The reaction to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson lays bare the moral wasteland that this country has become. To be clear, the issue isn’t as much the praise of the killer, but the fact that our normal reactions of grief have been allowed to be justifiably turned into anger at the health insurance industry through a systematic underfunding of the public’s health.
Almost no one denies that celebrating the premeditated killing of someone is not exactly the healthiest behavior. Yet, it should be telling that after such an assassination, one of the first thoughts people had was to justify the killing. Society has been allowed to evolve to a place where people feel nonchalant and even happy when someone running a company that is the object of their misery is killed.
We hear much about how protests have to be peaceful to be taken seriously, how marchers should put on suits and lobby Washington, or how the economy is really actually great nowadays. This is dangerous. Our society is very clearly being driven to a point in which violence is legitimized due to societal concerns. Why shouldn’t we do everything we can so that society isn’t at a place in which people feel the need to justify a killing?
Just to be absolutely clear, I lay the fault of the status of our current society at the feet of those with power. When people can’t obtain lifesaving health care, society is invariably pushed closer to a place where outright violence is acceptable. It’s irrelevant whether this is seen as right or wrong; the truth is that if our society lacks any safety net or social concern, the risk of incidents happening similar to this killing increases. The ultra-rich are content to ignore that.
Personally, I want to do everything in my power to avoid our society becoming one in which acts of violence are condoned and encouraged, and I see that being accomplished by ensuring that the purpose of health care is not to enrich an incredibly small number of people at the expense of almost everyone else.
The problem isn’t with those who are putting their rage into celebrating the killing of a man; it’s with those people who have allowed the inequalities of society to become unsustainable and who then tell us to act decently all the while.
It doesn’t matter if you condone assassinations or not; it matters only that you realize we are doing nothing to prevent the underlying reason for why someone would assassinate an insurance executive. I hope I have made that nuance clear.
— Ethan Feingold, Chicago
We need universal health care
The vitriolic public reaction to the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shocking but certainly highlights the level of frustration and anger people feel about our dysfunctional health care system. The reaction should cause political leaders to get the message that universal coverage is what the public wants.
I submit the first step should be recognition that paying for health care is a financing question. Insurance is paying a premium to reimburse the policy holder for an unexpected event such as wind damage to your house or the crashing of your car. Some of us will go a lifetime paying home and auto premiums and never experience an insurable loss. But we will all experience the need for medical care, and as we age, the amount of care and annual cost are virtually guaranteed to increase — this is not the same as insurance.
This country now has the luxury of being able to design and implement a universal health care financing system by observing the successful aspects and negative aspects of systems in other countries, Medicare and Obamacare.
With all the available data, it should be possible to develop a first-class system with health care coverage for all. All we need is the political will.
— Douglas Nyhus, Frankfort
Outcomes unlikely to improve
We live in a strange world in which the cold-blooded killing of a man is seen by many as a positive. While the U.S. health care system underdelivers and overcharges, for the folks who actually can get insurance, the dissatisfaction with large corporate and government entities has never been higher.
The citizens who feel left behind are angry, and their anger is based upon a system in which too few own too much and government doesn’t seem to respond to their needs.
President-elect Donald Trump was able to tap into this and won an election promising change. I doubt that his Cabinet of billionaires and desire to be a winner will improve outcomes for the majority of Americans.
— Jim Karon, Wheaton
Notoriety for wrong reasons
The suspect in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is getting everything he surely wants. The story of the killing has been prominent in virtually every national and local newscast since it occurred. His photograph is recognizable by tens of millions of people, and it prominently appears on television and myriad websites and in print. We are being told his story and learning details of his grievances against the health care industry and corporate America, complaints he concluded provided him the right to slaughter a young husband and father.
His notoriety will cause him to be remembered in the annals of history for all the wrong reasons.
— Oren Spiegler, Peters Township, Pennsylvania
The lesson of Jordan Neely
I always enjoy the Tribune. I was surprised the Tuesday edition did not mention Daniel Penny and his deserved no-guilty verdict.
Penny was a Marine who served our country with an excellent record. Everyone should be sorry for Jordan Neely’s unfortunate loss of life. Saying that, it makes me wonder if his family ever tried to commit him to a facility to help and protect him.
If a senior family member is incapable of driving, usually a family member will step in and not allow the person to drive if the person is unaware or not willing to give up driving. There is no shame in committing or guiding a person who needs help. It is a duty of a relative to do so to protect the person and others.
This should be a teaching moment to perhaps avoid a circumstance such as this from recurring.
— Myrna Silver, Coral Gables, Florida
NY district attorney’s focus
Thank goodness the jury in the New York subway vigilante case got it right. Daniel Penny was a hero, not a criminal. Had he been convicted, it would have sent a terrible signal to anybody who came to the aid of someone in trouble. This was another case that should never have been brought to trial.
Instead of charging those individuals who are trying to prevent crimes, the New York district attorney should be focused on going after the real criminals and attempt to make New York a safe place again.
— Dan Schuchardt, Glen Ellyn
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