Napoleon Bonaparte said: “Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich,” suggesting that religion serves as a societal control mechanism, providing the poor with a reason to accept their situation and not revolt against the wealthy.
I find this statement to be somewhat true, even if one of the first Bible stories is about Cain murdering his brother Abel, but I find it ironic that this line was spoken by Napoleon. He rose to prominence during the French Revolution. He was only a boy at the beginning, but he knew that it was a time when the poor were merrily sending the rich off to the Guillotine, and he was on the side of the people. Those mass murders, however, only proved to be a temporary band-aid for the serious problem of income inequality. We still face it today, and it’s only getting worse.
A recent story in the news reminds me of the TV show Leverage, which centers around a prominent Insurance investigator, Nate Ford, who is played by Timothy Hutton. Nate has saved his company millions of dollars by recovering stolen artwork. His son, Sam Ford, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and Nate fought tirelessly to get the insurance company to cover the experimental treatment his son needed. However, the company refused to pay for the treatment, and Sam tragically passed away. This devastating loss led Nate to leave his job, get divorced, and spiral into alcoholism.
Then, Nate decides that he will dedicate his life to helping others who are facing overwhelming odds. The show follows a five-person team of thieves, led by Ford, who use their skills to carry out heists to help ordinary people fight against the rich and powerful, to correct corporate and governmental injustices. It’s a modern-day Robin Hood story, except that his team does not murder anyone. Eliot Spencer, the muscle on his team, will beat up bad guys left and right, but he doesn’t kill anyone. They are not vigilantes like Batman. They only provide “Leverage.”
They’re not like Paul Kersey, the character played by Charles Bronson in the 1974 film Death Wish. Paul Kersey was an architect who became a vigilante after his wife was murdered and his daughter was raped during a home invasion. That film follows his journey as he takes the law into his own hands to fight crime in New York City.
New York City is a hot spot for real-life vigilantes. Bernhard Goetz, known as the “Subway Vigilante,” was famous back in 1984. The Guardian Angels founded by Curtis Sliwa still patrol neighborhoods of New York. In a recent case, Daniel Penny, a former Marine, was acquitted of murder in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway. And now, we have the intriguing December 2024 case of Luigi Mangione who is accused of killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, an insurance company. This is the case that reminds me of the show Leverage, even though the TV Leverage cast members never resorted to murdering anyone.
Mangione, who was not insured by UnitedHealthcare, targeted Thompson possibly because of the company’s size, record of denying claims, and his own painful back injury. This incident has reignited discussions about healthcare and insurance, much like the issues Nate Ford faced in “Leverage.”
Luigi, I assume will plead Not guilty, even though he has said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
That reminds me of a terrific scene from the play Chicago. Cell Block Tango, where the six accused murderesses sing, “He had it coming.”
Cell block tango (Chicago, 2002) + Sub (Eng, Rus)
As of this moment, it looks like Luigi has quite a growing following, as almost everyone knows somebody who has been screwed over by an Insurance Company. It is highly likely that somebody will start a Go Fund Me page for him, and it is also likely that the good-looking man with the washboard abs will receive a few marriage proposals from his fans.
I, of course, do not promote murder, but I do feel that those who have been screwed over by the system do deserve some form of justice. As long as the top 1% own about 26% of the total wealth, and the bottom 50% of households own only 2.5% of the total wealth, income inequality will lead to problems similar to those that sparked the French to revolt against the Aristocracy back when Napoleon was just a boy.
The weekly massacres of school children in this country have done little to bring about reform in our nation’s gun-control laws. Will the murder of one CEO have any effect?
Peace & Love, and all of the above,
Earl
earlthepearl137 
Go fund me denied the appeal, but another company is accepting donations
Thanks for the update. I knew somebody would, even if it had to be anonymous.