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James48

(4,607 posts)
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 07:20 PM Tuesday

Luigi's manifesto is quite a read.

I don’t know how long it will be up- but here it is.

https://archive.is/7jUsF
I do not know if it’s real, or fake. But it is clearly an interesting read. I’ll leave judgement up to you.


The Allopathic Complex and Its Consequences
luigi mangione's last words


LM
DEC 09, 2024




The second amendment means I am my own chief executive and commander in chief of my own military. I authorize my own act of self-defense in response to a hostile entity making war on me and my family.
Nelson Mandela says no form of viooence can be excused. Camus says it’s all the same, whether you live or die or have a cup of coffee. MLK says violence never brings permanent peace. Gandhi says that non-violence is the mightiest power available to mankind.

That’s who they tell you are heroes. That’s who our revolutionaries are.
Yet is that not capitalistic? Non-violence keeps the system working at full speed ahead.
What did it get us. Look in the mirror.

They want us to be non-violent, so that they can grow fat off the blood they take from us.
The only way out is through. Not all of us will make it. Each of us is our own chief executive. You have to decide what you will tolerate.
In Gladiator 1 Maximus cuts into the military tattoo that identifies him as part of the roman legion. His friend asks “Is that the sign of your god?” As Maximus carves deeper into his own flesh, as his own blood drips down his skin, Maximus smiles and nods yes. The tattoo represents the emperor, who is god. The god emperor has made himself part of Maximus’s own flesh. The only way to destroy the emperor is to destroy himself. Maximus smiles through the pain because he knows it is worth it.
These might be my last words. I don’t know when they will come for me. I will resist them at any cost. That’s why I smile through the pain.
They diagnosed my mother with severe neuropathy when she was forty-one years old. She said it started ten years before that with burning sensations in her feet and occasional sharp stabbing pains. At first the pain would last a few moments, then fade to tingling, then numbness, then fade to nothing a few days later.
The first time the pain came she ignored it. Then it came a couple times a year and she ignored it. Then every couple months. Then a couple times a month. Then a couple times a week. At that point by the time the tingling faded to numbness, the pain would start, and the discomfort was constant. At that point even going from the couch to the kitchen to make her own lunch became a major endeavor
She started with ibuprofen, until the stomach aches and acid reflux made her switch to acetaminophen. Then the headaches and barely sleeping made her switch back to ibuprofen.
The first doctor said it was psychosomatic. Nothing was wrong. She needed to relax, destress, sleep more.
The second doctor said it was a compressed nerve in her spine. She needed back surgery. It would cost $180,000. Recovery would be six months minimum before walking again. Twelve months for full potential recovery, and she would never lift more than ten pounds of weight again.
The third doctor performed a Nerve Conduction Study, Electromyography, MRI, and blood tests. Each test cost $800 to $1200. She hit the $6000 deductible of her UnitedHealthcare plan in October. Then the doctor went on vacation, and my mother wasn’t able to resume tests until January when her deductible reset.
The tests showed severe neuropathy. The $180,000 surgery would have had no effect.
They prescribed opioids for the pain. At first the pain relief was worth the price of constant mental fog and constipation. She didn’t tell me about that until later. All I remember is we took a trip for the first time in years, when she drove me to Monterey to go to the aquarium. I saw an otter in real life, swimming on its back. We left at 7am and listened to Green Day on the four-hour car ride. Over time, the opioids stopped working. They made her MORE sensitive to pain, and she felt withdrawal symptoms after just two or three hours.
Then gabapentin. By now the pain was so bad she couldn’t exercise, which compounded the weight gain from the slowed metabolic rate and hormonal shifts. And it barely helped the pain, and made her so fatigued she would go an entire day without getting out of bed.
Then Corticosteroids. Which didn’t even work.
The pain was so bad I would hear my mother wake up in the night screaming in pain. I would run into her room, asking if she’s OK. Eventually I stopped getting up. She’d yell out anguished shrieks of wordless pain or the word “fuck” stretched and distended to its limits. I’d turn over and go back to sleep.
All of this while they bled us dry with follow-up appointment after follow-up appointment, specialist consultations, and more imagine scans. Each appointment was promised to be fully covered, until the insurance claims were delayed and denied. Allopathic medicine did nothing to help my mother’s suffering. Yet it is the foundation of our entire society.
My mother told me that on a good day the nerve pain was like her legs were immersed in ice water. On a bad day it felt like her legs were clamped in a machine shop vice, screwed down to where the cranks stopped turning, then crushed further until her ankle bones sprintered and cracked to accommodate the tightening clamp. She had more bad days than good.
My mother crawled to the bathroom on her hands and knees. I slept in the living room to create more distance from her cries in the night. I still woke up, and still went back to sleep.
Back then I thought there was nothing I could do.
The high copays made consistent treatment impossible. New treatments were denied as “not medically necessary.” Old treatments didn’t work, and still put us out for thousands of dollars.
UnitedHealthcare limited specialist consultations to twice a year.
Then they refused to cover advanced imaging, which the specialists required for an appointment.
Prior authorizations took weeks, then months.
UnitedHealthcare constantly changed their claim filing procedure. They said my mother’s doctor needed to fax his notes. Then UnitedHealthcare said they did not save faxed patient correspondence, and required a hardcopy of the doctor’s typed notes to be mailed. Then they said they never received the notes. They were unable to approve the claim until they had received and filed the notes.
They promised coverage, and broke their word to my mother.
With every delay, my anger surged. With every denial, I wanted to throw the doctor through the glass wall of their hospital waiting room.
But it wasn’t them. It wasn’t the doctors, the receptionists, administrators, pharmacists, imaging technicians, or anyone we ever met. It was UnitedHealthcare.
People are dying. Evil has become institutionalized. Corporations make billions of dollars off the pain, suffering, death, and anguished cries in the night of millions of Americans.
We entered into an agreement for healthcare with a legally binding contract that promised care commensurate with our insurance payments and medical needs. Then UnitedHealthcare changes the rules to suit their own profits. They think they make the rules, and think that because it’s legal that no one can punish them.
They think there’s no one out there who will stop them.
Now my own chronic back pain wakes me in the night, screaming in pain. I sought out another type of healing that showed me the real antidote to what ails us.
I bide my time, saving the last of my strength to strike my final blows. All extractors must be forced to swallow the bitter pain they deal out to millions.
As our own chief executives, it’s our obligation to make our own lives better. First and foremost, we must seek to improve our own circumstances and defend ourselves. As we do so, our actions have ripple effects that can improve the lives of others.
Rules exist between two individuals, in a network that covers the entire earth. Some of these rules are written down. Some of these rules emerge from natural respect between two individuals. Some of these rules are defined in physical laws, like the properties of gravity, magnetism or the potential energy stored in the chemical bonds of potassium nitrate.
No single document better encapsulates the belief that all people are equal in fundamental worth and moral status and the frameworks for fostering collective well-being than the US constitution.
Writing a rule down makes it into a law. I don’t give a fuck about the law. Law means nothing. What does matter is following the guidance of our own logic and what we learn from those before us to maximize our own well-being, which will then maximize the well-being of our loved ones and community.
That’s where UnitedHealthcare went wrong. They violated their contract with my mother, with me, and tens of millions of other Americans. This threat to my own health, my family’s health, and the health of our country’s people requires me to respond with an act of war.
END

31 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Luigi's manifesto is quite a read. (Original Post) James48 Tuesday OP
Not very interesting at all if it is fake... RockRaven Tuesday #1
FAKE IrishBubbaLiberal Tuesday #2
Somebody BeerBarrelPolka Tuesday #3
If authentic, it sounds like someone who's having a breakdown. Or, if his back pain was so allegorical oracle Tuesday #21
It was removed from where it was originally posted because it was fake. Only screenshots are circulating. LeftInTX Tuesday #22
If true, sounds like mom got care not denials. His beef seems to be with the doctors, why not shoot them Silent Type Tuesday #4
He said his issue ultimately, was not with doctors and nurses mzmolly Tuesday #11
Una-bomber was crazy too and said all kinds of crud to rationalize his crime. Silent Type Tuesday #13
Agree. mzmolly Tuesday #14
If I had an injury that left me impotent as LM's friend just said on CNN, I'd be depressed as heck. Silent Type Tuesday #17
I was referring to the fake manifesto mzmolly Tuesday #19
I'd like to know if it's real or fake... Mike Nelson Tuesday #5
Fake. Lock this. WhiskeyGrinder Tuesday #6
I believe this is fake Lulu KC Tuesday #7
I've seen photos with his sister mzmolly Tuesday #12
This is the fake one Meowmee Tuesday #8
Fake. Removed from substack because it was an imposter. LeftInTX Tuesday #9
O my! Dave says Tuesday #10
THIS IS THE TRUE MANIFESTO Nimble_Idea Tuesday #15
I am in tears malaise Tuesday #16
Here is allegedly the 262-word real one splat Tuesday #18
Ken Klippenstein is known prankster LeftInTX Tuesday #23
Same quotes in the "prankster's" version as in NYT story splat Tuesday #29
You're on a first name basis with Mangione, eh? Why is that? Bernardo de La Paz Tuesday #20
fake... has no place on DU WarGamer Tuesday #24
Completely fake... regnaD kciN Tuesday #25
That is his sister Lulu KC Tuesday #27
Some of the info about his mom's neuropathy is unusual. Mosby Tuesday #26
I think this is the fake one. sinkingfeeling Tuesday #28
Message auto-removed Name removed Tuesday #30
Wow! Blue_Roses Tuesday #31

BeerBarrelPolka

(1,406 posts)
3. Somebody
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 07:34 PM
Tuesday

Somebody spent a lot of money on English and Grammar courses that didn't work out either it appears.

allegorical oracle

(3,250 posts)
21. If authentic, it sounds like someone who's having a breakdown. Or, if his back pain was so
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 09:01 PM
Tuesday

excruciating, it could be due to pain meds that affected his thought processes. He might be able to plead "diminished capacity."

LeftInTX

(30,314 posts)
22. It was removed from where it was originally posted because it was fake. Only screenshots are circulating.
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 09:05 PM
Tuesday

Someone posted it, claiming to be Mangione on substack after he was already in jail last night. It was determined not to be him.

Silent Type

(7,140 posts)
4. If true, sounds like mom got care not denials. His beef seems to be with the doctors, why not shoot them
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 07:36 PM
Tuesday

in back if he was trying to make a statement based upon his mom’s situation.

Silent Type

(7,140 posts)
17. If I had an injury that left me impotent as LM's friend just said on CNN, I'd be depressed as heck.
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 08:24 PM
Tuesday

But he got treatment, docs apparently couldn’t do much about nerve damage.

I’m sure there will be more revelations, and I might change my mind at that point. But his beef sounds to be with doctors.

mzmolly

(51,697 posts)
19. I was referring to the fake manifesto
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 08:54 PM
Tuesday

and the fact that he killed a health insurance CEO. But I understand your point.

Sad story. Though medical technology is ever evolving. His situation might have been temporary.

Mike Nelson

(10,332 posts)
5. I'd like to know if it's real or fake...
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 07:57 PM
Tuesday

... it definitely gets a passing grade from me. Depending on requirements addressed in a question, I'd even give it an A. Of course, I don't know if it's really written by Mr. Mangione. Probably, that will be known, at some point.

Lulu KC

(4,691 posts)
7. I believe this is fake
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 07:58 PM
Tuesday

Not consistent with recent photos of mother or her economic status. Unless it’s from a verifiable source, I would take it down. I saw earlier that there is a fake one making the rounds.

mzmolly

(51,697 posts)
12. I've seen photos with his sister
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 08:14 PM
Tuesday

but not mother.

Nevermind I found mama Mangioni. I agree, it's likely a fake.

malaise

(278,461 posts)
16. I am in tears
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 08:22 PM
Tuesday

I feel his pain watching his mother’s pain.
Something has to give. The system is completely fucked up.

splat

(2,333 posts)
18. Here is allegedly the 262-word real one
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 08:26 PM
Tuesday
“To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”


From https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/luigis-manifesto — Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein.bsky.social) December 10, 2024 at 3:51 PM

LeftInTX

(30,314 posts)
23. Ken Klippenstein is known prankster
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 09:07 PM
Tuesday

Online pranks
edit
According to The Daily Beast, Klippenstein "has a history of pranking unknowing targets on Twitter".[40] Klippenstein has occasionally been the subject of reporting, as well, due to him pranking individuals from across the political spectrum. Following a Twitter flame war with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, he attracted Musk's attention by sharing a Vogue photograph from the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty showing Musk with Ghislaine Maxwell, a long-time associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had been convicted of sex trafficking.[41] Musk, who as of June 3, 2020, had 35.5 million Twitter followers,[42] publicly posted that Klippenstein was a "douche-about-town".[43] On January 9, 2024, he and other journalists were abruptly banned from Twitter, which Musk now owns. No explanation was given.[44] Klippenstein and the other journalists were later reinstated following media coverage of the incident.[45]

In July 2019, Klippenstein was covered in the media after a Twitter incident in which he was retweeted by Iowa Congressman Steve King just before changing his Twitter display name to "Steve King is a white supremacist".[46][47][48] In March 2021, Klippenstein pranked author Naomi Wolf by recommending she tweet an image of a fabricated anti-vaxxer quotation paired with a picture of American pornography actor Johnny Sins.[49]

On Memorial Day 2021, Klippenstein tricked political commentators Dinesh D'Souza and Matt Schlapp, as well as Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, into retweeting a photograph of John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, whom Klippenstein claimed was his veteran grandfather.[50] After being retweeted by Gaetz, Klippenstein changed his display name on Twitter to be "matt gaetz is a pedo". Gaetz later deleted his retweet.[51][52]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Klippenstein

splat

(2,333 posts)
29. Same quotes in the "prankster's" version as in NYT story
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 10:34 PM
Tuesday
The entire 262-word handwritten document notes that as UnitedHealthcare’s market capitalization has grown, American life expectancy has not.

“To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the writer wrote, according to law enforcement officials. The note condemned companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

It added: “Frankly these parasites simply had it coming.”


Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise (gift link)

regnaD kciN

(26,615 posts)
25. Completely fake...
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 09:13 PM
Tuesday

Mangione's mother is a doctor herself, and currently doing a residency at University of Texas Medical Center.

Mosby

(17,558 posts)
26. Some of the info about his mom's neuropathy is unusual.
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 09:28 PM
Tuesday

For example ibuprofen and acetaminophen don't work for neuropathic pain, no one takes it for that.

Response to James48 (Original post)

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