Who would’ve thought the person who would unite Americans during one of the most polarizing political climates would be a 26-year-old Italian named Luigi?
Amidst the broad daylight murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which Luigi Mangione is being charged with carrying out, the American public has shown a significant lack of empathy for the millionaire who was worth over $40 million and instead placed that into the hands of Mangione. Mainstream media moguls, celebrities, corporate oligarchs, and politicians have expressed confusion at this, which comes as no surprise to any working-class citizen who understands how out-of-touch the elites in America are.
However, behind all of the 'fan cams', DJ sets with mugshots spread across a big screen, and alibi stories from people around the world, a deeper look into the whirlwind of events allows one to see the reasoning behind the admiration for Luigi Mangione and how it has unified Americans across ideological lines.
For-Profit Health Insurance: A Deadly Reality
The public admiration for Mangione lies within American’s mutual disdain for the healthcare industry in the United States. It has less to do with himself and more to do with the frustration he represents, which he points to within his alleged manifesto.
Every person reading this right now either has or knows someone who experienced being denied coverage from their health insurance for something medically important. In a capitalist society, for-profit healthcare serves as a bleak reality that not only disenfranchises anyone who can’t afford the costs for coverage but additionally screws over the ones who do pay into their insurance monthly that still have the risk of out-of-pocket costs if their claims are denied.
Since employment is largely tied to healthcare coverage, many may not have the luxury of obtaining any coverage to begin with, and it should be known that over 26,000 Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance. Over 92% of Americans have worried about the availability and affordability of healthcare in 2024 alone. Those whose claims were denied by insurance companies faced double the risk of health decline compared to those whose claim was approved. Problems within the current healthcare system the US employs are clear.
United Healthcare denies more claims than other insurers in the United States and is even facing a lawsuit for wrongfully denying claims for elderly patients using an A. I system that had an alleged 90% fail rate. With over 51% of Americans viewing the healthcare system in the U.S negatively, it should be clear why a country that has watched their loved ones suffer at the hands of a corrupt system would find no empathy for a man who was one of the leaders in that said system and would instead celebrate someone who took a stance against it.
Luigi Mangione’s story- a 26-year-old graduate from an Ivy League school with wealthy parents and a successful career- showcases how health truly is the most important thing many of us take for granted, as even someone with a seemingly privileged life can fall victim to chronic, excruciating, health conditions and the dark reality of the for-profit healthcare system in America.
The Unification of Americans
Levels of unification seen from this sequence of events haven’t been achieved, arguably, since the first days after 9/11. Both sides of the political spectrum are agreeing for the first time in a while on an issue, that being the realization that everyone has been screwed over by the healthcare system within the United States. You can find an establishment liberal on Bluesky spewing the same ideas as a Southern woman from Texas in the comments of Fox News on Facebook. People are tired.
This, alongside the reality that Mangione’s politics and ideology aligned more with the right than the left, are things we need to be looking at closely. Most times, people look to those who are against oligarchies and capitalism to be on the left, but Mangione proved that isn't always the case. If anything, the fact that Luigi Mangione wasn’t a leftist should be a sign to everyone that class consciousness is possible if we feed it and let it flourish. Rather than being distracted by a 'culture war', we have to be focused on the 'class war'.
This entire situation speaks to the fact that regardless of who you are, where you come from, or how you align politically, the 99% of Americans will always have more in common with each other than they will with 1%. You are always closer to becoming the homeless person on the street than you are to a billionaire. This is a simple way to view class solidarity, though a very complex topic. Mangione, despite his actions, helped force a conversation about corporate greed, which shines a light on that 'class war' I mentioned earlier, that goes hand in hand with class consciousness.
Awakening class consciousness is way easier said than done, though. A one-off act of vigilante justice (which I do not condone) is not the start of a revolution or the beginning of class solidarity. However, the right and the left coming together on an issue like the healthcare system is what we need if we ever want to achieve liberation and stand in solidarity with one another. Continuing to find common ground with other working-class individuals, supporting things like unionization, and conducting mutual aid/organizing are ways to make the 'dream' of class solidarity an eventual reality.
So, behind all the social media jokes, important lessons and messages should be taken seriously from this entire ordeal. While I do not condone the actions of Mangione, a quote from Senator Elizabeth Warren sums up my feelings on the issue:
“... People can only be pushed so far”
and it's the truth. It's a terrible shame an act of violence had to occur for Americans to finally begin to realize the importance of solidarity against systemic injustice within our society, since the conversation is happening, we must not let the spark go out.
Photo Credit: GC Images
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*The author does not, in any way, support political violence.
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