Biopolitics and the Grievability of Life: Brian Thompson and UnitedHealthcare
While news anchors and politicians have decisively condemned Thompson’s murder, netizens on the other hand have been so extreme as to mock his demise and raise Luigi Mangione, Thompson’s killer, to the status of a “folk hero”. While there exists a consensus that murder is wrong, Thompson’s role as the CEO of UnitedHealth, one of the United States’ largest health insurance companies, makes him complicit in the deaths of many more people. The words of one New Yorker encapsulate this tension: “It’s hard for me to feel sad that the CEO was killed […] I’m uncomfortable that violence was used. But also, it’s nice to finally have some pushback.”
