AIBU to say I'm surprised a healthcare CEO hasn't been assassinated sooner?

[Chowtime]

Obviously what's happened in America with regard to Brian Thompson is awful but surely it was only a matter of time before someone revolted against their billionaire dollar profits and lack of payouts for individuals who've paid in for years.

Probably something to do with the many, many thousands of deaths and suffering their profiteering has caused,

This. Perhaps the revolution has begun.

Yeah sadly I’m not surprised at all.

Hopefully there aren’t copy cat killings against other men like him, but hope this can open up into a discussion of how it’s high time we (collectively) do something about the rapidly increasing greed of the top 5% who literally rake in profits while their companies model is essentially based on screwing people over and damaging society.

Thank you for the reminder to again check out a writer I enjoyed enormously when I was obsessed by SF during my younger days. I remember as a teenager my older brother bought me a book, no reason, just because he thought I'd like it, called "From the S Files" surprisingly published by Playboy which at the time did have some excellent short fiction in its magazine. It included, I think, Sheckley, Bob Shaw, Clifford Simak, Robert Silverberg, etc.

I know this has nothing to do with the thread, but it's a nice memory of my late brother, and shows that small deeds do count.

Is denying coverage for necessary medical care that meets standards of care at twice the rate of denials by other companies and using an AI that has a 90% error rate to do that legitimate? Maybe their profits say yes but I say no.

They are practicing medicine without a license in refusing to cover necessary treatment and inflicting severe harm and suffering and death.

I'll save my sympathy for the victims of their rapacious and predatory practices.

Causing death is "legitimate" if done through respectable paperwork in the name of capitalism, then?

That man got insanely rich on the back of other people's misery.

Pretty normal for a rich person & where is the line drawn? Is it ok for us in the west to impact drought in other parts of the world because we want to fly somewhere hot on holiday?
Or is it ok to have dc making our clothes & gadgets for a pittance because we want lots of options at cheap prices?

I take your point, although I can understand that when the social contract is broken, human nature will start looking around for a guillotine.

Surely those who make an obscenely good living from other people's misery would keep this in mind and guard their own safety more closely?

I expect they will be now.

I feel for his family but I can't seem to find any sympathy for the man himself.

The dark humour floating around now ("he might have lived but he was out of network so no hospital would take him" or "my condolences will be released when the $6,000 co-pay has been reached") seems to reflect the man's own callous disregard for the pain he lived off.

that's a plot to a movie some guy has a terminally ill kid and holds up a private hospital.

On a separate note the reasoning behind this is quite typical for the U.S.

Surely those who make an obscenely good living from other people's misery would keep this in mind and guard their own safety more closely?

One of my neighbours does actually have a security guard, he’s a big time (dodgy) landlord.

You mean Americans think they are paying for the UK's healthcare? I'm American and I've never heard that. Usually these things stem from a misunderstanding but I have no idea what would even be misunderstood to reach that conclusion

Same here. I have literally never heard anyone say that. If you're talking about nonsense people post on Reddit or YouTube.... I think we can all agree there's no shortage of stupid on the internet!

It's definitely not a widely held belief.

At least he's not kidding himself that he's one of the good guys!

One of my neighbours does actually have a security guard, he’s a big time (dodgy) landlord

Personal security for wealthy businessmen and their families is a lucrative business. A protection trained GSD or Malinois will set you back 30K (or more) and many CEOs have armed drivers.

@Dutch1e that was after a robbery though, don’t think he expects his tenants to come after him!

I thought it was a paid killing rather than a disgruntled citizen, few outside of people who have seen a lot of active service would be as calm as he/she was.

Who knows who he pissed off climbing that greasy poll?

@itsnotabouthepasta Do most Americans really believe that we pay for other people's healthcare? I've never heard that (but I've lived in other countries so perhaps have a different perspective).

My limited understanding is that Americans do pay significantly higher prices for prescription drugs compared to other countries, for example, if a drug costs $10 in the US, it may only cost $2 in Canada.

I don't fully understand why, I think it's because drug companies roll out new drugs faster in the US and want to recoup their R&D costs quickly.

Anyway, it's crappy. Most generic drugs are inexpensive, but I remember my son was once prescribed cream for a rash and it cost more than $100 for a small tube even with insurance. Healthcare coverage is slowly improving here, but it's too slow.

Dh said "I'm not surprised" when he was watching the news.

I don't think it was a professional hit. A hitman wouldn't allow himself to be seen all over CCTV, buy food and drink and then discard the packaging with his DNA all over it or leave a personal or political message on shell-casings.

I wonder if the relative lack of concern for avoiding detection means this person is terminally ill or planning to kill himself?

All the comments on TikTok are cheering the shooter on and hoping he’s not caught. Which seems unlikely to be honest.

I agree. Too sloppy for a professional. If somebody hired this guy they better be on a flight to a country that doesn't extradite to the US.😂

I'm morbidly curious about the.motive. My gut tells me it's something in his personal life. I think we'll know fairly shortly.

I doubt it, Americans just voted in Trump and his billionaire mates. For whatever reason, Americans love being shafted by the megarich.