this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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A Boring Dystopia
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This is not a juxtaposition at all. Terrible ethics aside, the CEO operated more or less totally in compliance with USA law. Being a fucking scumbag is not illegal -- indeed, our country sadly runs on this principle.
The fellow in the subway was acting to a DIRECT threat, and it's pretty easy to draw a line from that guy flipping out to someone being threatened/hurt/killed in the subway. He was already culpable of disorderly conduct or worse, and it's pretty clear that it wasn't Penny's intent to fatally injure him.
The juxtaposition some people feel is because the CEO is acting against their moral framework, but he's operating in a legal framework. This is why our country is fucking sick, but it is is what it is at this point.
"Terrible ethics aside"
Did the CEO do anything unlawful? If so, let's talk about it. Otherwise, how can you blame him? He's performing in a way that is sanctioned by US law. Think it's horrible? So do I! Until the laws change, you're going to see more of the same.
He was being sued for insider trading for dumping his stock before an investigation went public and lowered its value. So technically, he probably was a criminal. But this is all very much beside the point.
Sorry, insider trading aside, I meant you cannot blame him for performing his function as CEO. His job is to coordinate more revenue from denying people medical treatments. You cannot blame him for performing that function would be my reasoning. The insider trading is orthogonal to the problems with the medical industry, although one could make an argument that if you offer a job that only sociopaths will take, they are likely to do other sociopathic behaviors while they are in charge, which is a danger to society as a whole.
I don't know why you think people cannot be blamed for the role they choose to have in society. That's very weird. And if that's not the point you're trying to make I'm not sure what it is.
I was answering the question you asked, which was about whether or not he had committed any crimes. And like I said it's beside the point, which you seem to agree with.
Our society specifically allows (and maybe even facilitates) public health insurance companies that can deny terminally ill people the care they need. If someone chooses to step into that job, I can't blame them from a legal standpoint. I can blame them from a moral one, but the laws of morality do not guide our country, sadly.
I don't think we disagree about that at all. It's just a weird point to be making. I haven't seen anybody try to say that what he was doing in his capacity as CEO was illegal.
Yes, we can and do blame him. If the law doesnt work, shooting him in the back seemed to resolve the issue.
I'm not unhappy with the outcome but using a pistol is not my favorite remedy. I WISH our legal system was more closely aligned with moral guidelines like: "profiting off sick people shouldn't be allowed" or "increasing value for the shareholders is not more important than cancer treatment", yet here we are.
Although I'd prefer a legal solution (like revising our laws), I'm not going to be holding my breath. I also reject the claim that this shooter is the first of many, as I don't see this becoming a huge pattern. If I was an unethical health insurance CEO, I'd be sleeping fine now.
(edit: forgot the 'not' in the cancer treatment quote)
I don't like him, but I don't blame him. The insurance company dangled out a high-paying job doing something he found morally acceptable, and he took the job. What's the logical issue there?