4 ms·

What "white collar crime" was Brian Thompson guilty of? As I understand it, he was merely the CEO of an insurance company. Nobody likes how insurance companies

What "white collar crime" was Brian Thompson guilty of? As I understand it, he was merely the CEO of an insurance company. Nobody likes how insurance companies do business, but that doesn't make it "crime".

polishdude20 6mo ago
Its less about "crimes" and more about a moral or ethical boundary that people feel is being crossed.
- culi 6mo ago
  Yeah think of it as a moral crime. Someone can achieve tax evasion completely legally but that doesn't make it fair or right.
wanderingjew 6mo ago
What a crime is is determined by the population. For a very long time, the population has given the idea of a "justice system" to... Well, the justice system. Things have deteriorated lately, and the population does not see the justice system as effective. It is completely expected that we see vigilantism, but it is in no way extrajudicial.
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 6mo ago
> Nobody likes how insurance companies do business, but that doesn't make it "crime". The way they "delay, deny, defend" as a matter of course shows a lack of a good-faith execution of the insurance agreements, to the point that a sane world would understand it as extremely obvious (and documented!) fraud. Sure, it is de facto not fraud, but tell that to someone who didn't get insurance payments which they were owed to pay for life-saving treatments (or, I guess tell it to their grave).
solid_fuel 6mo ago
He didn't say "white collar crime." He said "white collar mass murder." The implication here is that it is wrong even though it is not currently illegal.
- dan-robertson 6mo ago
  Maybe the comment was edited as it definitely says crime now.
  - solid_fuel 6mo ago
    > But if white collar crime is being [...] anyone sees jail time. > Maybe [...] Brian Thompson [...] you could easily argue this to be a form of white collar mass murder. Nope. Read it more carefully. It's two separate sentences.
- culi 6mo ago
  I won't pretend I had the foresight to purposely make this distinction but I do agree with and stand by this clarification. The US is a very litigious society and Americans more than any nationality I've met are way too quick to conflate legality and morality. My personal guess is that this derives from a long running lack of class consciousness that is present in most other nations
fuy 6mo ago
There's been many examples of societies where killing or abusing people was legal etc. Law is not math, it can be (and often is) wrong; in many cases a law is just a way for ruling class to make money/keep power etc. It's completely OK to protest laws, and it may be completely reasonable to consider someone a criminal even if they haven't broken any laws.

polishdude20 6mo ago

Its less about "crimes" and more about a moral or ethical boundary that people feel is being crossed.

culi 6mo ago
Yeah think of it as a moral crime. Someone can achieve tax evasion completely legally but that doesn't make it fair or right.

wanderingjew 6mo ago

What a crime is is determined by the population. For a very long time, the population has given the idea of a "justice system" to... Well, the justice system. Things have deteriorated lately, and the population does not see the justice system as effective. It is completely expected that we see vigilantism, but it is in no way extrajudicial.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 6mo ago

> Nobody likes how insurance companies do business, but that doesn't make it "crime". The way they "delay, deny, defend" as a matter of course shows a lack of a good-faith execution of the insurance agreements, to the point that a sane world would understand it as extremely obvious (and documented!) fraud. Sure, it is de facto not fraud, but tell that to someone who didn't get insurance payments which they were owed to pay for life-saving treatments (or, I guess tell it to their grave).

solid_fuel 6mo ago

He didn't say "white collar crime." He said "white collar mass murder." The implication here is that it is wrong even though it is not currently illegal.

dan-robertson 6mo ago
Maybe the comment was edited as it definitely says crime now.
- solid_fuel 6mo ago
  > But if white collar crime is being [...] anyone sees jail time. > Maybe [...] Brian Thompson [...] you could easily argue this to be a form of white collar mass murder. Nope. Read it more carefully. It's two separate sentences.
culi 6mo ago
I won't pretend I had the foresight to purposely make this distinction but I do agree with and stand by this clarification. The US is a very litigious society and Americans more than any nationality I've met are way too quick to conflate legality and morality. My personal guess is that this derives from a long running lack of class consciousness that is present in most other nations

fuy 6mo ago

There's been many examples of societies where killing or abusing people was legal etc. Law is not math, it can be (and often is) wrong; in many cases a law is just a way for ruling class to make money/keep power etc. It's completely OK to protest laws, and it may be completely reasonable to consider someone a criminal even if they haven't broken any laws.