04 January 2025 | You Are Too Lazy to Do Anything

You are not going to take to the streets.

You are not going to bring the healthcare system to a halt for an overhaul.

You are not going to do much of anything.

Dispense with the idea that Luigi Mangione’s (alleged) murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is the start of a class revolt. Sure, there is a flood of horror stories of denied coverage for those desperately in need of treatments and procedures, but the idea that this is the catalyst for widespread societal action or protest is utter nonsense. We are not going to do any such thing.

Why? We are a society that values its luxury and addiction to services. We want healthcare changes, yes, but we have had decades of opportunities to make that happen. And healthcare corporations have also had decades to purchase politicians, thwart reform and expand the status quo where they stand between medical professionals and their patients for profit. Given that massive disadvantage, we have, largely, opted to do what other rich societies do: tune out. We go along with the oppression, we go along with the hurdles and the fights with insurance companies for a sliver of fairness that we take as massive victories. But by and large, we have been beaten down by the healthcare system to accept it as an immutable thing like the sun rising in the east each day.

The killing of Brian Thompson may satisfy dark feelings of revenge, especially as we learn of his own malfeasant acts that lean into the image of a typically crooked insurance CEO. And remember: his own employer stepped over his corpse to have a shareholder meeting without even canceling it out of any semblance of respect. Indeed, we learn that companies like UnitedHealthcare have made record profits in 2024. This underscores the anger people have at them and the support for Mangione, but it means nothing on a fundamental societal level about what we will do, which is nothing.

The politicians will make noise, hearings will be convened, the insurance companies will move in to placate them with larger donations, the hue will die down and all we will be left with is a murder trial. That’s it. No societal revolt, no widespread disruption and demands for actual change, nothing.

Uprisings are too much work, and we’re just not cut out for it.