A legalized killer is called a soldier; the only difference is who decides which violence is 'righteous' and which is 'inhumane.' Luigi's actions, while undeniably polarizing, raise critical points about the systemic violence inherent in modern society—wars fought under the guise of righteousness, the dehumanization of individuals within profit-driven systems, and the way history whitewashes atrocities. Every revolution has its martyrs, those who force society to confront uncomfortable truths at great personal cost.
While I don’t condone murder, it’s impossible to ignore that systems built on exploitation often create conditions where extreme actions become symbols of resistance. Luigi’s actions have sparked a moment of reckoning, challenging the complacency of a world that profits from reducing human lives to statistics. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is not the individual casualties but the normalization of systemic harm that brought us here.
A soldier is a legalized killer only if they shoot someone who is armed. If a soldier shoots a defenseless person, a POW or an unarmed civilian, they are called a war criminal. You used the word "legal," and in as much as there are codified laws of warfare called The Geneva Conventions, there is a real difference.
This is a moment of reckoning. Do we have free universal healthcare? Is anyone with the power to enact free universal healthcare actually considering it because some rich kid blasted a dude on a public sidewalk with a neato 3D ghost gun and then scribbled a page in a notebook while fleeing the scene on a Greyhound bus? Is that even a reasonable thing to assume would happen? To expect anything to change for the better?
Why did he act alone? Is it because he is a singularly amazing saint of a human being with no peers? Or is it because people who do things like this have to act alone because any other person would recognize their motive for what it actually is.
Viral, why?! Because everyone seems to agree with Gurwinder? Because Gurwinder deletes all the comments that do not align with his point of view and/or point out logical fallacies and cognitive biases that he cannot counter? Because he broke the trust (if not, the law) by sharing private email communications without permission?
Any human with a modicum amount of critical thinking will likely find that viral article ridiculous in its perspective and only valuable for the things that were disclosed without permission.
Literally just finished having a conversation with my family about this and then you emailed! I resonate with everything here and it’s nice to feel I’m not alone in this view. I really appreciate your empathy, nuance and ability to word things so clearly. Also, the title is genius. Merry Christmas!
Really excellent. Gurwinder’s piece as well as others have sparked a lot of conversation, and while I’m still struggling to articulate my thoughts, I find so much of the discourse to be rife with thought-terminating sloganeering on both extremes. Thank you for offering the tricky third perspective.
Mostly I agree, but the specificity also has no name. That was the joy of Luigi’s gesture.
In anonymity one may act toward cowardice or something profoundly more important. Acting without judgement carries the seeds for character. Every person can leave behind identity.
Luigi is not the lead of some revolutionary vanguard selflessly committing an act of mercy meant to save anyone from the nightmare of being systematically murdered by a corporation. In fact, he's not part of anything. He's a lone-wolf killer. Like a school shooter. This is a guy who wanted to see if he could get away with murder using a 3D printed gun. This is a guy whose ego wanted to feel the thrill of being so powerful as to murder someone and then make good his escape. This is a guy who premeditatively thought that maybe if there was a political angle it might mitigate his risk if he got caught. This is a murder committed with all the justification of a rapist.
Great that people are talking about the sorry state of healthcare in the US.
But Luigi is an opportunist manipulator who I guarantee you doesn't care if anyone out there lives or dies. How do I know? He's already shown us.
A legalized killer is called a soldier; the only difference is who decides which violence is 'righteous' and which is 'inhumane.' Luigi's actions, while undeniably polarizing, raise critical points about the systemic violence inherent in modern society—wars fought under the guise of righteousness, the dehumanization of individuals within profit-driven systems, and the way history whitewashes atrocities. Every revolution has its martyrs, those who force society to confront uncomfortable truths at great personal cost.
While I don’t condone murder, it’s impossible to ignore that systems built on exploitation often create conditions where extreme actions become symbols of resistance. Luigi’s actions have sparked a moment of reckoning, challenging the complacency of a world that profits from reducing human lives to statistics. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is not the individual casualties but the normalization of systemic harm that brought us here.
A soldier is a legalized killer only if they shoot someone who is armed. If a soldier shoots a defenseless person, a POW or an unarmed civilian, they are called a war criminal. You used the word "legal," and in as much as there are codified laws of warfare called The Geneva Conventions, there is a real difference.
This is a moment of reckoning. Do we have free universal healthcare? Is anyone with the power to enact free universal healthcare actually considering it because some rich kid blasted a dude on a public sidewalk with a neato 3D ghost gun and then scribbled a page in a notebook while fleeing the scene on a Greyhound bus? Is that even a reasonable thing to assume would happen? To expect anything to change for the better?
Why did he act alone? Is it because he is a singularly amazing saint of a human being with no peers? Or is it because people who do things like this have to act alone because any other person would recognize their motive for what it actually is.
Grow up.
Such a great rebuttal to Gurwinder’s take. Really well written, thank you for this.
Again, good thinking equals good writing. Beautifully done!
Viral, why?! Because everyone seems to agree with Gurwinder? Because Gurwinder deletes all the comments that do not align with his point of view and/or point out logical fallacies and cognitive biases that he cannot counter? Because he broke the trust (if not, the law) by sharing private email communications without permission?
Any human with a modicum amount of critical thinking will likely find that viral article ridiculous in its perspective and only valuable for the things that were disclosed without permission.
Great rebuttal! Thank you!
Literally just finished having a conversation with my family about this and then you emailed! I resonate with everything here and it’s nice to feel I’m not alone in this view. I really appreciate your empathy, nuance and ability to word things so clearly. Also, the title is genius. Merry Christmas!
I can’t help wondering what the writer of Squid Games would have to say about Mr. Mangione’s choices.
Stark, we need that.
Masterful writing again.
Really excellent. Gurwinder’s piece as well as others have sparked a lot of conversation, and while I’m still struggling to articulate my thoughts, I find so much of the discourse to be rife with thought-terminating sloganeering on both extremes. Thank you for offering the tricky third perspective.
Mostly I agree, but the specificity also has no name. That was the joy of Luigi’s gesture.
In anonymity one may act toward cowardice or something profoundly more important. Acting without judgement carries the seeds for character. Every person can leave behind identity.
Next, what draws you (reader) outward?
As you wrote "It could have been any CEO."
And that's exactly why your argument fails.
Luigi is not the lead of some revolutionary vanguard selflessly committing an act of mercy meant to save anyone from the nightmare of being systematically murdered by a corporation. In fact, he's not part of anything. He's a lone-wolf killer. Like a school shooter. This is a guy who wanted to see if he could get away with murder using a 3D printed gun. This is a guy whose ego wanted to feel the thrill of being so powerful as to murder someone and then make good his escape. This is a guy who premeditatively thought that maybe if there was a political angle it might mitigate his risk if he got caught. This is a murder committed with all the justification of a rapist.
Great that people are talking about the sorry state of healthcare in the US.
But Luigi is an opportunist manipulator who I guarantee you doesn't care if anyone out there lives or dies. How do I know? He's already shown us.