The outlaw is a controversial archetype within Western society and one not often seen in the 21st century, at least in the traditional forms of dashing rogues such as Ned Kelly and Doc Holliday or courageous freedom fighters like John Brown or Pancho Villa. To the moral pacifist, the outlaw represents chaos and deviance, symbols of societal decay. To the romantic, the outlaw is a rugged hero, a vigilante who acts in defiance of authority to further the interests of the common man. Lately, the man known as Luigi Mangione has been in the news for gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside of a Hilton in Manhattan on December 4th, 2024. This one act shook Western culture to its core as it demonstrated the mortality of the powerful elites who run our society, proving that even though many of them do not possess souls, they still inhabit mortal shells of flesh and bone. 

International Business Times UK

In the annals of history, the figure of the outlaw has inhabited a liminal space between good and evil, not quite sitting comfortably on either side of the spectrum. Figures like Ned Kelly, Australian Bushranger clad in makeshift armor, rambled around the borderland between Victoria and New South Wales with his gang, killing and stealing from rich colonists during the latter portion of the 19th century. Similary, Pancho Villa, who was a leader in both of the bloody Mexican Revolutionary Wars against the oppressive regimes of Portfirio Diaz and later Victoriano Huerta. Both of these figures used violence and criminal actions to push back against oppressive systems that sought to keep the common man subservient and far below the elite class.  

In fiction, these figures may be known as anti-heroes, Dexter Morgan of Dexter, Greg Heffley of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tyler Durden/The Narrator of Fight Club, Rorschach of Watchmen, and George Costanza of Seinfeld. All of these characters are the central characters of the works they come from (yes, even George Costanza), yet they are not traditional “good guys” and they are not the “bad guys” either. These characters are not moral paragons, but they are not wicked and villainous either. Instead, these characters are entirely human because they are reflections of us all, as none of us are without sin, be it the narcissism of George and Greg, the nihilism of Rorschach and Tyler Durden, or coldness of Dexter. They represent those who go against societal expectations of goodness and live by their own moral codes. 

Enter Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Penn State alum from Towson, Maryland, an extremely bright and successful young man by all accounts. This is what makes his decision to throw his life away by committing such a heinous crime all the more puzzling, as individuals like Ned Kelly and Pancho Villa came from very humble beginnings, while Mangione came from wealth and privilege. He had options, while the majority of people do not have access to the options that he had, to me, this shows the extent of his frustrations towards the American healthcare industry and capitalism as a whole. This was made clear in his manifesto which was found along with a 3D printed handgun and silencer, along with his online activity where he praised the famous anti-tech terrorist Ted Kaczynski.  

Mangione’s actions have ignited a proverbial firestorm of debate online. Many of the legacy media outlets have produced articles with either very narrow-minded or completely delusional takes on the situation. New York Times columnist Bret Stephens “Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero” is by far the silliest take on the whole situation, as he asserts that because Brian Thompson came from humble beginnings, the left should hold more sympathy for him, ignoring the fact that he climbed the corporate ladder of UnitedHealthcare and turned his back completely on the working class by perpetuating a morally bankrupt system. Many young people view Luigi’s actions as reasonable and hold little sympathy for Thompson, according to a study by The Generation Lab. This exemplifies the changing tides, as older individuals like Bret Stephens will be swept away by the waves of impassioned and politically conscious young people.  

This dichotomy in public perception is not new. John Brown, a once listless yet pious Ohioan, dedicated himself to the cause of the abolition of slavery in the United States. To carry out his God-given purpose, Brown initiated violence against those who supported and perpetuated the system of chattel slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. This all culminated in a failed armed insurrection in 1859 at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, an incident that branded Brown as a treasonous monster in the eyes of the law and became a crime for which he was hanged, cementing him as a martyr for the abolitionist cause. With his actions, Brown challenged the oppressive systems in place within the United States which one could argue directly led to the Civil War between the Northern and Southern United States as Brown terrified the South with his militant abolitionism. This is the power of vigilante justice, there is good reason why these figures are mythologized.  

The romanticization of the outlaw stems from an admiration for individuals who challenge social norms and oppressive system, often through transgressive or violent means. Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of “master and slave morality”, from On the Genealogy of Morality argues that traditional morality is a construct created by the weak to constrain the strong, promoting submissiveness and obedience, while master morality emphasizes courage, strength, and assertiveness. The outlaw is a figure who rejects slave morality and asserts himself, challenging the societal norms and values that bind him in servitude to the elites, usually by violent means.  

However, the use of violence as a means of resistance raises some ethical concerns, as our modern Western society tends to condemn violence in any form. The commonly held belief is that we left such barbarity in the past, a relic of a less civilized time. John Locke, one of the greatest luminaries of the Enlightenment, contended that individuals have a right to revolt against governments that fail to protect their natural rights. But, Locke insisted that violence should be a last resort, used only once all other avenues have been exhausted and unfortunately for many, matters are looking increasingly grim as faith in the democratic process continues to erode.  

In the case of Mangione, his actions force us to confront uncomfortable questions about the state of the American healthcare system with its bloated bureaucracy and profit-driven motives has long been a source of great despair among many. Stories of denied claims, ridiculous prices, and inaccessible treatments are far too common. People are simply losing hope. 

Herein lies the essential truth of the matter: Mangione’s actions, whether viewed as just or wicked, are symptoms of a tumor within modern society that continues to metastasize. His actions reflect the desperation of those who find themselves chained down by a system where cruelty is profitable. If our world is producing more outlaws and vigilantes than diplomats, more rebels than reformers, then perhaps we must ask ourselves whether the problem is with individuals like Mangione, or with the world itself.  

Instead of burying our heads in the sand and holding a fundamentally juvenile and black and white view regarding revolutionary violence, we should be confronting the uncomfortable truths that birth such acts of violence in the first place. If Mangione’s story tells us anything, it is that people are reaching a breaking point and if change does not come through structured collective action and non-corrupt and selfish policymakers, then it will come through chaos instead. Those in power should take not, for history has shown that when the masses lose faith in the system that is meant to serve them, they begin to put their faith in the outlaw instead.