Callousness

I've been thinking about the murder of that healthcare CEO... a lot of people have, and while I don't think I'm adding anything new it still feels like it needs to be said.

Some people seem appalled by the jokes and memes and general celebration of what is basically a murder.

While I'm sure his friends and family are devastated, and the callousness of the general public is hurtful, there's obviously more to it than that.

It is, in many ways, people just demonstrating the callousness they have felt - over and over again - from a system that makes it clear that they don't give a shit how the average person suffers.

I have wondered, sometimes, about what goes through the minds of the 1%. How they can make decisions that you would think any human being would find appalling. Are they even human? Do they not have a heart?

Sure, self-interest is something everyone feels... and it's understandable people are reluctant to ignore a 'threat' to their self interest. 

But how, for example, did the people behind the decisions in tobacco companies who fought tooth and nail to deny their products caused cancer live with themselves? 

We are talking about people's lives here... and yet making money was more important.

The same for the oil companies. I don't know if they truly believe their cherry picked evidence that oil usage doesn't affect the climate, or if they just think that with their money they'll be fine... and don't care about anyone else. 

Is it callousness and cruelty? Self delusion? Do they think they're good people? Or are they so cynical that they don't care?

Over and over again, we have multiple examples. Disney fighting to deny compensation to a man who lost his wife.

Even older stories - of the Radium Girls. 

Of companies that - again - fought tooth and nail against safety requirements. Someone might lose a hand or a leg due to unsafe practices, but they'd rather say 'tough luck' and fight against them than show even a modicum of care for the employees who make their products.

Most of the time, it's some faceless and unknown 'they'. The old white man in a board room, wearing a suit, talking up about how great he is and complaining about whatever threatens his ability to buy a seventh yacht.

This CEO apparently was related to Anthem's decision to limit paying for anesthesia.

anesthesia.

Everyone knows someone who had a surgery go longer than expected. Surgeons don't always know what they will find when they open someone up, and complications are not unusual.

The idea that someone could go under for surgery and come out of it with an insane amount of debt just because the procedure took longer than expected?

Horrifying

Or worse, that they would try to reduce the anesthesia sooner than they should and someone would suffer, in pain, because of it.

Was there nobody in the room who saw the problem here?

Did... noone have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of someone going under the knife?

Do they not think they'll ever need surgery themselves? Or not worry about any  unexpected expenses if they do?

Again - are they even human?

So somebody actually put a face to one of those unnamed decision makers, and took a shot at him.

Killed him, even.

And since I don't know this guy, since all I know is that he is part of that horrible system, it is really hard not to think 'good riddance'.

Fuck those guys.

There are, of course, a lot of problems here. The issues are larger than just one CEO - they're systemic.

And while some people are fed up to the point that they just want to see it all burn to the ground (there was an interesting article about Trump, saying his supporters are basically the ones that just want to tear it all down), I've for the most part felt that that's a mistake.

For a couple of reasons... first, that tearing down the system tends to hurt the average person more than those insulated boardroom assholes. 'Too big to fail' angers people because that's part of how these guys continue to do what they do. 

Second - the source of the problem doesn't go away no matter how satisfying it might be chop of the nobles heads with a guillotine. Generally we're just replacing one group of callous and heartless rich people with another, and it's just a matter of time before the same issues occur. (Like we're seeing today.)

I understand the frustration that led people to support Trump, and my real issue with him is that he's not going to actually address any of that. 

He's even more callous and heartless than most. We already saw it, with how he handled covid. He didn't care at all about how many people were actually dying, and only cared for how the numbers looked

“I like the numbers being where they are.”

He said in March of 2020. Because the optics were more important than coming up with the best way of handling a cruise ship with infected passengers.

I've said before, I think the Bible basically is telling us to 'be a good shepherd' and keep the health of our citizens at the forefront of our decision making, because doing so will steer you right.

When someone had blatantly shown they don't have that guiding light, it's pretty much guaranteed that their decisions will go wrong.

The Democrats were not all that great of a choice, sure. But I thought, if they won, that it might be possible to fix some of this shit from within the system.

Now it's hard to believe any of that is possible, and I'm dreading the upcoming train wreck as he continues to make callous and cruel decisions that will hurt the very people who voted for him.

But enough about that. Let's go back to this CEO... and the reaction of the general public.

For the stranger I don't know, but who I'm sure was a human just like myself, and for his friends and family who cared, I am sorry.

But for yet another wealthy man who is part of such a callous and cruel system - good riddance. 

It doesn't feel like any of them care unless they suffer the consequences of their decisions, and I can't say I'd be upset if it happened to more of you.