- cross-posted to:
- reddit@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- reddit@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmit.online
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 take her point, but it’s naive to say things like, “That’s not something an Ivy Leaguer would say.” I’ve known many people from Ivy League and other prestigious universities, and they don’t all write well. There are still malapropisms and overly verbose sentence constructions, and some people fall into a habit of trying to sound clever or cultured out of insecurity (a common problem in a highly competitive and judgmental institution). For a while I used to edit people’s theses and journal papers and I’d constantly be rewording things to sound less clunky or just to fix basic grammar or word choice. Most of this “manifesto” is pretty plainly written, and the couple of clunky bits don’t really prove anything. I’ve seen worse from highly educated people.
Fair. The generalizations ring true to me but obviously no generalization is 100% and many Ivy grads are dummies, many smart and or well educated people are poor communicators and many excellent writers will write poorly when stressed or unfocused.
I do think that someone from a wealthy background who graduated at the top of his class at an elite prep school would be less likely to fall into the “trying to sound smart” pitfalls. And we haven’t really seen evidence of that kind of writing in his public online accounts.
I am still very skeptical of the police reports stating that they found this note (and the IDs and the multiple passports and foreign currency) on his person. I guess we’ll see what his lawyer says when they argue over what can be used at trial