Like most Americans, the assassination of Brian Thompson made me smile.
Thompson was CEO of UnitedHealthcare, where he was paid millions to oversee the denial of claims for people who’d paid monthly premiums and thought they had health insurance.
UnitedHealthcare denies almost 1/3 of all claims, the highest rate in the ‘industry’. Thompson was also a big fan of using AI to more efficiently deny more claims.
Every claim denied is a frantic worry, continued pain, a bankruptcy, or literally a death sentence. But it’s more profit for the insurance companies.
Brian Thompson, king of claim denials, killed people. Calculating how many would take heavy math, with numbers the insurance companies keep secret, so we’ll never know. What we know with certainty is that the insurance companies’ claim denials and their customers’ deaths will continue.
This is where I’m supposed to mention that I’m opposed to murder and assassination and such unpleasantness. And I am — I’m a pacifist! I could never shoot somebody, but three bullets in Brian Thompson’s back sure made me smile.
Violence is not the answer, we’re taught. Most people believe it, and heck, I’ve said it myself.
But you know what else isn’t the answer?
Peaceful picketing.
Sending a letter to your Congresscritter.
Or writing a blog post.
Good people have done all those things, without success since the 1960s — back when protests carried an undertone of “or else.”
“Or else” has faded away, so now, even when millions take to the street, nobody in power listens.
Remember the protests against launching the Gulf War, the Afghanistan War, remember the marches against police brutality, against genocide, for women’s rights… and remember what such peaceful protests accomplished. Nothing. Soon there will be protests against the looming round-up of immigrants, and those protests will accomplish nothing again.
What’s needed is more of “or else.”
12/10/2024
Leave a Reply