Helplessness And Rage
It has been astonishing to watch the reactions to the cold-blooded killing of a health insurance executive. Not so much the rude reactions people have been posting online, but the reactions to those reactions, in both the media and in the political world. This inability to recognize the rage that exists towards health insurers in general is nothing more than elitism. People who simply can't understand this free-floating anger are out of touch with the struggles ordinary people face and the powerless feeling it leaves them with. Murdering someone on the street is obviously an unacceptable answer, but it has provided a catharsis of feeling that someone out there took the power into his own hands for once. It's not exactly Robin Hood, but cheering for an outlaw isn't exactly a new thing when the outlaw is seen to be fighting back against entrenched power.
These feelings aren't confined just to health insurance. There are many industries that, over time, have gotten bigger and less personal and harder to deal with. Average people are left with no valid choice when the few companies that control an industry all decide to provide fewer services or make it much harder (or much more impersonal) to access those services. This leaves consumers feeling like they are paying more but getting less.
This describes many industries in America today, in fact. But a few stand out mostly because they are so necessary to modern life. The airline industry is a good example. Flying is almost a necessity for travelling long distances -- few people have the time or energy to drive (or take a train or bus) for distances of more than a couple hundred miles. Flying is really the only efficient way of getting there.
But the corporations who run the airline industry have been ruthless and relentless in both making the cost of doing so as high as possible and offering as dismal an experience as can be imagined. Things which used to be provided free now cost extra (a lot extra, in some cases). Meals, in-flight entertainment, checking baggage, a decent amount of legroom, even getting seats together with your flying companions all now require extra fees -- and there is nothing any consumer can do about it. We are forced to accept each new fee or reduction in service as the new normal -- over and over again. Since virtually all airlines jump on board some new creative way to make flying more expensive or a worse experience, consumers can't just choose a better company in protest -- because soon enough all of them are using the new lower standard introduced by their competitors.
Younger people don't know any different, of course. They grew up with crappy service. But those old enough to remember when things were markedly better know full well that all of these changes are to pad the bottom line of a gigantic corporation whose competitors offer the same lousy deal. And that leaves people feeling powerless and ripped-off. But there's nothing any of us can do to change it -- we all just have to accept whatever new ripoff they come up with, if we're going to travel long distances. Or you can pay a fortune and actually get decent service, but the price is so high only the elite can afford it. The rest of us are left to wallow in the misery that is air travel these days -- which gives rise to feelings of powerlessness and anger.
That's just one example. There are others. But while there are negative feelings against the airlines or big banks or whatever other industry, they do not involve life and death. The health insurance industry does. You can choose not to fly. But with health care, the choice can be pretty binary: you get it, or you die. Even when the choice is not that extreme, it can mean unnecessary pain or delay or incurring massive expenses when you thought you were already covered. The rage against the companies that deny health services to people is a lot more personal and visceral than for any other industry.
So when a lone gunman murders the head of one of these companies, it quickly gives rise to expressing a very basic reaction: "Serves him right." Everyone knows that an executive who makes many millions of dollars a year simply doesn't have to go through the pain and hassle the rest of the populace does when attempting to actually use their health insurance to get medical care. They don't have to spend hours on the phone arguing with some bureaucrat to get a test or a treatment approved. A millionaire can afford to pay anything, even if the health insurance company won't. They don't have to make choices between medical treatment and being able to put food on the table. This inequality is annoying enough for a cramped passenger on an airplane, but when it is a matter of: "We will not pay for this treatment that will save your life" it is far, far worse. Not being able to fly somewhere isn't exactly inhumane, but denying life-saving care (or even just regular care) does indeed rise to that level.
And there's nothing most people can do about it. If the faceless bureaucrat decides to deny you coverage (or charge you an outrageous amount out-of-pocket), you are left powerless to do anything about it.
I don't speak from personal experience, I should mention. I have been lucky enough never yet to have gone through what millions of other people have. I may someday, though, and even that is not a good feeling to have. But I have heard from plenty of others the helplessness and frustration and rage they feel towards these giant corporations who make such cruel decisions -- just to make sure their profits stay up. And the overwhelming feeling of helplessness has no real outlet.
This is why the gallows humor and sarcasm expressed online didn't surprise me one bit. But even without the rudeness, the helplessness remains. Here is an excerpt from a letter written to the Washington Post, in response to an article condemning all the rude online comments. It is notable because it is coming from a doctor, not from someone who was denied service:
Imagine this hypothetical, drawn from my own experiences as a physician: A patient with recurrent infections visits an immunologist. The doctor orders tests for a suspected immune deficiency, but the insurance provider refuses to cover them. Without proper evaluation, the patient worsens. The doctor applies for lifesaving medication, but coverage can't be approved because of incomplete diagnostics. The pharmacy, holding the medication, cannot dispense it without an order. Frustrated, they return it to the manufacturer. The pharmaceutical company, seeing low demand, discontinues the drug, eventually going out of business. The pharmacy, losing suppliers, follows. The doctor, overwhelmed by a system prioritizing denials over care, retires. Their students, once inspired to practice medicine, choose different careers, disillusioned by the bureaucratic nightmare. Lawmakers, reliant on pharmaceutical funding, lose influence. With no doctors or treatments left, insurance companies crumble, and humanity faces unchecked illness.
That's the view from the inside of the health care system. And it's pretty bleak, you've got to admit. If even the doctors are feeling just as helpless as the patient who has their treatment denied, then something is obviously very wrong with the system.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle find it easiest to deny any problem exists, which certainly doesn't help the situation. Those on the right insist: "America has the best health care system in the world!" Politicians on the left congratulate themselves for the creation of Obamacare, because they are content to believe that that fixed all the problems. And the few politicians who do point out how bad the system truly is (people like Bernie Sanders) are dismissed as cranks. Any suggestions for fundamental changes in the system are shot down as being wildly extremist. So nothing much changes.
This just further exacerbates the feeling of helplessness among the public. Not only are you helpless fighting against the health insurance bureaucracy, but there is absolutely no hope of anything changing for the better at any time soon.
When it comes to your own health and your own ability to pay for things you thought you were covered for, it's pretty easy to understand why someone would eventually just snap. When the entire system is rigged to be against you and your suffering and there simply is no hope of change for the better, then the decision to do something dramatic might become appealing.
Of course, murder isn't the answer. The gunman is going to pay a very steep personal price for what he did. But for everyone else who has had similar experiences of helplessness in the face of an inhumane system, it's a lot easier to sympathize with the shooter than the health insurance executive. Millions of people can relate to his experience, while very few relate to the family of a multimillionaire nobody had ever heard of. It's really not that hard to understand the reactions the shooting caused. But what's most unfortunate is that even such an extreme act is probably not going to change anything -- or even spark a real discussion of the shortcomings of for-profit health insurance corporations.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
thoughts and prayers... require prior authorization.
Your conclusion that nothing is likely to come from this tragedy is grim.
I've been reading other more hopeful commentators, who suggest that - occasionally - a scandalous event actually provides the catalyst for real politial change. In this case, they suggest, there may be more of an opening for "Medicare for All" as an insurance option. Essentially, this is the 'socialized medicine' that the Republican Party has died on many a hill to block, since at least the 1940s.
But the GOP under Trump is less ideological and more transactrional - or so this argument goes - and it might at least be possible that a bipartisan compromise emerges in the next few years to expand Medicare to all eligible taxpayers, in order to assuage the rage, frustration, and even hatred that voters, Republican and Democratic alike, feel about the current insurance system.
Yes, not sure I buy it any more than you do. But it is a more hopeful way to interpret the horror show that is the national reaction to a corporate assassination.
The scumbag shot the victim in the back..
NOTHING good or honorable can be said about this leftist scumbag.
NOTHING...
And Brian Thompson left thousands to suffer and die without ever knowing their names. All to make a buck.
This ain't left vs right, it's the 1% vs the 99%...
And Brian Thompson left thousands to suffer and die without ever knowing their names. All to make a buck.
Any FACTS that prove this to be factually accurate??
Of course not.. Moron Democrats NEVER have any facts to support their BS claims..
This ain't left vs right
I KNEW you were going to say that..
How did I know??
Because moron Democrats are ALWAYS so quick to point the finger at Republicans when they are the bad guys..
But when it's a scumbag Democrat who is the bad guy??
"oooo it's not a Left vs Right issue!!!"
Moron Democrats are SOOOO predictable..
But, I am glad you are on record as saying that murder is justified..
Typical moron Democrat... :eyeroll:
what's most unfortunate is that even such an extreme act is probably not going to change anything
It already has inspired change. The insurance companies have started editing their websites to offer even less information about their executive vultures.
Maybe the McSnitch who called the cops will get some reward money, but he shouldn't count on it. Either way, better keep that no healthcare McJob. There isn't much happening in Altoona. I hope he cooks fries better than Fat Donny.
So I went down to the local fact to see if I could get some facts. I met this totally hot fact and traded some light fact before she suggested sharing a bottle of fact. I could not resist as her facts were just so big and factual. We headed down to the fact for some privacy. Once we finished off the bottle of fact we were so facted we had to tell each other a couple of lies just to see how facted we were. Then we lay down and facted in to the night and it was F A C T U A L. I dozed off into some light fact and when I woke up, that sweet fact was gone. I will always remember that night of fact.
And that's the fact, Jack!
Michale, you are so behind on this story it's hilarious. You are the one trying to inject politics. From what I have read he was not particularly political and had ideas from across the political spectrum. He was in to equality and anti-corporate but at the same time opposed to DEI, wokeness, and identity politics. He does not fit the mold you so desperately need him too...
All that long BS screed and you couldn't come up with a SINGLE fact to support your claim..
The scumbag who brutally murdered that CEO who had a wife and family was a product of Left Wing DEI run Ivy League schools.
NOTHING justifies this brutal murder...
ESPECIALLY your Democrat ideology..
It's THAT simple..
061
Did you read it? There are tons of facts. Probably double the use of the word than your longer posts...
He does not fit the mold you so desperately need him too...
That's EXACTLY what you say about ALL Left Wing Democrat scumbags who are the bad guys..
That's what you said about the 2 Democrat scumbags who tried to assassinate President Trump..
That's what you said about the Democrat scumbag who tried to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh..
And so on and so on and so on..
You ALWAYS say that when it's YOUR guys who are the scumbag criminal Democrat..
:eyeroll:
062
Is it what I said, or is it what you want me to have said because you can't think beyond your political bias and propaganda?
Crooks was a registered Republican. That is a fact...
JFC!!
Dood!!
You showed up!! :D
I honestly didn't think you had the balls to show up after you were so absolutely and grossly utterly and completely WRONG!!
About EVERYTHING!!! :D
What happened! You said President ELECT Trump was going to jail!!
You were completely and utterly WRONG.. ALL of the criminal and civil cases are well on their way to being dismissed!! :D
You also said that Token DEI Hire Headboard Harris was going to win the election!!??
President ELECT Trump KICKED THE SHIT outta Headboard Harris!!!
I mean, President ELECT Trump's victory was SOOOOO huge, he even kicked the shit outta Headboard Harris by a considerably great margin!! :D
So... What happened dood..
How is it that I called the election nearly PERFECTLY and you were so completely and utterly and unequivocally WRONG about ALL of it!!
Com'on dood.. After all your BS and all your whinings and all your personal attacks..
You OWE me an explanation on how you got so completely PWNED!!! :D
063
END OF WATCH
Police Officer William Kasberg
San Antonio Police Department, Texas
End of Watch: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
And remind the few..
When ill of us they speak...
That we are all that stands between...
The monsters and the weak...
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/13839e8d10b9303c8d9aee50576e15b15f4844be91d15073a21097a85b780c50.jpg
Dude accidentally shot himself. He was his own monster...
There are tons of facts.
Point to one..
You can't because you NEVER have ANY facts to back up your BS claims..
065
What, you can't read? There are at least a bakers dozen of facts in various forms...
How do we know this scumbag was a DEMOCRAT scumbag??
The manifesto, according to a police report, says, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” It then lists a few false or misleading statistics about America’s health-care system. The companies “abuse our country for immense profit,” Mangione says, before complimenting himself for being “the first to face [the problem] with such brutal honesty.”
Typical Democrat scumbag.. Types a whole bunch of "facts" that, like Bashi's "facts" are NOTHING but bullshit..
Bullshit to justify the unjustifiable..
JUST like a Democrat... :eyeroll:
065
What, you can't read? There are at least a bakers dozen of facts in various forms...
And yet, you can't point to a SINGLE one.. :D
Funny how that is ALWAYS the case with you, Bashi... You ALWAYS claim to have facts, yet you can never produce them.. :D
But thanx.. I appreciate you helping me get my comment count up..
Keep the Florida streets safe for democracy takes a LOT of my time.. :D
So I appreciate all your bullshit and lies that helps me get my count up..
066
Looks like Pete Hegseth is going to be the next Defense Secretary..
Once again...
Democrats' loss is America's gain... :D
Funny how that is ALWAYS how things work out.. :D
067
So I went down to the local fact to see if I could get some facts. I met this totally hot fact and traded some light fact before she suggested sharing a bottle of fact. I could not resist as her facts were just so big and factual. We headed down to the fact for some privacy. Once we finished off the bottle of fact we were so facted we had to tell each other a couple of lies just to see how facted we were. Then we lay down and facted in to the night and it was F A C T U A L. I dozed off into some light fact and when I woke up, that sweet fact was gone. I will always remember that night of fact.
And that's the fact, Jack!
The facts are highlighted. You got to admit, that's a lot of facts!
And in the OUCH!!! THAT'S GOTTA HURT department...
Trump named TIME 2024 Person of the Year
And, once again, Democrats are left in the dust with their jaws on the floor and their dicks in their hands.. :D
Gods, it's a great time to be a Patriotic American!! :D
Not that any of ya'all would know about that... :eyeroll:
068
The facts are highlighted. You got to admit, that's a lot of facts!
Nope... Not a single FACT... Just as I said..
You NEVER have any facts...
Unlike my comments who are usually NOTHING but facts..
For example, it's a FACT that President ELECT Trump is Man Of The Year..
It's a FACT that the scumbag coward assassin of the United HealthCare CEO was indeed, a Democrat scumbag coward..
It's a FACT that it IS a great time to be a patriotic American and it's a FACT that none of ya'all know that feeling..
It's a FACT that Pete Hegseth is going to be the next leader of the DOD just as it was a FACT that Headboard Harris could not POSSIBLY win the election..
It's a FACT that you are a total scumbag for disparaging a deceased LEO..
ALL of these and more are FACTS... Do you see how FACTS are posted??
You should try it sometime.. :eyeroll:
069
Speaking of FACTS..
Jamal Bowman is a racist moron who ALSO never has any facts to support his claims..
"I’ve left out probably another hundred instances of this trauma in my life. For comparison, I ask white people, how many times have you seen a white man killed in cold blood on camera on your newsfeed? How many times have you even heard about this? The answer is never. You never have."
-Jamal Bowman
Yo... Dumbass! You see the news lately??
What a complete and utter racist moron Bowman is..
Typical Democrat.. Nothing but racist morons as far as the eye can see :eyeroll:
070
And in other awesome news.. :D
MSNBC ratings collapse post-election.
Viewers have fled left-leaning MSNBC since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential race to former President Trump on Nov. 5. The audience for the Comcast-owned channel is down 46% compared to the first 10 months of 2024, according to Nielsen data.
Which one of you morons said that MSNBC was gonna be fine!??
BBBBWWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA
And CNN is not doing much better.. Their ratings are down 34%!!! :D
The demise of the Left Wing echo chamber..
What a surprise!! {/sarc}
Looks like I got ANOTHER accurate prediction under my belt.. :D
071
Michale-
From [18]:
Why not link? The story is from the Atlantic.
In your quote: "It then lists a few false or misleading statistics about America’s health-care system."
From the Manifesto: A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy?
The US does have the most expensive healthcare system in the world. True.
Is the US roughly 42 in life expectancy? Everyone list a different number for US life expectancy. A few were around 42 but never below that. Even the CIA fact book has us worse. His point stands.
United Health does have the highest market cap of health insurance companies. It was around 12/13th at the time of the murder but the stock has dropped a bit since...
I would say this is some hack job journalism. I can see why you would hide behind not linking to it...
Michale [23]
A perfect example of what I am making fun of. Lots of the word fact but little to match the word.
Is Luigi a democrat? Prove it.
The rest are opinions not facts...
I would say this is some hack job journalism. I can see why you would hide behind not linking to it...
Well.. It IS from a Democrat Water Carrier, so hack job is to be expected..
It's YOUR propaganda outlet... :eyeroll:
But facts are facts... This scumbag was a Democrat scumbag who was a Harris voter...
And you are trying to justify an unjustifiable murder by a scumbag Democrat..
072
But facts are facts... This scumbag was a Democrat scumbag who was a Harris voter...
Then link to it. Otherwise you are just talking out your ass...
I linked to a FACT before.. Pelosi stating she was responsible for the security of the capitol on 6 Jan 2021..
It was a VIDEO.. An unequivocal FACT...
You disputed it...
Which simply proves as FACT what I have always said.
You won't acknowledge ANY facts that is disputed by your Trump/America hate ideology..
Therefore you don't DESERVE any facts.
*I* know it to be factual.. That's good enough..
073
Once again, the streets of Florida require my expertise.. :D
Off to work I go.. :D
074
I linked to a FACT before.. Pelosi stating she was responsible for the security of the capitol on 6 Jan 2021..
I watched the video. It did not match the point you were trying to make nor does it match the US government chain of command for congressional security.
We get it. You want to make stuff up and call it facts. Reality just doesn't work that way...