Saying that the post has nothing to do with violence is pretty dishonest. Why do you think that the person who made the meme used Luigi Mangione instead of Bernie Sanders?
I agree. At most send an advisory message reminding the poster of rules and not to post worse. AT MOST. And I say that as someone who condemns the CEO murder and I don't agree with Luigi being glorified in any way.
If you think that using Luigi Mangione in a post about the wealthy and elite doesn't imply violence against those people, then we are simply going to have to disagree and I frankly think you are being intellectually dishonest.
I don’t think the image of Luigi is only about violence. It’s also a recognition of people’s pain at the hands of the ultra rich corporate elite. He symbolizes sticking it to the man, not just blind proletariat mob violence.
Many of us enjoyed the national unity that came from recognizing universal suffering at the hands of the US medical industry.
When did I say blind proletariat mob violence? I said violence. You threw those three extra words on there. He symbolizes sticking it to the man... By way of violence.
Counterpoint: why did police and media parade Luigi around as if he were guilty? What if Luigi is completely unrelated to Thompson's death? Police departments want us to think he's guilty and violent, his case is a lot more about legal injustice than violence right now. But hell if they want us to think about violence, we'll do it but in a way that doesn't empower corporate elites.
It's also about freedom of speech. I'm on Lemmy due to Reddit bans. Did I imply I was going to be violent? No. Just talking about Luigi will get you banned, Reddit appears to be complying in advance to political pressure. Why else would they care?
I am not defending Reddit. I don't even use it. I don't really understand how anything you said was a counterpoint, they are different topics. Regardless of if Luigi Mangione did or did not do it, or if it was or was not justified, is entirely irrelevant to what using him in a meme right now explicitly about the wealthy elite is implying.
The post talks about social media being owned by elites. It's implying rampant censorship by social media, like Reddit, and also a twist on his story to make him look guilty without due process. I don't know where you got the implication of violence from, you didn't explain it yourself.
It does make me feel violently angry! But not because of Luigi, because of the billionaire's evil actions towards us all.
Why did the meme creator take a well known Bernie Sanders meme, someone who is already fairly well regarded for standing up for the working class, and alter it to show Luigi Mangione instead?
Name the first person that comes to mind when you think of mega social media and news desperately skewing the story to alter due process by contaminating any random jury. Hint, it's not Bernie Sanders.
Like it or not, the man is a symbol for being fed up with being abused, killed, and sickened for profit. That sentiment transcends violence, which btw hasn't been proven yet.
Listen, I don't think the post should have been removed, but I don't think what you said is necessarily true. While obviously an extreme to make my point, if there was a non-violent quote from Hitler, nobody would bat an eye when it gets quickly removed. Of course Luigi isn't the same as Hitler, but a case can be made that at a certain point the persons appearance is enough to make a statement, regardless of the quote in the post.
Of course, it's different because nearly everyone on this platform supports the movement that Luigi represented (myself included).
You are comparing guerilla partisan resistance (from evil) with something that's being resisted against (evil) and saying they both represent violence.
I think that's not correct.
Some people that turn to violence in order to protect the weak are (treated as) heros.
It made you post a comment though, would you have paid as much attention if it were yet another Bernie meme?
For the record, I'm just playing Devil's advocate above. I agree that using Luigi Mangione in political memes inherently carries the connotation of violence.
I actually commented more because of OP's insanely disingenuous take on the content. But, I don't understand what that has anything to do with my statement though. I didn't assert or deny that Luigi Mangione drives engagement. You might as well have replied to me with "llamas are pretty cute though".