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by John Wood Jr., National Ambassador, Braver Angels
Democracy is many things. One of those things is delicate.
It is held in place by a quiet commitment to certain standards of decency and the legitimacy of the processes by which we adjudicate our differences and remedy injustice. Among other things, it requires patience and a respect for the dignity of human life—and a recognition of the fact that outrage in defense of humanity may tempt us towards becoming like the things that we hate.
Eleven days ago, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed by an assassin’s bullet in the light of day as he walked down 54th Street in New York. As a manifesto obtained from the alleged killer makes clear, the motive for this act was to punish Thompson as a leader of an industry that many believe to be fundamentally responsible for the deaths of many Americans in the interests of profit.
While this act has naturally been condemned by many, the alleged shooter has indeed been celebrated by no small number of people, even glamorized for his good looks on social media.
The outrage of many Americans towards health insurance companies is fierce and longstanding. It is a bitterness that stems from the painful experiences of many who have had to contend with what feels like the cold calculus of insurance company bureaucracy during the most painfully vulnerable moments of their lives, in some cases to live or die according to the decision of what they see as a self-interested, multi-billion dollar corporate entity.
This suffering is real. This frustration must not be minimized or dismissed.
Yet violence as a means of making a political statement (regardless of how understandable the underlying grievances may be) signals a vote of no confidence in the institutions of our society and their ability to respond to the sufferings of the American people. This is more obvious in the celebration of such acts.
The temptation to violence in the face of injustice, particularly such injustices as are matters of life and death, is a natural one. It is one of the oldest impulses in human society.
My friend Hawk Newsome of Black Lives Matter New York, who has participated in many Braver Angels programs over the years, spoke out in the aftermath of the acquittal of Daniel Penny in New York recently. (Penny is the Marine Corps veteran who tragically killed a homeless man named Jordan Neely by putting him in a chokehold in an effort to defend passengers on a New York subway to whom Neely was threatening, according to witnesses.)
Newsome stated that if white vigilante violence towards Black people was to be allowed, there should also be “Black vigilantes” who would act in kind “when they oppress us.”
I have heard from a number of you about this. The facts of the case aside (and Hawk has reflected upon them more since the verdict), the idea that unlawful violence must be met with violence in return is older than Malcolm X (who declared such oppression must be resisted “by any means necessary”) in the history of our society.
I have always called upon Braver Angels to follow the path of nonviolence in the tradition of Martin Luther King. Yet part of what that calls upon us to do is to be understanding with respect to how human beings gripped by passionate outrage against injustice as they see it may be driven to violence–while still calling upon them, and ourselves, to “love our enemies” even while making the case for justice.
The killing of Brian Thompson goes beyond rhetoric justifying violence in self-defense (though it stems from a view that American capitalists are responsible for the lives lost of ordinary Americans). It is violence as a political statement and an act of revenge. This sort of violence is not unique in American history, and it is normal in many parts of the world.
Let it not be normal here. Let it not be celebrated.
Yet let it also be the case that with righteous compassion for the pain of our fellow Americans, we may work together to address the suffering in our healthcare system, among the poor and downtrodden, and across every domain of American life.
The legitimate processes of democracy engaged in a spirit of justice and community must be the answer. This is the path that we must choose. May we never live in a society where we believe that either violence or despair are the only roads left to us.
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Categories: Commentary, Media, National News
Daniel Penny is a ” Hero ” for staving off this nut job-threatening people on the subway, the police arrived and did not perform any first aid, and the perpetrator was still breathing……………..
As far as Luigi Mangione, he’s ” a coward ” waiting in the dark and shot Thompson in the back, and deserves to spend his life in the slammer or the death penalty !!
Was their violence justified? Let’s see. We have a Hero and a Coward, so it’s pretty simple: one was justified, and one wasn’t.
Agreed, this is not an apples to apples; oranges to oranges comparison. One was accidental and in an attempt to save others in immediate harm’s way. The other was out of the dark and in the shadows a murderous assault by anyone’s definition
This will all be determined by the number of dead people.
These aren’t cases of ‘human beings gripped by passionate outrage against injustice as they see it (being) driven to violence’. This is about self-defense.
Consider this: An ‘Horrific video shows suspect watching woman burn to death in F train car after he allegedly set her on fire – Published Dec. 22, 2024, 2:50 p.m. ET – New York Post
Perhaps this woman wouldn’t have been ‘tragically killed’ if a Good Samaritan, like Daniel Penny, had been riding the F Train subway earlier today. But, unfortunately, no. No Braver Angels were there to save her either.
The suspect killer on the F Train was surely someone “suffering in our healthcare system, among the poor and downtrodden”. Surely, the F Train suspect was yet another victim. Like George Floyd. Like Jordan Neely. Like Luigi Mangione. Like the people who shot 16 and killed three in Chicago just last weekend. No – don’t blame them.
Blame the ‘white vigilante’. Blame the insurance companies. Better yet – blame all ‘American Capitalists’.
But whatever you do – don’t blame the thieves and thugs who rob and threaten us on a day-to-day basis. It’s not their fault. Whether we realize it or not, we’ve driven them to their madness.
Not!
12-22-24
“Over the past 48 hours, New York City’s transit system has seen a wave of violence. A robbery in Queens left one person stabbed to death and another critically injured. In Brooklyn, two people were shot on a train elevator at Avenue U. This morning, a homeless woman was set on fire and killed.” – ViralNewsNYC
Whose lives matter?
This is all part of the concerted effort to subvert a republic to Marxist rule, one part at a time, this one being healthcare. Our healthcare is a government protected cabal, which they would love to have complete government control of. We have an illusion of choice, yet all the blue cross blue shield of different states are owned by one holding company, for Vermonters this is like unilever owning Hagen Daz and Ben and Jerrys, nothing like owning your competition to keep profit rolling and change non existent.
Add to this a mandate from the government for making 15% profit on all expenses and you have incentives to raise prices instead of competing, remember that huge bill that was just conveniently there on day one? Where everybody got free benefits but we didn’t start paying for until years later? Talk about bait and switch.
All brought to you by community organizers, despised the world over for their under handed practices of subverting countries and turning communities into chaos the world over.
Re: “…a mandate from the government for making 15% profit on all expenses and you have incentives to raise prices instead of competing,”
Neil, there’s no incentive to raise prices here in Vermont. Profits are ‘capped’ by the Green Mountain Care Board. In Vermont’s case, just the opposite is true. Services are being cut. Read this recent article in VT Digger.
https://vtdigger.org/2024/12/22/as-uvm-health-network-cuts-services-in-vermont-it-expands-in-new-york/
As UVM Health Network cuts services in Vermont, it expands in New York
“The recent cuts on this side of the lake, administrators say, were due solely to the actions of the Green Mountain Care Board, a state regulator that capped network hospital budgets and ordered UVM Medical Center to reduce its charges to private health insurers earlier this year.”
“Owen Foster, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, declined to comment, saying he did not know the details…”
He didn’t know? Go figure.
The point being, Neil, that “the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another” is “… a free market system… that … does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy.”
The point most of us still fail to understand is that:
“if an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it.”
That:
“When government– in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the costs come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom.”
Be it in healthcare or education, the two economic sectors most controlled by government, it is there where we see the most egregious mismanagement, economic corruption, and failure. One would think we would all know better by now
The actions of Daniel Penny to step in as a samaritan and protect innocent straphangers from harm resulted in the INADVERTENT death of the assailant. If the assailant had acted as some witnesses attested, there may well have been justification to use deliberate deadly force against him in defense of innocent life. Amazingly, the New York jury wasn’t about to be manipulated by a politically-motivated, racist prosecutor and on the lesser charge wisely found Penny not guilty.
That case stands in sharp contrast with the cold-blooded murder of a legitimate business professional with a wife and kids. If blue-blooded Luigi had great aspirations of fame and fortune as a social justice warrior and martyr, he may be having second thoughts now after a few sleepless night on Riker’s Island.
After the last election showing most of America embracing a clear departure from the left wing/woke/antifa grievance culture, there are always going to be a few in the dedicated extremist resistance. Starting January 20th 2025, the long arm of the law and the balance of justice returns and will be coming for them.
No commentary about the burning of businesses, looting businesses, defacing public spaces and property, fire bombing federal buildings, violently attacking and killing innocent bystanders during the height of Culling-19 the summer of 2020? Where are the 500,000 missing children? Any idea how so many children vanished in the United States? Is this the social justice equity human rights that we’re all supposed to believe in? Where are the immigrant children and women lost in the USA without a trace? Where are they?! Dead? Enslaved? Sold to highest bidders abroad?
Projection and gaslighting 101 – that jig flew up and broke off. Americans see the hypocrisy and degenerate behavior justifed and explained away with the political scripted word salad talking point garbage. Enough with coddling and enabling reprobates committing criminal fraud, criminal acts of violence, and malevolent toxic behavior. The Truth is the puppets performing and being paid to perform are part and parcel of three letter agencies and their nefarious operations. They have many tricks and scripts playing out simultanously – for decades the youth are the targets and the controlled operators for such operations. Wake up to the programming or fall prey to it.
I don’t even know if this is a legitimate question. If you can’t see the obvious difference between Mangione and Penny’s use of force, then we have suffered a huge loss of morality, then this country is in worse trouble that we realize.
“Learn to distinguish the difference between errors of knowledge and breaches of morality. An error of knowledge is not a moral flaw, provided you are willing to correct it; only a mystic would judge human beings by the standard of an impossible, automatic omniscience. But a breach of morality is the conscious choice of an action you know to be evil, or a willful evasion of knowledge, a suspension of sight and of thought. That which you do not know, is not a moral charge against you; but that which you refuse to know, is an account of infamy growing in your soul. Make every allowance for errors of knowledge; do not forgive or accept any break of morality.”
Ayn Rand
Hey John- has Patrice cut you in on some of that sweet SoCal real estate? Asking for a friend….
Daniel Penny was trying to protect New Yorkers. He wasn’t trying to kill anyone and he acted to save people. He’s a Marine who served this country.
Luigi Magione is a cold-blooded killer who went to an elite prep school. He deserves no sympathy.
There is clearly no equivalence between these two.
Your headline equating hero Daniel Penny with Luigi Mangione is disingenuous at best. I suggest that you issue a retraction before DP sues you for libel.
The actions of Daniel Penny to step in as a samaritan and protect innocent straphangers from harm resulted in the INADVERTENT death of the assailant. If the assailant had acted as some witnesses attested, there may well have been justification to use deliberate deadly force against him in defense of innocent life. Amazingly, the New York jury wasn’t about to be manipulated by a politically-motivated, racist prosecutor and on the lesser charge wisely found Penny not guilty.
That case stands in sharp contrast with the cold-blooded murder of a legitimate business professional with a wife and kids. If blue-blooded Luigi had great aspirations of fame and fortune as a social justice warrior and martyr, he may be having second thoughts now after a few sleepless night on Riker’s Island.
After the last election showing most of America embracing a clear departure from the left wing/woke/antifa grievance culture, there are always going to be a few in the dedicated extremist resistance. Starting January 20th 2025, the long arm of the law and the balance of justice returns and will be coming for them.