Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

– Macbeth Act I, Scene I

By Cory Franklin

January 3, 2025

It’s just as Shakespeare described it in Macbeth: a world that exists in a moral abyss, where people are unable to identify evil when it appears right in front of them. Comes now Luigi Mangione, a folk hero, too many. As his prosecution proceeds, the man who allegedly killed the CEO of United Healthcare in cold blood by shooting him in the back, has been glorified in many circles and lionized on social media, including a fundraiser that has raised nearly $200,000 for his legal defense.

This is the latest manifestation of a disturbing trend in our society of evil being ignored or allowed to flourish. It became evident after the October 7 massacre in Israel, when so many publicly supported Hamas – not the Palestinians, but the rapists and killers of Hamas. In many countries, more than a few called for violence against innocent Jews and some actually carried it out.

Rather than a cry for social justice, this was a celebration of evil. It was not a strictly American phenomenon – it was evident across the Western world from Australia to Canada to Western Europe.

And here is the handsome but vicious alleged young murderer, whose name was wildly applauded by a Saturday Night Live audience when it was mentioned. A former federal prosecutor observed he’s never seen an alleged murder receive such sympathy. It might seem like the inability to recognize evil is a flaw in young people – Mangione’s approval rating in one poll comes out positive or even among respondents 44 and younger. Perhaps it is explained by a generation that has gradually become unmoored from the lessons of morality that literature and religion teach. Their only exposure to “evil” are the villains in superhero movies and video games. If the bad guy isn’t wearing a Nazi uniform or a Ku Klux Klan robe, it’s difficult for the young to identify evil.

But attributing this moral void only to the young would be a mistake. After all, it was the geriatric set that is responsible for failing to teach younger generations. There are Ivy League professors on board with the killer.

Geezers including Michael Moore (age 70), Elizabeth Warren (age 75), and Bernie Sanders (age 83) have all legitimized the murder, at least with “I condemn murder but…” Always watch for that “but.”

And while most of those who fail to condemn Mangione (or who support Hamas) are on the Left, there is some divide across the political spectrum. Podcaster Joe Rogan has, at best, offered a muted criticism of the alleged murderer, and Mangione’s writings appear to praise conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson. The right-wing groups of Western Europe are in synch with the Hamas strategy to kill all the Jews. Unfortunately, the failure to recognize evil transcends political partisanship.

What exactly does the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO actually accomplish? It probably redirects more money from insurance premiums away from health care and into personal security for executives, a paltry sum in the grand scheme but exactly the opposite of what the assassin no doubt intended. Besides being evil, it was, as the saying goes, a futile and stupid gesture.

And how could killing a CEO improve the shambolic nature of health insurance? Actuaries, not executives, determine the payout rate an insurance company provides, and their primary goal is to keep reimbursement costs low. In theory, policyholders benefit from this because lower costs should help restrain the growth of premiums.

Moreover, healthcare blogger Noah Smith writes that UnitedHealthcare’s net profit margin is roughly half that of the average S & P 500 company. If the company directed all its profits into more coverage, the amount of health care it would be paying for would be only about 10% more than what it presently provides.

Healthcare writers David Cutler and Michael Millenson have described the expensive nature of the American health insurance industry as being largely the result of factors beyond a CEO’s control. Cutler attributed much of it to administrative inefficiency and bureaucratic excess, not only on the part of the insurers but on the part of hospitals and healthcare providers. Millenson claims much of it is the result of unnecessary testing and treatment as well as questionable billing practices by doctors. Action by Congress including encouraging greater competition, greater price transparency and facilitating interstate sales of insurance could help remediate the situation.

Murdering CEOs will do nothing to change the healthcare equation, but it will alter the moral equation – to our collective detriment. We will exist in Macbeth’s Inverness, where evil is the coin of the realm.

Perhaps those who no longer recognize evil should go back to the Lord’s Prayer: Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. There is evil everywhere, probably no more than there has always been. And singing the praises of murderers is nothing new – Bonnie and Clyde were rural heroes; John Dillinger had a significant fanbase – but something is different today. Cruelty and evil are not simply ignored, they are celebrated, with a contribution from social media, where fans of vicious acts can cheer those acts along with kindred shallow thinkers.

America – our parents, schools, and religious institutions – should go back to teaching our young people to recognize and call out evil. As the Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn noted, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Society’s mission is to turn that thin line into an impregnable wall.

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Dr. Cory Franklin

Cory Franklin, physician and writer is a frequent contributor to johnkassnews.com.

He was director of medical intensive care at Cook County Hospital in Chicago for more than 25 years. An editorial ng the pathologists who studied it intently but had no idea what body part it could be. This was before it was known as trolling.)

There is a lesson here. The next time someone tells you, with unmistakable conviction, that he believes in “the science,” gladly offer to discuss science with him over a sandwich. Give him a choice, chorizo or perhaps kosher salami. board contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page, he writes freelance medical and non-medical articles. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Jerusalem Post, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, Guardian, Washington Post and has been excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Cory was also Harrison Ford’s technical adviser and one of the role models for the character Ford played in the 1993 movie, “The Fugitive.” His YouTube podcast “Rememberingthepassed” has received 900,000 hits to date. He published “Chicago Flashbulbs” in 2013, “Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases” in 2015, and most recently coauthored, A Guide to Writing College Admission Essays: Practical Advice for Students and Parents in 2021.