2.18.2010

Andrew Joseph Stack was a Terrorist (Update)

 
Terrorism is the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

And now that we've gotten that out the way, let's start again: Andrew Joseph Stack was a terrorist.

Now, it's my understanding there are some folks on the web saying, "No way! He seemed like a 'nice ' guy. He was just doing his patriotric duty--the IRS had it coming!"

Let's go over a few things, shall we? I know, I know, you've heard the details 1000 times, but lets try for 1001, okay?

He Was a Nice [read: White] Guy
...who wrote and published a suicide manifesto, burned down his own home, hopped into his small plane, and then deliberately crashed into a building. Exactly what part of that reads "nice" to you? Does anyone maybe smell a hint of McVeigh or a splash of Unibomber?

He Was Just Doing his Patriot Duty; IRS Had it Coming
So the man had beef with the government, the recession, our healthcare system, and the IRS.

Uh...who doesn't?

Did I not also just file my taxes and grimace at the measly check I got back? Do I not also pay twice a monthly for insurance which doesn't cover a damn thing? Has the recession not also hacked into my employer's budgets, and by extension, my paycheck? This government which has failed to end a war which never should've started, and which has failed epically to eliminate racism, sexism, and classism from our society--is it not also my government? And my neighbors' government, and my coworkers' government?

Americans have beef with America--no shit. Terrorism is obviously not the answer.

And the IRS may have had it coming, but its 190 underling peons who have kids to raise, spouses who love them, and who don't recall signing on to get blown up at work didn't have it coming. Stack didn't know them individually.  He didn't know anything about them.  Chances are, they're broke too. They're in debt too. Their investments tanked too, and even better, they have the masochistic task of carving the flesh taxes out of their own paychecks, rather than have the odd luxury of some faceless asshole agency doing it for them.

Oh...but we're not going to really pay too much attention to this for too long. We're not going to worry about guys like Stack or women like Amy Bishop for long. We're not going to talk too much about them or their deeds for long because we don't want to scare [white] people. We don't want to alert the sheep that the wolves have descended.

There's a big pink white privilege elephant staring at us all right now with blood-tipped tusks and a shit-eating grin. It's amused that the initial news reports worked as hard as hell to avoid describing Stack's skin. It's amused at the dedicated effort to keep from branding Stack a terrorist. It can't help but snicker that if a person of color--of any color--had done this, their ethnicity would've been put in blazing neon letters in every headline, their religion would have been scrutinized, and people of color everywhere in America--of any color--would be hearing hostile comments right now either mumbled or spoken allowed. Stormfront would be hosting a kegger, and every sick heil blogger who jerks off to his own reflection would be scribbling sweet-nothings to his online posse right now, making sure to insert Obama's name in every other sentence.

**Update**
As you all know, by now, Stack did have a victim, Vernon Hunter, whose job at the IRS ironically was to help people with tax repayment.  And while "Andrew Joseph Stack" pops up almost the moment you start typing the first two letters of his name, and you have to fully type out Hunter's name and press enter before you get somewhere.

Notice, also, the constant mention of Hunter's military record.  Apparently, real patriots are supposed take a bullet for this government.
Tags: , , at 10:32 PM
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3 Comments:

  1. I am a Nigerian, so, definetly black. People got to understand how, I (just like every other Nigerian) felt after my beloved country was branded a terrorist country on the heels of the 25th Dec. botched attempt by a Nigerian.

    But that guy, Abdulmutallab is a terrorist! HIS TARGET WAS TO HURT A NATION - AMERICA! That is terrorism. Joe Stack, too bad he killed so many of his fellow Americans who obviously are more helpless with this tax thing than him, isn't a terrorist.

    He's only a frustrated man who went to the extreme to express his. The regular terrorists' actions are fuelled by some ideology, and not just anger and frustration. We must understand the difference here. Let America not be intimidated into classifying all homicides as terrorism. It would mean Bin Laden has won!

    Buchi Asogwa, Lagos. +2348032500014
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  2. I published your comment strictly so I could respond...just FYI.

    Stack was a terrorist. He was "angry" and "frustrated" when his problems first started back in the early 1980s. People seem to be conveniently forgetting he was writing on the net for years, and he amassed a following. So by 2010, by the time he actually crashed the plane into the IRS (btw, I don't recall a casualty list) he'd completed a manifesto in which he listed complaints from both right and left wing politics, and and that's what's frightening people. Stack has no one political label; there's no single party or group the media can conveniently pin him on. He didn't just whine about his tax problems, he did research and wrote critiques of the government, America's classist society, its beyond flawed healthcare system--all in addition to his problems with the IRS. As soon as the FBI identified Stack, his writings were immediately removed from the net. What he wrote struck a chord with some people, and the last thing they needed was for them to strike an even louder chord with an even wider audience.

    Now, I do not sympathize with the man at all. He was in debt $40,000 to the IRS and he owned his own plane--not shedding tears for that one. He thought himself a victim, when he really wasn't. However, the irony of the situation is that once he felt victimized, it opened his eyes to the victimization of others (common side effect of feeling victimized, FYI). The reason some people are branding him a hero is precisely for this reason. Stack's initial conflict was with the IRS, but that's not all he was angry about. Stack denounced America as a whole, vehemently rejecting its socioeconomic system as a system of exploitation--that's ideology.

    And this was what I meant about the pink white privilege elephant in the room. America [read: white America] has come to equate terrorism with high death tolls, Islam, Arabs, and insanity. Why? It makes them comfortable. It helps them keep thinking they are safe. This continued hesitance to classify Stack as a terrorist is classic American [read: white] denial and classic American ignorance (people don't know the basic, textbook definitions of "terrorism", "socialism", and "communism", but they throw them carelessly about anyway, and then rely on their opinions to back up their arguments).

    Most people--white and non-white--don't realize that since McVeigh's bombing, there have been a total of 75 instances domestic terrorism on American soil. They don't know this because America's white-run government has kept these instances quiet. But the people themselves aren't checking and keeping tabs and being vigilant because they don't want to know, just like that they don't want to think 1) people like Stack really are out there, wearing their skin and living right next door, 2) therefore being white and living in America doesn't mean shit; it won't save them from people like Stack, 3) people like Stack have followers. Less than 24 hours of the incident, federal investigators noted that "The Philosophy of Stack" page sprouted up and gathered over 800 fans - in less than 24 hours. Federal investigators already foresee more people following Stack's example.

    And this brings me to my main point as to why we need to brand him a terrorist and move on--Stack's label is the least of America's worries right now.
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  3. Furthermore, writing and telling me you're Nigerian means nothing. Your being Nigerian does not magically change the basic definition of terrorism. Telling me your nationality is a very American [read: white] tactic to lend credibility to your opinion.

    What people [read: white Americans in particular] are loathe to accept is that opinions are irrelevant when actual academic theory and specific terminology are involved. People naturally love opinions; everyone's entitled to one, they don't actually require research, logic, rationality, or deep thought of any kind.

    In short, opinions are what stereotypically unintelligent, unaware, and notably monolingual Americans use to argue topics they are woefully unqualified to speak on.

    Look at me. I'm a woman of color. I'm Ambazonian-American, therefore a woman of two worlds. I'm trilingual (ish). I have a master's degree in sociology and a bachelor's in psychology. Race and gender are my main areas, and I often use a social psychological approach to these topics.

    But...if I don't know the basic meaning of a word or if I'm unfamiliar with a particular social, political, or economic theory, none of those aforementioned traits and qualifications mean a damn thing. They do not redefine words or overwrite established academia. They do not restructure language, nor do they magically change history. So I can be all those things, and list all those things in a perfectly eloquent preamble to my opinion, and none of them will stop me from sounding like an idiot if my opinion is glaringly incorrect.

    For years we've been told knowledge is power. In fact, knowledge so powerful that supposedly, there is no knowledge that is not power.

    However, in a country where people avoid learning like the plague, don't communicate with each, don't try to understand "the other side", and have the audacity to be annoyed with a president is eons more knowledgeable than the last train wreck they put in office...I think it's high time we updated the "knowledge is power" adage.

    Knowledge is irreplaceable and protective. It's the guard which stands between you and harm, and it's the wingman who keeps you from looking like a fool.
    ReplyDelete

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