Prioleau Alexander: CEO’s Murder Was A Breaking Point

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The assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson begs an important question for all Americans: Is this a one-off? Or have Americans reached the breaking point?

Oddly, this is a philosophical question that’s shared by both the Left and the Right — at least among those of us who have to work for a living. Everyone is collectively exhausted by the constant beating we take from Big Everything: Big Pharma. Big Insurance. Wall Street. The Military/Industrial Complex. Corruption in DC. Big Banking. Big Government. Regulatory agencies destroying entire industries, devoid of oversight or accountability.

We The People are tired of this shit. 

Those of us in the under $200k a year class may disagree about who’s screwing us the most, but almost everyone agrees we’re getting screwed. The working poor have two 30-hour a week jobs because going over 30 hours means they get — shudder — benefits. The middle-class is now working paycheck to paycheck. 

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Much of this is our own fault, because we keep consuming things we want, but don’t need: New cars, mobile phones, high-speed Internet access at home, flat screen TVs, premium channels, fast fashion, jewelry, $200 sneakers, and new furniture when the old stuff gets boring. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was young, our middle-class family didn’t even have air-conditioning — because it was a want, not a need.  

In my opinion, this has nothing to do with “the evils of capitalism.” It’s about “capitalism unhinged from Judeo/Christian values.” Big business used to take care of their employees and customers because it was expected. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. People spent their entire career with one company, because there was two-way loyalty. People shopped local because they knew the vendors, shopkeepers, and retailers.

That’s gone.

I can think of no industry hated as much as the medical insurance business.

Why do they act the way they do? Why do they deny, delay and deflect legitimate claims? Why do they constantly transfer wealth from doctors and nurses to themselves? Why do they refuse to cover expensive drugs that a board-certified MD prescribes as necessary? 

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1. Because they can.
2. They view clients as profit centers, not humans.
3. The legal system is too expensive for the average person getting screwed to use.
4. There are zero repercussions for their wholesale thievery.
5. They (and the others in Big Everything) own Congress, lock stock and smoking barrel.
6. They can hide behind “we must increase shareholder value” as an excuse.

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Blue Cross insures something along the order of 21 million Americans. Do the math. If they can get every client, out of sheer exhaustion, to give up on one $10 claim per year, that’s an additional $210,000,000 a year in pure profit… for doing nothing. Since the number is probably closer to $100 a year, that’s $2.1 billion. Net, net, net, net, profit.

No, this is not a case for governmental health care — this an argument for the government setting and enforcing laws that hold Big Insurance to a standard of “at least pretending to act like they give a shit.” Many of the people in charge of these fleecing operations need to be in prison.

Or, in the well-browed eyes of one particular murder suspect, dead.

There is an old saying that says, “If you treat people like dogs for long enough, don’t be surprised when they act like wolves.”

Many Americans believe this saying is most appropriate when considering the plight of minorities and illegal immigrants. Even more Americans — the ones who elected Donald Trump — believe it applies to middle-class and working poor of all races, across the board. And it has our lower-upper class damn near ready to ask the question, “Who is John Galt?” 

America doesn’t need a socialist revolution—it needs a capitalist revolution. Big Everything needs to be held to a standard of human decency. They aren’t, of course, because Big Everything writes their own laws, then delivers them to Congress with the instructions, “Here, Stupid. You’ll pass this.”

Which brings us back to the assassination of Thompson.

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Prior to the apprehension of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, I speculated we would find the shooter was someone who lost a loved one — or had a serious claim denied — and said to himself, “It wasn’t that long ago a man used to have to pay for his actions. Let’s bring those days back.” 

Or, I mused, maybe he was just an idealist, tired of the abuse of Americans.

Turns out he could be both.

Before the recent election, there was much sound and fury that America might end up in a civil war. I wrote many times that couldn’t happen, because we’re too diversified down to the city and neighborhood level. There’s no physical Mason-Dixon Line anymore.

But, I also wrote that America could end up in a situation like the IRA v. the British Army. No sustained battles, but assaults, ambushes and terrorism.  

Holding a man responsible for his actions has been a part of humanity for all of history. Sadly, the people holding “that man” accountable has traditionally fallen to legions dying in battle because “our leader is a good guy, and your leader is a bad guy.” The man deserving of the blame rarely suffers.

Western civilization has evolved to the point we are run by laws, not men. Vindictive violence has been replaced by a legal system that punishes those who hurt society or individuals in the society. Without law and order, anarchy takes over, right?

But what happens if the justice system no longer provides even a modicum of justice to the little guy — as is so often the case with our system today? Using the health care system as an example, let’s say your child develops MS. Today, there are the regular-old pharmaceuticals used to treat MS, but there’s also a new drug that’s showing radical improvements over the old ones.

But, it’s expensive, so it’s denied.

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The reasons are endless: There’s not enough data showing it’s better… we don’t believe the benefits outweigh the cost… or, hey—how about this one? Kiss our ass. If you don’t like it, too bad.   

What can a regular Schmoe do? Go hire an attorney for $350 an hour to spend the next year in court fighting a company worth $50 billion with 1,000 lawyers on the payroll.

No. That doesn’t math. So what’s the only solution for Americans? Watch their kid die.

Now take the Big Insurance abuses and add them alongside the ones perpetrated by Big Everything. That is what Congress is allowing.

For the first 300 years after Europeans arrived in the New World, the average person could go a lifetime and never see a man wearing a badge. So why wasn’t there anarchy? How did we the people self-organize into the greatest nation in history?

I can tell you. Men were held seriously accountable for their actions.

If you cheated in a business deal, or committed violence against another man’s family, or tried to jump his gold claim, or rustle his horses, things got worked out — one way or another. And it rarely involved the police.

I don’t think that kind of per-capita criminal behavior happened as much back then, because an armed society is a polite society. 

In caveman times, you couldn’t hold Uber-Ugg accountable, because he was bigger and stronger, and could bonk you on the head and take your woman. Modern weapons came along and began to level the playing field. Finally, the Colt .45 made all men equal… Arnold Schwarzenegger could no longer force his will onto Danny DeVito.

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All of this makes Thompson’s assassination fascinating. What are we to make of it? Let’s say he was a kind man, a loving father, a generous giver, a little league coach, volunteered at the animal shelter, served food at a homeless kitchen, and tithed to his church.

That’s him personally. 

Professionally, he sat on the throne of an organization that knowingly destroys tens of thousands of lives, and causes who-knows how many deaths. His Congressional stooges, the corporate veil, and ability to afford a team of lawyers would make sure he never, ever, ever had to answer for the decisions he and his underlings made.

Was he “just doing his job?” In his mind, I’m sure he was: Increase shareholder value by “discovering new efficiencies.” “Purchasing private practices and through better scheduling systems ensuring doctors ‘can’ see more patients a day.” “Uncovering new sources of revenue.” “Negotiating with doctors regarding pay and keeping the arbitrage to add to shareholder value.” “Ensure his best executives with the sharpest pencils are rewarded with millions in bonuses.”

Can you separate the artist from the art?

More and more Americans are feeling helpless and forgotten. The administration of Donald Trump will certainly do its part to drain the Swamp of its corruption — because it can. The Swamp answers to Trump.

But who can take on Big Everything? Congress alone… but Congress is owned by Big Everything. It’s like professional wrestling where the “good guy” and the “bad guy” perform, then leave the arena to go drink beers together and laugh at the fans.

For the sake of the bigwigs at Big Everything, I hope some sort of congressional lobbying reform happens soon. Trump’s team is going to provide Americans with great glee as they root out the federal government’s waste, fraud and abuse. Citizens will be thrilled after he restores energy independence and the economy improves. Everyone will applaud his ability to end the war in Ukraine, and cool relations in China. 

But once that’s done, we going to need to restore sanity to the corporations that actually run the world. Because for them, everything “is just business.” For a man whose life has been destroyed by one of these behemoths, it’s very, very personal.

How personal? Well, one CEO just found out. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Prioleau Alexander is a freelance writer, focusing mostly on politics and non-fiction humor. He is the author of four books: ‘You Want Fries With That?,’ ‘Dispatches Along the Way,’ ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?‘ and ‘They Don’t Call It The Submission Process For Nothing.’ 

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