In the past few days since the assassination of Brian Thompson, I and a few others on the Internet have had Cory Doctorow's short story "Radicalized" on our minds. The story follows the inhabitants of a dark-web forum for men whose wives have cancer and have been denied treatment, and who ultimately turn to violence against the healthcare system. I personally was not a huge fan of it, especially compared to Doctorow's much sharper nonfiction writing, but I can't deny that it's been sitting in the back of my head more than it ever has. When life imitates art, it gives the art a new dimension. A fascinating thing for sure.
I commend Cory Doctorow for having his head on straight about the whole thing in his new blog post, linked above. I commend him for understanding that just because something was inevitable doesn't make it right. For understanding that Brian Thompson, as much pain as he caused, was a human being with a life ripped from his family by a gunman. And, perhaps most importantly of all, that if the healthcare system isn't fixed politically, we may not have a choice in whether or not it's solved violently.
Warning: strong language and thoughts that might actually challenge the online status quo ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment