Luigi Mangione's Pain
This morning I followed a link to Luigi Mangione’s now defunct Substack
He is the accused in the murder of US health insurance CEO Brian Thompson.
And of course it must be noted that murder is not the right course of action, and there can only be condolences to Thompson’s family.
But after reading the Substack, I also felt Mangione’s intense pain.
Last night, I read a long piece: "How Rupert Murdoch’s Empire of Influence Remade the World” - outstanding long form journalism from the New York Times on the rise, style and effects of Rupert Murdoch.
And within that piece, I noticed that it was Murdoch who helped Ronald Reagan, the first Atlas Network trickle down economics ideology American President ascend.
In return, Murdoch received significant business benefits.
But Reagen, like Atlas Network endorsed Thatcher, changed the US landscape in incalculable and harmful ways:
Significant cuts on social-welfare programs such as education, food stamps, low-income housing, school lunches for poor children, Medicaid (the major program of health insurance for the poor), and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).
In short, he followed the Atlas Network ideology of trickle down economics, user pays, and intense pro-corporation policies at the expense of the average American.
Perhaps what we are seeing in New Zealand is just how politics has always gone in the world of those who would misuse public service for personal enrichment. and those who would use those people.
“Political right” is a difficult word to use, because, in my opinion, there is no real category of “right” anymore.
The old right wing conservatives - people like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney - are outcasts in this new world.
The new right are primarily made up of people drawn along by emotive slogans and misdirection - dancing to whatever tune their pied pipers want them to.
That is why we see significant hypocrisy and inconsistency in their positions.
Example, in New Zealand: Labour’s attempted support of Councils to introduce 3 Waters and work on critical lifeline water infrastructure for New Zealand was “anti-democratic” but National’s obvious anti-democracy, anti-community and anti-environment fast-track bill is, according to the same critics, “good for New Zealand. Trust me, bro.”
How much we have fallen as a society to allow powerful, moneyed interests and their mass outsizing of resources, to take us down this hardened route.
Cost to the climate, cost to peoples’ lives and livelihoods, and costs to our children and theirs too.
Healthcare is something everyone cares about once it’s up front and personal - our Coalition government is also trying to bring it down after issuing $15bn of tax cuts - the majority of which went to the wealthiest among us.
I suspect Mr Mangione’s story in the US will be told many times over - Hollywood will probably make a movie and series. True crime detectives may write books, but when I read his Substack, all I could feel was his pain and suffering.
A young man, an Ivy College student, a Valedictorian (highest marks student) who was considered bright, friendly, charming, driven, from an uber wealthy family - experienced what none of us should have to in a world that has an abundance of resources - and also realistically, an abundance of money.
Yet Mr Mangione’s family’s money couldn’t shield him from the pain of suffering, helplessness, watching his mother writhe in pain and perhaps the innocent’s realisation that the world we live in - and particularly the for profit healthcare system in the US - is fundamentally unfair and geared to corporate interests - not the interests of the little person.
No-one can rightly say this society condones violence in any manner - but also, I suspect none of us can overlook for long that our systems - that we have long supported and agreed to within the social contracts that exist - are failing too many.
And in NZ, whether it’s institutional abuse, building houses on flood prone lands, creating future victims, creating conditions for future abuse, or just trying to demonise, segregate, and harm segments of our society, we should see things clearly enough to say ‘no’.
The fascists’ tools are pitting self interest against higher values and misdirecting people on what is going wrong.
And people such as Chris Bishop and Shane Jones, that come forth to act on behalf of those that would keep things in the status quo - that is something they will own forever.
Rupert Murdoch is now 93 years old.
His son and favoured heir Lachlan Murdoch failed to wrestle the Murdoch empire’s control from his three siblings, who are named as co-decision makers in an irrevocable trust. The adjudicator called their attempt a “bad faith” move marketed by Rupert and Lachlan as ‘good for the family’.
Have you seen that strategy adopted before?
Rupert and Lachlan may appeal but the wealthiest of us all teach us a great lesson - greed is never satiated, a quest for power and control isn’t peaceful, and in the end, probably, only kindness matters.
That, and a resolve to take responsibility for the role we each play in the world’s circumstances.
Personally, I don’t think we need to throw out the baby with the babywater - there’s a lot that works well in our systems.
But we do need to fundamentally bring transparency to the fore, identify root causes for issues and re-address assumptions and values.
A little humility wouldn’t go astray either in this new “everyone is an expert” new world.
I sincerely hope no-one else has to experience the pain that beset Mr Mangione and his mother - and that led a young man to choose the course he took - a course I can’t imagine he would have chosen otherwise.
PS
The police said they were shocked and surprised at his profile. The fact that he is not poor, black, coloured, and is in the highest echelons of our societys’ expectations about education and success may lead to a greater reflection….
Substack Excerpts
Warning: Some readers may find this distressing -
I can resonate with Luigi. I’ve had crippling chronic pain for years. I battled with ACC and ended up on antidepressants from it. I got an apology, but no further medical help after winning the case. I was so knocked down that I didn’t have the energy to advocate for myself anymore.
Now, after 20 odd years of taking Tramadol, I’ve been diagnosed with Medication Overuse Syndrome, and have to wean off the poison… slowly. And hopefully all my health issues will be resolved. 🤞
I don’t condone what he has done, but I can see how it has happened.
😥 As with all compassionate feeling human beings, I can hold more than one thought at a time - 1) using violence almost NEVER solves the problem, and certainly executing ONE executive in a vast organisation is not the rare occasion where it will solve anything, but also 2) sometimes you can empathise with the circumstances that flipped a person into seeing it as rational to kill a stranger who represents the source of the distress & pain in their life.
The old cliche "2 wrongs don't make a right" certainly applies, but if the story of his mother is true, then there is undoubtedly TWO WRONGS in this situation. 🤷
Hard to see how the incoming US govt-of-privilege (G. O. P.) will tamp down their own disgruntled followers from emulating this young man when THEY feel aggrieved, as they already have a history of doing so with Democratic leaders, random judges, etc. 🤷