Luigi Mangione and where we are now

In February 1992, chicken magnate Frank Perdue received a pie in the face from a protester in a chicken costume during a meeting of the University of Maryland Board of Regents in Baltimore.

Perdue was founder, president and CEO of one of the nation’s largest poultry processors. More than that, he was the face of the poultry industry because of his frequent appearances in folksy television commercials: “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”

Students and animal-rights advocates protested his 1991 appointment to the regents, charging that his factory operations on Maryland’s Eastern Shore mistreated workers as well as chickens.

The feathered protester who targeted Perdue in Baltimore was associated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “Perhaps public humiliation will make Frank Perdue think about what he does to all the chickens he kills each year,” a PETA member said of the pie attack.

Perdue, of course, was unfazed.

After he cleaned up, the regents returned to the business at hand: A proposal to eliminate free tuition for non-teaching university employees.

All these years later, it strikes me that such an agenda item — to deprive custodians and administrative staff of tuition waivers — would be as likely to cause a protest as the treatment of chickens.

Perhaps more likely, given where we are now.

Where we are now is the aftermath of the high-profile murder of Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare. This was not just a horrible, singular act of violence in a violent country, the kind of thing we’ve grown used to. It appears to be an act of vengeance against corporate America and a signal from the depths of discontent with the nation’s power structure.

Based on what authorities have revealed to date, Thompson appears to have been the victim of a protest killing. His death, allegedly at the hands of a Gilman School graduate, Luigi Mangione, appears to have been an attack on not only the private health insurance system but on capitalism, inequality and the growing influence of corporations and billionaires on American life.

These connections require no stretch. They have been widely shared by millions, in private and via social media, since Thompson’s death on Dec. 4, and they have been boiling under the surface for decades.

I didn’t bring up the pie in Perdue’s face for laughs, but for comparison with where we are now.

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it here, to be clear: It is sick to relish Brian Thompson’s death and declare the suspect, Mangione, a hero.

Still, given what authorities have told us, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the suspect — a Gilman valedictorian — wanted to make a point.

Some people rightfully decry what they see as perverse support for Mangione. But those same critics should acknowledge the public sentiment that underlies such reactions.

It’s not just about frustration with the denial of health insurance claims by a company that reported more than $16 billion in operating profits last year.

In a more general sense, the country has become rife with class resentments stemming from flat wages and the reality that many Americans will not enjoy the same level of financial security as their parents did. As a result, there is real tension between those who feel financial strains and those who don’t.

For more than 40 years, the wealth gap has been widening, and the “trickle down” economics that promised greater prosperity for all has been busted as myth. What was once seen as just a reality of capitalism — the rich get richer and the rest of us struggle to keep up — is increasingly seen as a detriment to American society.

Opinion polling shows rising public sentiment against corporations and the nation’s wealthy and politically influential ruling class.

In a Harris Poll published in September, seven out of 10 Americans said they see wealth inequality as a serious national issue. Two-thirds said billionaires do not pay their fair share of taxes. The cost of health care was the top priority of those in the survey; they said additional taxes from billionaires should go to making health care more affordable.

The Harris poll results reflected what Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer, called “wealth gap anxiety,” reflecting a growing sense of vulnerability among Americans who strain to keep up with the cost of living.

Coming out of the pandemic, the nation’s billionaires became even richer. In a YouGov survey, Americans seemed to be well aware of that fact and also supported raising taxes on the billionaire class.

Polls have also shown consistent support for a public system of healthcare coverage, ending the enormous profits of the private sector.

Obamacare has become increasingly popular since its enactment, and the Department of the Treasury says nearly 50 million Americans have been covered through Affordable Care Act marketplaces since January 2014. A Gallup poll in November showed that 62% of Americans believe the federal government should ensure that all Americans have health care coverage.

Of course, everything I mention here — increased objections to the concentration of wealth and the popularity of Obamacare — did not keep Donald Trump from winning November’s election. Billionaires and corporations enjoyed huge tax cuts during his first presidency and he has promised more of the same. He has also repeatedly criticized Obamacare and tried to kill it.

Nothing Trump plans to do will wipe away “wealth gap anxiety” and the underlying resentments that have trickled down through the years. That’s where we are.

Dan Rodricks is a columnist for the Baltimore Sun.