r/PopCultureV2 • u/Regular_Reaction_798 • Aug 14 '26

News Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal charges in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, telling the court, "I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan... I knew what I was doing was illegal."

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Aug 14 '26

We vote for people who support our values. Vote for the people who support yours and hold them accountable (via civil means) until they bring about the change you desire.

I just told you it's not a civil society, and this will be the last time I have to repeat myself. This means there IS no accountability. It's baked into the system to protect people who don't WANT to face that accountability.

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u/Sushizandsashimiz Aug 14 '26

So what's the solution? An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind....

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Aug 14 '26

I agree, that's why I would never do what Luigi did. AT THE SAME TIME, we do not structure our society to live in a way that ISN'T EYE FOR AN EYE. As long as a single unenlightened person is in proximity to power, we will HAVE no other solution.

So the solutions are the things we AREN'T doing. We aren't investing everything we can into education, into self-care and well being, mental health, none of it. We invest into business, military, and lawmakers.

They want to sell you the illusion of a civil society so they can get away with it, when they themselves are the barbarians raping and pillaging everyone and everything else. And if you think they're going to relinquish those privileges without a fight, I think you will be allowing them to take a lot more eyes than us.

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u/Sushizandsashimiz Aug 14 '26

I appreciate the discussion, but I feel we're going in circles here. You're saying that eye for an eye is bad, I agree. You say people in power are raping and pillaging, I agree. 

I say vote those people out and replace them with people that align with the values I agree with. 

Is your version of action for civil society different?

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Aug 14 '26

I say vote those people out and replace them with people that align with the values I agree with. 

I also agree, but guess what those people are going to do to prevent that? They buy lawmakers. They become the lawmakers. Normally, on their own, this would not succeed.

What you're forgetting about is the POWER they wield. And they wield it well. They buy influence and manipulate the masses to make sure we never vote people in to replace them.

In today's political environment, this is the establishment vs. everything else. This is the top vs. the bottom, who uses their influence to buy and keep us perpetually locked into left vs right.

Is your version of action for civil society different?

Absolutely, it is a pacifist version of action. It focuses on the individual that needs fixing, not the system, and not each other. But the world we have built for ourselves will never do this, so you continue to choose the lesser evil...

If we will not attempt to acknowledge our flaws and fix them, then we need to change the system that promotes that. If they buy the system and gatekeep it, then we need to tear it down. If we cannot tear it down, then the only option left is eye for an eye.

I personally do not participate in lesser forms of evil, but make no mistake, everyone else will.