This should be viral! I think a lot of people (especially those of us outside Luigi Mangione's age range) have been trying to answer the question of his appeal and the appeal of his alleged action. Your evolutionary analysis rings truer than anything else I've read.
Thank you so much--it's really bothered me to see the interest in Mangione, the alleged shooter, and the events of December 4th written off by the media (out of fear and pressure) as proof of celebrity culture or social-media induced empathy deficit or other nonsense. They'll come up with a million different theories before they'll acknowledge the truth, which is that this resonates for so many people--of all ages--for a reason. And that reason is what keeps the "non-reciprocators" up at night.
Great piece, enjoyed reading it. Perhaps we should re-evaluate whether the evolutionary story we tell ourselves is correct, or continues to be relevant. In my opinion, Antigone is another story we need to frame this, I'll write it up... In the meantime, I am reminded of Elie Wiesel's lesson in _Night_, that it wasn't the good, kind, and generous who survived - they were among the first to die in the Nazi death camps. When you become wealthy, life comes to be all about keeping that wealth. You become fearful, of loosing it and of others, and you separate yourself, as much as your wealth permits, from others socially and spatially. In my assessment, the very wealthy quite literally live in another reality, one that is designed to shield them from any and all social consequences of their resource hoarding. This is why Luigi's alleged actions are so lauded. If it was him, he used his male and social-economic privilege, and his intelligence, to make a mark, and that is almost unheard of. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us those in power do not willingly give it up... I speculate that something happened inside Luigi's family, that his family's wealth and situation was not used to protect him and his health. Maybe his parents wanted him to grow up and applied some tough love, after L went off to Japan instead of adulting.... Anyhow, a few crazy philosophers (Wittgenstein, Marx I think?) have voluntarily given up their wealth and lived according to principle, but I don't know of many others. Anyone know any other such stories, of people acting on principle and against what is their socio-political or class interests?
What came to my mind is Lenin‘s brother who tried to assassinate the Czar and his execution and the fallout from that is what led to Lenin, whose (for the time fairly well off) family had been non-political, to align himself with the communists.
A fair amount of Anarchists also came from wealthy families like Bakunin, Proudhon, Berkman. Then for some reason I also think of Schopenhauer, who I think lived an ascetic lifestyle.
Yes! I just mentioned Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau in a response to an earlier comment. I really feel that one aspect of the ruling class's response to Mangione, as alleged suspect, has to do with his background. How easy it would have been for the billionaire class to nervously laugh off the events of December 4th if the accused shooter had been a person of color or someone from the working class or both. How easily dismissible this would have been for them--oh, look, just a disgruntled, jealous peon. But then how terrifying that a member of the "minor nobility" would turn his back on comfort, wealth, certain success, and insulation from the troubles of everyday people, in order to fight for those "peons." Perhaps only slightly less terrifying than the public reaction to his alleged actions, not to mention the durability of that reaction and the public's immunity to the media scolding campaign.
Yeah you have a good point, I think I also have an example of the opposite to support it. I‘ve recently read the biography about Luigi Lucheni (assassin of Empress Elizabeth of Austria) and when it came to his trial, there was a lot of classist and xenophobic talk about him (he was Italian in Switzerland) and even though he was smart I think (after he got access to books in prison) he was undereducated even for the time (an orphan who the orphanage handed to a beggar as a child slave starting to work at age 9 picking up dung…). That‘s part of what I think built his resentment for society and when it comes to his deed, people didn‘t take him seriously at all and had an easy time dismissing him as an evil lunatic.
With someone highly educated and access to resources the Luigi of our times had, that becomes a lot harder - even though media is trying it‘s best to demonize him and shout mental illness, it doesn‘t quite seem to stick.
Great points. I know that one of the aspects of the arrest of Luigi Mangione for the shooting of Brian Thompson that scared the billionaire class and their slightly less wealthy friends was that Mangione was from the privileged class and could easily have become a Brian Thompson himself. He (allegedly) chose discomfort and sacrifice. He reminds me of Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau. For anyone unfamiliar, his Wiki page may provoke some deja vu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Michel_le_Peletier,_marquis_de_Saint-Fargeau
Thank you for this excellent analysis! You truly distilled the core of this event.
I hope we will have the wisdom to not allow the "assassin-bae" to take over the "group protector"! The "sexualization of the alleged shooter" is a very convenient narrative for the Freeloader Freddies, one meant to obfuscate the true key elements that you encapsulated so well. I hope we will have the wisdom to see this and to not fall into the patterns that we have been conditioned to follow.
Super thoughtful comments. I think it's important for folks to push back on the framing of "assassin-bae" that seeks to trivialize (and therefore render less dangerous) the public's interest in Mangione. There's a really long history of law enforcement and the media promoting sexist framing that publicizes the behavior of a few extreme female "fans" of accused criminals to make it seem commonplace. It's not. But that framing offers an easy way to dismiss a reaction that makes LE and, in this case, the ruling class uncomfortable rather than to try to understand it.
This is the analysis I’ve been hunting for. An answer to the craving feeling of all this. Thank you.
That's a great word--craving. That describes it, exactly. Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
This should be viral! I think a lot of people (especially those of us outside Luigi Mangione's age range) have been trying to answer the question of his appeal and the appeal of his alleged action. Your evolutionary analysis rings truer than anything else I've read.
Thank you so much--it's really bothered me to see the interest in Mangione, the alleged shooter, and the events of December 4th written off by the media (out of fear and pressure) as proof of celebrity culture or social-media induced empathy deficit or other nonsense. They'll come up with a million different theories before they'll acknowledge the truth, which is that this resonates for so many people--of all ages--for a reason. And that reason is what keeps the "non-reciprocators" up at night.
Great piece, enjoyed reading it. Perhaps we should re-evaluate whether the evolutionary story we tell ourselves is correct, or continues to be relevant. In my opinion, Antigone is another story we need to frame this, I'll write it up... In the meantime, I am reminded of Elie Wiesel's lesson in _Night_, that it wasn't the good, kind, and generous who survived - they were among the first to die in the Nazi death camps. When you become wealthy, life comes to be all about keeping that wealth. You become fearful, of loosing it and of others, and you separate yourself, as much as your wealth permits, from others socially and spatially. In my assessment, the very wealthy quite literally live in another reality, one that is designed to shield them from any and all social consequences of their resource hoarding. This is why Luigi's alleged actions are so lauded. If it was him, he used his male and social-economic privilege, and his intelligence, to make a mark, and that is almost unheard of. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us those in power do not willingly give it up... I speculate that something happened inside Luigi's family, that his family's wealth and situation was not used to protect him and his health. Maybe his parents wanted him to grow up and applied some tough love, after L went off to Japan instead of adulting.... Anyhow, a few crazy philosophers (Wittgenstein, Marx I think?) have voluntarily given up their wealth and lived according to principle, but I don't know of many others. Anyone know any other such stories, of people acting on principle and against what is their socio-political or class interests?
What came to my mind is Lenin‘s brother who tried to assassinate the Czar and his execution and the fallout from that is what led to Lenin, whose (for the time fairly well off) family had been non-political, to align himself with the communists.
A fair amount of Anarchists also came from wealthy families like Bakunin, Proudhon, Berkman. Then for some reason I also think of Schopenhauer, who I think lived an ascetic lifestyle.
Yes! I just mentioned Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau in a response to an earlier comment. I really feel that one aspect of the ruling class's response to Mangione, as alleged suspect, has to do with his background. How easy it would have been for the billionaire class to nervously laugh off the events of December 4th if the accused shooter had been a person of color or someone from the working class or both. How easily dismissible this would have been for them--oh, look, just a disgruntled, jealous peon. But then how terrifying that a member of the "minor nobility" would turn his back on comfort, wealth, certain success, and insulation from the troubles of everyday people, in order to fight for those "peons." Perhaps only slightly less terrifying than the public reaction to his alleged actions, not to mention the durability of that reaction and the public's immunity to the media scolding campaign.
Yeah you have a good point, I think I also have an example of the opposite to support it. I‘ve recently read the biography about Luigi Lucheni (assassin of Empress Elizabeth of Austria) and when it came to his trial, there was a lot of classist and xenophobic talk about him (he was Italian in Switzerland) and even though he was smart I think (after he got access to books in prison) he was undereducated even for the time (an orphan who the orphanage handed to a beggar as a child slave starting to work at age 9 picking up dung…). That‘s part of what I think built his resentment for society and when it comes to his deed, people didn‘t take him seriously at all and had an easy time dismissing him as an evil lunatic.
With someone highly educated and access to resources the Luigi of our times had, that becomes a lot harder - even though media is trying it‘s best to demonize him and shout mental illness, it doesn‘t quite seem to stick.
Great points. I know that one of the aspects of the arrest of Luigi Mangione for the shooting of Brian Thompson that scared the billionaire class and their slightly less wealthy friends was that Mangione was from the privileged class and could easily have become a Brian Thompson himself. He (allegedly) chose discomfort and sacrifice. He reminds me of Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau. For anyone unfamiliar, his Wiki page may provoke some deja vu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Michel_le_Peletier,_marquis_de_Saint-Fargeau
Thank you for this excellent analysis! You truly distilled the core of this event.
I hope we will have the wisdom to not allow the "assassin-bae" to take over the "group protector"! The "sexualization of the alleged shooter" is a very convenient narrative for the Freeloader Freddies, one meant to obfuscate the true key elements that you encapsulated so well. I hope we will have the wisdom to see this and to not fall into the patterns that we have been conditioned to follow.
Super thoughtful comments. I think it's important for folks to push back on the framing of "assassin-bae" that seeks to trivialize (and therefore render less dangerous) the public's interest in Mangione. There's a really long history of law enforcement and the media promoting sexist framing that publicizes the behavior of a few extreme female "fans" of accused criminals to make it seem commonplace. It's not. But that framing offers an easy way to dismiss a reaction that makes LE and, in this case, the ruling class uncomfortable rather than to try to understand it.