The public’s reaction to the murder of Brian Thompson
I have been watching some videos recently covering the death of CEO Brian Thompson and it’s sad to see how overwhelming the praise has been for his murder. For example, see how many thousands of people laughed at the news on United Health Care’s Facebook post commemorating his death.
What’s striking about the reaction isn’t the expected glee from leftist commentators, but how dramatic the public’s attitude has shifted against CEOs more broadly. The vast majority of commenters are celebrating Brian’s death on the grounds that he profits upon denying coverage to customers of United Health Care.
But what the public should be outraged against are the massive redistribution schemes to “provide access” to healthcare, like the Affordable Care Act. Regulations have to be passed forcing providers to cover “pre-existing conditions” (which essentially nullifies the function of insurance), expand coverage for millions of Americans who couldn’t previously qualify, and force men to offset the increased healthcare costs of women and children, among other significant legal requirements. Not only do these regulations demand these services be offset through higher premiums against the middle class, they also increase the number of patients across the board, so it becomes harder to even see a doctor in the first place.
The main reason that healthcare is so expensive is the government forces people to pay for other people’s healthcare, not because of the profits of these insurance companies. But the intellectual rot has reached such new lows that the public is shamelessly and openly celebrating the murder of an innocent man. What’s worse is that I believe this will start a new, violent trend against CEOs of any company the public deems “controversial.”
This post is an exact transcript of my post on a private forum called Harry Binswanger Letter. For anyone interested in Objectivism, I would recommend joining this platform to enjoy commentary from Harry, an Objectivist and philosopher, along with other thoughtful participants.
