algorithms reward extreme views and behaviour, vulgarity has never been more in vogue. Just ask Hawk Tuah Girl or the incoming president.

It’s also noteworthy that Americans have at the same time become desensitised to violence after repeated mass shootings, political violence and an obsessive interest in true crime content. Add to that the rise of nihilism, a common theme in much of the online ‘jokes’ about Mangione and the murder.

Whether this moment of unity will last is to be seen. But early signs are that Deny, Defend, Depose has become a slogan for some and has even inspired the creation of merchandise.

How politicians and health care companies respond will be key. What’s for sure is that being a corporate apologist is no longer a flex. Being a billionaire is not something to boast about and it’s never been so unappealing to run a health care insurance company that’s hated by its customers.

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highly flammable is produced and written by me, Rachel Richardson

I’m a content creator, commentator and consultant at Beginning, Middle and End

Want more? Check out Threads, Twitter/X and Instagram. I’m also dabbling in some Bluesky thinking.

Email rr@bmend.com