Cancel Taylor Lorenz? Or prevent the next Brian Thompson?

We have a decision to make: cancel Taylor Lorenz or pay attention to what she said about the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“I, like so many other Americans, unfortunately felt joy,” Lorenz, a tech reporter, said Monday on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”

She began to explain herself when Morgan, a conservative, cut her off.

“Joy?” he asked. “Joy in the execution of a man?”

Why is Luigi Mangione a folk hero for many?

It was a tense, awkward moment that has since gone viral and put us all in danger of ending up back where we started.

We must learn to listen to each other’s words, no matter how disgusting we find them; otherwise, we must deal with the consequences of the actions of people who feel powerless and hopeless.

Before I explain further, I would like to clarify a few things:

I felt no joy at Thompson’s death. Regardless of what is going on in his industry, I do not believe in vigilantism or retribution of evil for evil. If we go down this path, the logical conclusion is rampant violence and a dystopian, unlivable society.

Luigi Mangione shouldn’t be a folk hero after being blamed for Thompson’s death.

But it is him.

Now we need to address the why.

What he did is despicable. But we can’t ignore it

Lorenz expressed a feeling that many people feel when social media posts, likes and shares have any weight at all. At least that’s what she started before Morgan interrupted her.

People feel powerless and hopeless before the US healthcare system. They consider the costs to be too high and the supply to be inadequate.

They don’t believe they have the ability to change it during their lifetime. And they feel trapped because they can’t escape the system, flawed as it is.

To them, Mangione has become something of a Robin Hood figure, as he is accused of cold-blooded murder that looks like he acted on behalf of the poor against the rich.

There have been attempts at reform, but nothing has made enough of a difference for enough of the population, and their attitude is, “Serves him right.”

When people say they feel powerless, we need to listen

I don’t share this opinion. But I don’t have to share this or any other viewpoint to understand it or where it comes from.

I believe in listening to people – even and perhaps especially when I have different opinions.

We have many examples of what happens when ordinary people are ignored by those in power, and Morgan is certainly suited to host an influential and widely-watched debate show.

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He should have given her more time to explain herself before such an aggressive reaction.

Black people were ignored when football players knelt during the national anthem, and countless racial unrest occurred after the deaths of George Floyd and others.

Conservatives were ignored when they said the country was coming apart at the seams over immigration and changing cultural values, and they stormed the Capitol.

Victims of mass shootings have been ignored, and now elementary schools conduct active shooter drills just as Cold War-era children learned to duck and take cover.

Cancel Taylor Lorenz? Or address the problem?

Ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away. It makes them worse.

And if people had listened, maybe Thompson would still be alive today and his family wouldn’t be grieving.

Lorenz was courageous in speaking her mind, even if she unwittingly repeated Malcolm

But what if the nation had listened to him? Malcolm X was canceled and he went into exile. Just a few years later, there were further assassination attempts, including his own, as well as riots and deaths across the country.

We don’t have to agree with Lorenz to understand why she said it, especially when we have evidence that she is not alone.

If we don’t want to encourage more would-be killers who want to become heroes online, we should learn to listen and respond to the concerns of the powerless.

Sooner or later we have to learn the lesson that we cannot constantly ignore problems and expect them to go away; otherwise we simply lurch from one violent tragedy to the next.

We have to make a choice.

Reach Moore at [email protected] or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.

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Cancel Taylor Lorenz? Or prevent the next Brian Thompson?

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