First of all, thanks for drawing attention to the Chuck Mangione question, it's odd to me that MSM had not addressed it more.
Secondly, I want to offer a defense of this type of political murder that you don't consider in this (excellent) piece.
I could spray paint the walls with the proof: Make CEOs Afraid Again.
As it stands, corporations are people that cannot be imprisoned. This immunity to prosecution is extended to the C suite. The gap between CEO pay and worker pay has been unjust for decades, and the power elite has no motivation to divest itself of its unearned wealth.
If taking on the mantle of CEO necessarily involved putting a bounty on your head, this would have a levelling effect. CEO pay would go down. Inequality would decrease. And lives would not be lost. Like the nuclear arms situation, what we are looking for is a deterrent effect. Hey, CEO - the price of greed could be your head. Then it becomes a job for management science nerds instead of Type A d-bags, and more money is available to circulate, instead of sitting idle in bank accounts.
and i would ask, is "we have to inflate everything now" not inflationary itself?
it's perhaps a complex needle to thread!
you say "He killed a CEO because UnitedHealthcare is responsible for the deaths of too many Americans…and then he went to eat at McDonald’s"
and
you also say "There's a difference between denying health insurance claims and being an actual assassin"
and
while i am certainly no fan of mcdonald's for many reasons, i would ask is there not also a NOTEWORTHY difference between causing sickness and death by denying life-saving and life-altering medical care compared with offering unhealthy food that people consent to purchase and choose to put in their bodies?
you say "if this starts happening weekly, let’s see how people feel about it then"
and i would ask these questions:
1) do you think that people feel monolithically about this CEO's death? i don't. and i don't think that people's reactions on social media are a representative sample of the emotional reality felt by the population at large, which isn't monolithic either but is surely more complex and nuanced AND compassionate then the outrage-fueld algorithm would have us think.
and
2) do you know this MLK quote: "a riot is the language of the unheard"
which i'm not quoting to say that i think rioting or murdering is good, and i also don't think MLK was either, but he was expressing understanding for the unheard, and people who can't afford quality medical care in one of the richest countries in the world? they've been unheard for quite some time as well.
also, you say "I just want great power with mediocre responsibility. Is that so much to ask?"
First of all, thanks for drawing attention to the Chuck Mangione question, it's odd to me that MSM had not addressed it more.
Secondly, I want to offer a defense of this type of political murder that you don't consider in this (excellent) piece.
I could spray paint the walls with the proof: Make CEOs Afraid Again.
As it stands, corporations are people that cannot be imprisoned. This immunity to prosecution is extended to the C suite. The gap between CEO pay and worker pay has been unjust for decades, and the power elite has no motivation to divest itself of its unearned wealth.
If taking on the mantle of CEO necessarily involved putting a bounty on your head, this would have a levelling effect. CEO pay would go down. Inequality would decrease. And lives would not be lost. Like the nuclear arms situation, what we are looking for is a deterrent effect. Hey, CEO - the price of greed could be your head. Then it becomes a job for management science nerds instead of Type A d-bags, and more money is available to circulate, instead of sitting idle in bank accounts.
Stoked to finally be able to see you live. Looking forward to the Jan 25th show..
dear matt,
thoughtful piece as always.
a couple of thoughts of my own on your thoughts:
you say "we have to inflate everything now"
and i would ask, is "we have to inflate everything now" not inflationary itself?
it's perhaps a complex needle to thread!
you say "He killed a CEO because UnitedHealthcare is responsible for the deaths of too many Americans…and then he went to eat at McDonald’s"
and
you also say "There's a difference between denying health insurance claims and being an actual assassin"
and
while i am certainly no fan of mcdonald's for many reasons, i would ask is there not also a NOTEWORTHY difference between causing sickness and death by denying life-saving and life-altering medical care compared with offering unhealthy food that people consent to purchase and choose to put in their bodies?
you say "if this starts happening weekly, let’s see how people feel about it then"
and i would ask these questions:
1) do you think that people feel monolithically about this CEO's death? i don't. and i don't think that people's reactions on social media are a representative sample of the emotional reality felt by the population at large, which isn't monolithic either but is surely more complex and nuanced AND compassionate then the outrage-fueld algorithm would have us think.
and
2) do you know this MLK quote: "a riot is the language of the unheard"
which i'm not quoting to say that i think rioting or murdering is good, and i also don't think MLK was either, but he was expressing understanding for the unheard, and people who can't afford quality medical care in one of the richest countries in the world? they've been unheard for quite some time as well.
also, you say "I just want great power with mediocre responsibility. Is that so much to ask?"
and
i think that's fun.
thanks for sharing everything you do!
love
myq