Summary
Reddit is removing posts linking to Luigi Mangione’s manifesto, citing its longstanding policy against content related to violent acts.
The manifesto, tied to the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has sparked online fascination and debate.
While Reddit allows discussion of the manifesto within its rules, posts linking to its full text—shared on Substack by journalist Ken Klippenstein—are being removed, angering users.
Critics accuse Reddit of selective moderation, as some sympathize with Mangione’s frustrations over the U.S. healthcare system, which has come under renewed scrutiny after the incident.
I’m well aware that everyone with a degree from a fancy school isn’t smart or capable. In this case, we’ve seen many examples of the guy’s writing. Moreover, he was valedictorian at his prep school and got an advanced degree in computer science. I think it’s reasonable to conclude that he is smart and well educated.
That doesn’t exactly equate to constantly writing well. I’ve met many engineers and scientists (computer or otherwise) who couldn’t give 2 shits about proper English unless it was specifically for a grade, sending to clients, or publication.
Educated doesn’t mean that you stop writing informally. It just means you’re able to write formally.
For language skills, I think being valedictorian at a competitive prep school is more relevant, since that would require more high quality writing (and discussion of writing) on a consistent basis than any CS program at any level. Regardless, it’s true that no credentials are going to guarantee that someone will never write crap. In this case, we do have examples of casual writing from the suspect (goodreads, twitter) and they generally avoid the kinds of things that the lawyer noted in her video (contradictory language, overly wrought prose). Even if her analysis wouldn’t apply to every person who managed to graduate from an Ivy, to me, in this case, it 100% rings true.
Yeah, and not to mention tonally discordant, I couldn’t get a sense of a single writing voice or style. It bounces between looks-like-maybe-formal to completely informal and back in the span of a sentence or two.
Now, it being handwritten and if he wrote it in a hurry, maybe that could account for it, not really any time or ability to proofread, but I have my doubts.