Three Murders, One Conclusion

A lot happened the week of December 4. Luigi Mangione shot the CEO of United Healthcare. A day or so later, possibly even the same day (because nobody cares to understand the exact timeline), two teenagers in NYC were stabbed with what appears to be a screwdriver (and one was killed) for not being able to speak English, and their attackers have not been caught. Meanwhile, Daniel Penny was acquitted of murdering Jordan Neely on the F train, and attended the Army/Navy game as a guest of JD Vance.

It’s quite clear that there is permissible murder and non-permissible murder.

One of these murders was of a distressed and homeless Black man. Someone who could not respond to the support he was given – and yes, I get it. He was fucking annoying. He refused the help he was offered, and he scared the people on the train he boarded. He yelled at people on the F train; he scared them.

But he did not deserve to die. He didn’t need killing. He wasn’t Ken McElroy. He was someone that…cost too much to the system. He was a horrible inconvenience, and he frightened people, and now he’s not here, and the great and good of Brooklyn and Manhattan can continue to go to their jobs in relative peace. To do their work. Their highly-valued work.

Another murder was the migrant kid who was attacked for not speaking English. Exactly zero of the effort exacted on the pursuit of Luigi Mangione was spent on the attackers of that young man and his friends.

What’s being celebrated? What’s being ignored?

Capital. Jordan Neely disrupted the transit of upper-middle-class knowlege workers to their jobs. The F train runs along Park Slope into Manhattan – if ever there was a subway of the affluent, that is it. Daniel Penny was defending their easy passage, and as a reward, he got to attend the Army/Navy game with Trump and Vance.

Luigi Mangione is being held in a turtle suit at a prison where the inmates are protesting his treatment. Because he shot a CEO who oversaw the denial of care of those who paid into a system and never got anything back. The accrual of capital – that was the basis of his success and his wealth. Vacuuming up the salary deductions and co-pays, and shaming the patients who would contest the fact that they had paid into a system and expected a result.

Three murders in New York City:

One, a migrant who was accosted for not speaking English on demand and who was deemed worthless.

Another, a mentally ill Black man who scared a bunch of affluent contributors to the financial economy.

The third, a CEO that the media is running cover for.

It’s very clear that the capitulation is happening not just in advance. It’s happening wholeheartedly and willingly – the media can’t fucking move fast enough. ALL our media is begging and scraping – and why? Are we really just devolving into fascism? And why is that happening?

I don’t know why. But I do know who is valued. And it’s not anybody who cares about anyone else.