Murder, America, and the French Revolution
The killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is a dangerous moment.
No newsletter yesterday. Sorry. I got 2,000 words in and it didn’t work out.
Today I’m going to take a run at the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This murder scared the crap out of me and I want to make the case that it should scare you, too.
Because it both says something about where we are and suggests a very bad possibility for where we might go.
Buckle up.
1. The UHC Killer
Brian Thompson’s murder represents a dangerous moment for America because it was immediately clear that the public would be conflicted about it.1
Some people were outraged at the assault on public order.
Some were, if not exactly gleeful, then at least understanding of the impulse to murder the CEO of a reviled corporation.
And others seemed to feel that, while murder is obviously wrong, at least the story had some moral complications.
We should start by acknowledging that high-profile crimes often induce opposing reactions in America. Some examples: Bernie Goetz, O.J. Simpson, Derek Chauvin, Kyle Rittenhouse.
The splits in public sentiment are predictable because they are usually motivated either by ideology (or racism). If the killer is perceived as being on the nominal side of “order,” then conservatives will often construct explanations/defenses/alibis for him. If the killer is perceived as being anti-authority, then those on the left often go looking for extenuating nuance.
What worries me about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO is that the reactions might turn out to be less ideological and more class-based. And class-based societal conflict is inherently more dangerous.