Social Murder, Social Rage
Exploitation, neglect, deprivation, death. These are not accidents of fate but the calculated outcomes of a system that prioritizes profit over human life. Friedrich Engels called it “social murder,” a term that cuts to the heart of capitalism’s hidden violence. It is murder disguised as policy, hidden behind the cold machinery of economic necessity, and suffered quietly by those whose lives are deemed expendable.
As Engels wrote in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1845:
“When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another such that death results, we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live—forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence—knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is, because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it remains.”
Following the brazen shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione has been arrested and charged with murder. His handwritten manifesto reads like a contemporary echo of Engels’ description of “social murder,” this time carried out by health insurance executives, shareholders, and the rapacious profit motive that animates them.
Mangione has become an overnight hero after his arrest, channeling the rage of millions of Americans left to rot by their for-profit healthcare system. Bipartisan lines have blurred—if only briefly—as people across the political spectrum cheer ‘Free Luigi’ and pray for his escape. It’s no accident that their would-be revolutionary is an athletic and strikingly attractive 26-year-old, his body wrecked by the pain of a botched spinal surgery. Who better to embody the profound desperation of loss than a man who seemed to have it all, only to lose everything anyway?
A handsome 26-year-old computer engineer with metal rods through his spine and, allegedly, a 3-D printed plastic pistol has become the face of a movement—or at least a moment of catharsis—quickly inspiring memes, merchandise, and even a secular prayer candle. But the backdrop to this tech-noir thriller, unfolding over mass media, is the stark reality that in America, one’s life and health are held hostage by capitalism, ransomed back through deductibles, copays, premiums, and the relentless financialization of every aspect of our well-being. If Engels had foreseen a future where algorithms dictate who lives, who dies, who suffers, or who watches a loved one fade in agony, we might not have believed him.
And yet here we are, with our loved ones and livelihoods reduced to metrics on a balance sheet. Social murder might have found more sophisticated methods, but its victims remain the same. It’s little wonder that such raw acts of vigilantism resonate so deeply, even if their political consequences remain uncertain. This rage is visceral in the truest sense of the word.
Various outlets are accusing the Left of celebrating the death of a husband and father at the hands of a disaffected young man. It is true that Left intellectuals have long grappled with the ethics of violence, the immorality of for-profit industries like healthcare, the dynamics of power and oppression, and the complexities of both violent and non-violent resistance. But this issue—like all meaningful ones—is not partisan. If there’s an audience with an appetite for blood it was created by the very industry and elites who now condemn it. Our ability to experience joy and dignity in our bodies is a fundamental and universal concern. The barbarity of capitalism, which has disfigured this basic human right, is felt by every American, no matter what they recite from a teleprompter.
Editor’s Note: This commentary first appeared as a blog post at Verso Books on 13 September 2024.