Luigi Mangione's Goodreads Page Has Some Really Eyebrow-Raising Quotes!

We’re learning everything we can about Luigi Mangione since his arrest. And it turns out the alleged murderer’s Goodreads page is shedding light on what he believed to be necessary for political revolution. He seems to have had a couple very different inspirations.

As the world continues to debate over the 26-year-old Ivy League grad — whether you think he’s a twisted criminal, a revolutionary vigilante, or a total hottie — we’re learning more about what may have inspired the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

We already know Luigi suffered from “chronic back pain” from a pinched nerve stemming from a surfing injury and subsequent surgery. And from his manifesto, which is said to decry the US healthcare system, we learned he felt the killing “had to be done.” But why? What radicalized him? Well, his Goodreads lays the groundwork for his line of thinking.

Since his arrest, a very specific review from Luigi’s account tells us exactly who he looked up to: Ted Kaczynski. You know… the Unabomber.

For those unfamiliar, the Unabomber is the American terrorist who got away with mailing handmade bombs to various universities and airlines for the better part of 20 years. And it seems Luigi took inspiration from his manifesto. In a review of Kaczynski’s Industrial Society of Its Future, the suspected murderer defends some of the arguments Kaczynski wrote about. He said:

“It’s easy to quickly and thoughtless write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.”

Luigi goes on to agree he should be in prison… but doesn’t agree he should be seen as just a lunatic:

“He was a violent individual — rightfully imprisoned — who maimed innocent people. While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”

After that, he shares a quote about Kaczynski he says he found online — something he thought was an “interesting” take. It reads:

“Had the balls to recognize that peaceful protest has gotten us absolutely nowhere and at the end of the day, he’s probably right. Oil barons haven’t listened to any environmentalists, but they feared him. When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive.”

Whoa… Given what he’s been accused of, and how it’s being interpreted — including that it may have reversed an insurance policy that would have hurt a lot of people — that quote becomes all the more resounding.

The quote continues:

“You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution … Peaceful protest is outright ignored, economic protest isn’t possible in the current system, so how long until we recognize that violence against those who lead us to such destruction is justified as self-defense.”

It adds:

“These companies don’t care about you, or your kids, or your grandkids. They have zero qualms about burning down the planet for a buck, so why should we have qualms about burning them down to survive?”

Taking into account what Thompson was doing, using AI to reject thousands of legit health claims — and how the public have responded to his death… Damn, that becomes all the more chilling.

Another book Luigi gave a really high rating? The Lorax. Yes, he was apparently a big Dr Seuss fan. And while that one is a children’s book, it’s also about an individual standing up to a corrupt, unfair, for-profit system. We mean… it’s for kids, but it really is a seminal text for a lot of environmental activists. A quote he reportedly liked from the book?

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Damn.

Most of the books were non-fiction, stuff about how to do everything you can to get stronger, more efficient. Real libertarian, objectivist-type stuff like Atomic Habits, The 4-Hour Work Week, and The Spartan Way: Eat Better. Train Better. Think Better. Be Better. From that last book, by fitness expert Joe De Sena, he liked a really telling quote: