On December 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s life ended after he was ambushed by a shooter in midtown Manhattan while on his way to a company conference. And while there’s no question that an act of violence like that is horrific, not everyone has been shocked by it.
TikToker Rachel Gaede shared a video breaking down why Gen Z in particular doesn’t have much sympathy for other CEOs who are worried that they might be targeted next. Below, you’ll find her full explanation, as well as some of the replies viewers shared.
Kids in the United States are often taught in schools to be prepared for violence from a young age
Image credits: Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
And this woman has explained why normalizing violence led to Gen Z having no sympathy for CEOs who fear they might be targeted next
Image credits: gachelraede
"All of the CEOs out there being like, I'm so scared. Violence is not the answer. Gen Z is really sitting here like, oh, my god, y'all really raised the school shooter generation, and now you're asking us for sympathy? You normalize gun violence to the point where we take days to weeks off of school to practice what to do when an armed gunman comes into our building."
Image credits: gachelraede
"We grew up in a generation where our lawmakers look at our dead kids, our dead friends, our dead peers, and they tell us that the answer, that the solution for that was a bulletproof backpack. And now you're upset? You want us to cry because some man got shot in broad daylight? This happens. Welcome to a regular Tuesday at school in America."
Image credits: gachelraede
You can hear Rachel's full explanation right here
The United States government has failed to take action against gun violence for decades
Image credits: Wesley Tingey/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
In her video, Rachel points out that gun violence has become concerningly normalized in the United States, and sadly, she’s right. According to Everytown Research, the gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 26 times higher than it is in other high-income nations. The country is also known for having a devastating number of school shootings per year.
Gun Violence Archive reported that in 2024, there were a whopping 503 mass shootings in the U.S., and over 1,300 minors were killed. And as of December 16, 2024, there had already been 83 shootings inside American schools. But for some reason, the government has failed to do anything about these tragedies.
The Atlantic explains that passing gun control laws has not been successful mainly because of the Senate’s filibuster rule. This has essentially allowed a minority of states with Republican leadership to block any progress towards passing nationwide gun control legislation.
And while many people say that “violence is never the answer,” actions speak louder than words. So if citizens can’t get their point across with rallies, protests, their votes, etc., it’s not shocking that someone eventually decided that violence might actually be the answer.
When it comes to why Brian Thompson, the late UnitedHealthcare CEO, was targeted, many Americans immediately understood the motive. UnitedHealthcare is notorious for denying patients’ claims, even on care that would literally save their lives.
They also faced a lawsuit in November 2023 after their AI algorithm nH Predict denied and overrode claims to elderly patients that had previously been approved by their doctors. This AI tool was found to have an error rate of 90% as well.
Many people who are fed up with the broken healthcare system understood why such drastic action would be taken
Image credits: Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
UnitedHealthcare certainly isn’t the only company in the United States guilty of doing this. It’s no secret that it’s expensive for Americans to stay healthy, as the average person spends about $13,493 on healthcare every year. But where this becomes incredibly dangerous is when patients cannot afford the treatment and procedures that they desperately need.
The American people understood the thought process of Brian Thompson’s killer, as many of them feel similarly fed up with this broken healthcare system. In fact, PBS reports that 70% of Americans believe “that denials for health care coverage by insurance companies, or the profits made by health insurance companies, also bear at least ‘a moderate amount’ of responsibility for Thompson’s death.”
As far as the impact that having health insurance claims denied can have, U.S. News reports that nearly half of Americans who have had to delay getting care due to claims being denied said that the wait caused a decline in health. 80% also noted that this delay caused them worry and anxiety, and 16% said that it caused them to get a diagnosis later than they should have.
Meanwhile, Brian Thompson was earning $10.2 million annually in his position as the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. It would be hard not to be bitter when you can’t afford treatment that could save your life, meanwhile a company generating $74 billion in revenue in one quarter decides to deny you any assistance.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this story in the comments below, pandas. Do you agree with Rachel’s reasoning for having no sympathy for CEOs? Feel free to weigh in. Then, if you’d like to read another Bored Panda article discussing healthcare costs, look no further than right here.
