The Vegan Marxist
4th May 2010, 05:20
Let me first state that the reason I'm posting this is because I feel that Stack's manifesto is a piece of material that should be looked upon & understood a lot more clearer than what was given when first released. During those times, tensions were sky rocketing. We weren't sure whether to support him or not, or whether he was a terrorist or not. Things were not what one would've planned for that day. But it happened, & we've got to look upon this manifesto to understand the man behind the letter. This is not to support what Stack did, nor is it to attack him either. This is to set the record straight through a close analysis of said manifesto to try & understand where Stack was coming from & what he wanted us to see:
If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.
This was one of Stacks' first attacks against the tax system. What became of this was the idea that he was a tea-bagger who got pissed off too much at the tax system & decided to kill people because of it. But if one simply looks at this, one would understand, he's right. The tax system is out of control & we have lost plenty of freedoms because of such. So to simply label him as a right-winger based on the truth he was bringing forth, I would say one is not paying attention to what he was saying.
While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.
Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!
How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.
This brings about another point that he was making, in which he started pointing fingers, not at just any government (like what the tea-baggers seem to do), but the federal government on whose to blame. When it comes to the tea-bag movement, their initial argument against Socialism/Communism is that it's a "government takeover", in which they don't even point out what they mean by government, or which government they think is a tool to Communism (under Marxist ideals that is). Yes, the federal government has been getting in the way far too much in front of the state government when it comes to the affairs of law implementation. We've seen this with marriage of the same sex, the same when it comes to marijuana legalization, etc. The state government is not in power in this country, in which is what, under Marxist ideals, is to be used as a tool to gain Communism. The federal government is instead the ones with power-at-hand.
Another thing he points out, in which is far from any pro-capitalist, right-winged tea-bagger would ever point out, is the completely failure of the American health care system, & also points blame to the insurance companies & considers it as a corporate takeover, not a government takeover. When it comes to the health care system, especially now since the health reform passed, the right-winged populace have pointed blame solely on the government & believe that we're on the "road to socialism". Yet, despite how I saw plenty of attacks against Stack on this forum through the claims that he was a right-winger or a tea-bagger, the very claim that Stack proposes is the very same argument we've all proposed as well. So I guess the name calling was to a mirror as well, eh? Hell, he even goes against one of the (once) top capitalist companies, which was located in Michigan - GM. So to claim such a notion that Stack was a right-winger or a tea-bagger, to me, is simply illogical.
How did I get here?
My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.
The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.
I actually want to point out an important piece that was pointed out by Stack in these (roughly) two paragraphs. I remember hearing the claims that Stack was a rich man or a bourgeoisie, & I'm not too sure, but I'm sure I remember hearing the claim that he was bourgeois. And I'm guessing that this claim came from the fact that he was part of this huge corporate firm & was making the big bucks. Well, if one really reads what I pointed out, then I'm sure you'd get a little bit of the opposite feeling. Yes, he was part of a huge corporate firm at one time. Does every Communist start off as a Communist? (and for those who still like to claim he's not a Communist) Does every anti-Capitalist start off as a anti-Capitalist? I would say not. I started off as pro-capitalist, & even a conspiracy theorist, but I won't get into that one. The point is that, to solely attack a man for what he once believe in or what he once was part of is simply unintellectual - & really, I would go so far to say that apparently, those who made such claims, had an agenda to put in some dirt against Stack. Fact of the matter is that, as Stack pointed out, the reason he joined the job he was in at the time was to help out people & not fall into corrupted hands, but rather to fight against it. Call him bourgeoisie all you want, but he's definitely someone that had a better purpose than most that work in those firms.
That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.
I'm guessing the idea that he was rolling in the big bucks has been refuted now, eh? Because, from what I read here, he might've been rich at one time, but he got screwed over & the corporate bucks went bye-bye. And he realized this, as he so carefully points out through retaliated remarks on his feelings towards such actions made against the hard working people.
Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.
On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.
The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.
In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.
There was one comment that made a heavy support in this forum that I just couldn't help but feel confused when brought forth - the claim that he was "anti-worker". Keep in mind as well that I had already read the entire article twice before these claims came about, so the fact that I was confused wasn't unlikely at all. I tried searching everywhere throughout the manifesto to see where they were getting the notion that he was "anti-worker". And, to this day, the only part I feel they could've gotten such a claim from was from the section I justed quoted above. Where he decided to not suffer like most workers & go independent in his career. Let me first say that I highly doubt this is to mean he's "anti-worker". But, he'd rather not be exploited like most workers these days.
Another attack made against Stack was that he was a capitalist because he was going independent on his career. It also helped the notion that he was "bourgeois" to people within this forum. But I would have to disagree strongly on these notions because, as someone that has been struggling all my life within the working class & even living through the projects, if I had the chance to not become an exploited worker & go independent, I would've taken that chance as well. He never said he would've exploited workers as well. In fact, I'd argue that he probably would've done the opposite because of his sympathies he had for the working class people, as pointed out through his conversation with the working class widow.
Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.
For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).
SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.
(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.
Note:
· "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.
· "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.
· "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.
Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.
I'd like to point this out because it shows where he started realizing that, not even as an independent engineer, the corporate fat cats were still going to get their hands on him, in which he points out on the tax law that was implemented, which of course screws him over to a certain extent, as will others in the future.
During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.
After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.
What had happened is that he of course lost a lot of money that he gained from his choice of going independent trying to fight back against these corporate cronies, but of course failed. It's amazing how many would claim he's a rich corporate bourgeois & yet, as you see clearly above, his money went towards fighting against the real corporate bourgeois. Most would've used such money to exploit for themselves, in order to get richer. But instead, Stack was getting poorer & poorer as he kept fighting against corporate America.
Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.
Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.
Clearly, another example of how Stack was far from rich & was clearly being exploited straight to the core, like any working class member of society in this country. He put in many hours just to get things done, despite the easier choices he could've made - hence why he said he could've just left engineering altogether, but instead kept working, knowing damn well he was being exploited. And, like a lot of us in the working class, our retirement isn't really a future choice for us, because, if we want to get by, we have to keep working 'til the day we die probably. That's unless the system isn't overthrown by then.
Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.
Here's where he points out how he no longer was even an independent engineer, because of the occurrences that took place the past decade or so.
By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.
To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.
Apparently, one could say if he would've just stayed in Cali, none of this would've happened. Though, what's done was done, & we must understand why. Before he moved out of Cali, all he had lost was his independent career after realizing that, even as an "independent", the corporations are still in control & will bite your ass once it's out in the open. But when he came to Texas, he then loses all his savings & retirement. In my dictionary, I would classify this as pure working class. I don't know about all of you though, since, according to you, he's a bourgeois right-winger. :rolleyes:
So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.
When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.
This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.
As we can see here, another corporate screw-over against Stack took place, but this time by what we consider in this system "professional help". I like to keep in mind as well that, throughout all these occurrences, they took place before he had ever came to the conclusions as laid out by this manifesto. So what all happened to him, shaped him into what he became before he took the desperate measure that he felt was needed.
I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.
All too true. I would say Stack has this dead-on with how thing the bankers of today have changed from their pre-banking ancestors during the first Great Depression.
As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.
I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.
The one thing I'll point out in this is to help clarify more on why I truly believe (know) he was not a right-winged tea-bagger. One of the huge issue that the tea-baggers have are immigrants; coughcoughcougharizonacoughcough; Yet, Stack points out a wider picture of how, it is not just him who is being exploited in this country, but it's also the black race & the the poor immigrants who are suffering through capitalist exploitation within this country. Not a single tea-bagger would agree with this notion, because I would argue that the whole lot of them are just a bunch of racist-traditionalists.
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.
I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
Now if no one in this forum agrees with this then I fear of what's to come to this planet. Stack, as I feel, absolutely nailed it when it comes to what the only answer will inevitably be when it comes to goals that we seek so desirably. There will never be a bloodless revolution that'll gain what we seek.
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
Now comes the biggest notion that began being spit out, in which I felt was completely bullshit - that Joseph Stack was not a supporter in Communism &/or he was actually making fun(?) of Communism, as he was to Capitalism as well at the end, as quoted above. After reading this article & giving it a close analysis of what Stack went through & what his feelings were, then to find him quoting a famous phrase by Karl Marx located in the Critique of the Gotha Program, I couldn't but just laugh at the notion that he was "making fun" of Communism, let alone going against it. He was clearly pointing out his belief, in which he probably felt what was needing to be brought forth as a result to said revolution. What I see him going against clearly, though, is Capitalism. And even if he didn't put down his own creed for Capitalism, we could clearly see where he was getting at throughout the entire manifesto. So to claim that Stack was anti-Communist, or merely made fun of it, is a false notion that is illogical & misleading altogether.
So again, this is not to support Stack's actions. I know that he attacked a building filled with workers - even if they were workers exploiting other workers - workers nonetheless. But I am a supporter in his views & the reason why he did what he did. This is to clearly point out that he was not a right-winger, he was not a tea-bagger, he was not an anti-worker, he was not a bourgeois, & that he was not anti-Communist. To me, if a revolution was to come soon, I'd proudly chant his name out as we marched towards victory against the Capitalist powers.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.
This was one of Stacks' first attacks against the tax system. What became of this was the idea that he was a tea-bagger who got pissed off too much at the tax system & decided to kill people because of it. But if one simply looks at this, one would understand, he's right. The tax system is out of control & we have lost plenty of freedoms because of such. So to simply label him as a right-winger based on the truth he was bringing forth, I would say one is not paying attention to what he was saying.
While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.
Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!
How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.
This brings about another point that he was making, in which he started pointing fingers, not at just any government (like what the tea-baggers seem to do), but the federal government on whose to blame. When it comes to the tea-bag movement, their initial argument against Socialism/Communism is that it's a "government takeover", in which they don't even point out what they mean by government, or which government they think is a tool to Communism (under Marxist ideals that is). Yes, the federal government has been getting in the way far too much in front of the state government when it comes to the affairs of law implementation. We've seen this with marriage of the same sex, the same when it comes to marijuana legalization, etc. The state government is not in power in this country, in which is what, under Marxist ideals, is to be used as a tool to gain Communism. The federal government is instead the ones with power-at-hand.
Another thing he points out, in which is far from any pro-capitalist, right-winged tea-bagger would ever point out, is the completely failure of the American health care system, & also points blame to the insurance companies & considers it as a corporate takeover, not a government takeover. When it comes to the health care system, especially now since the health reform passed, the right-winged populace have pointed blame solely on the government & believe that we're on the "road to socialism". Yet, despite how I saw plenty of attacks against Stack on this forum through the claims that he was a right-winger or a tea-bagger, the very claim that Stack proposes is the very same argument we've all proposed as well. So I guess the name calling was to a mirror as well, eh? Hell, he even goes against one of the (once) top capitalist companies, which was located in Michigan - GM. So to claim such a notion that Stack was a right-winger or a tea-bagger, to me, is simply illogical.
How did I get here?
My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.
The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.
I actually want to point out an important piece that was pointed out by Stack in these (roughly) two paragraphs. I remember hearing the claims that Stack was a rich man or a bourgeoisie, & I'm not too sure, but I'm sure I remember hearing the claim that he was bourgeois. And I'm guessing that this claim came from the fact that he was part of this huge corporate firm & was making the big bucks. Well, if one really reads what I pointed out, then I'm sure you'd get a little bit of the opposite feeling. Yes, he was part of a huge corporate firm at one time. Does every Communist start off as a Communist? (and for those who still like to claim he's not a Communist) Does every anti-Capitalist start off as a anti-Capitalist? I would say not. I started off as pro-capitalist, & even a conspiracy theorist, but I won't get into that one. The point is that, to solely attack a man for what he once believe in or what he once was part of is simply unintellectual - & really, I would go so far to say that apparently, those who made such claims, had an agenda to put in some dirt against Stack. Fact of the matter is that, as Stack pointed out, the reason he joined the job he was in at the time was to help out people & not fall into corrupted hands, but rather to fight against it. Call him bourgeoisie all you want, but he's definitely someone that had a better purpose than most that work in those firms.
That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.
I'm guessing the idea that he was rolling in the big bucks has been refuted now, eh? Because, from what I read here, he might've been rich at one time, but he got screwed over & the corporate bucks went bye-bye. And he realized this, as he so carefully points out through retaliated remarks on his feelings towards such actions made against the hard working people.
Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.
On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.
The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.
In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.
There was one comment that made a heavy support in this forum that I just couldn't help but feel confused when brought forth - the claim that he was "anti-worker". Keep in mind as well that I had already read the entire article twice before these claims came about, so the fact that I was confused wasn't unlikely at all. I tried searching everywhere throughout the manifesto to see where they were getting the notion that he was "anti-worker". And, to this day, the only part I feel they could've gotten such a claim from was from the section I justed quoted above. Where he decided to not suffer like most workers & go independent in his career. Let me first say that I highly doubt this is to mean he's "anti-worker". But, he'd rather not be exploited like most workers these days.
Another attack made against Stack was that he was a capitalist because he was going independent on his career. It also helped the notion that he was "bourgeois" to people within this forum. But I would have to disagree strongly on these notions because, as someone that has been struggling all my life within the working class & even living through the projects, if I had the chance to not become an exploited worker & go independent, I would've taken that chance as well. He never said he would've exploited workers as well. In fact, I'd argue that he probably would've done the opposite because of his sympathies he had for the working class people, as pointed out through his conversation with the working class widow.
Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.
For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).
SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.
(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.
Note:
· "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.
· "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.
· "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.
Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.
I'd like to point this out because it shows where he started realizing that, not even as an independent engineer, the corporate fat cats were still going to get their hands on him, in which he points out on the tax law that was implemented, which of course screws him over to a certain extent, as will others in the future.
During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.
After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.
What had happened is that he of course lost a lot of money that he gained from his choice of going independent trying to fight back against these corporate cronies, but of course failed. It's amazing how many would claim he's a rich corporate bourgeois & yet, as you see clearly above, his money went towards fighting against the real corporate bourgeois. Most would've used such money to exploit for themselves, in order to get richer. But instead, Stack was getting poorer & poorer as he kept fighting against corporate America.
Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.
Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.
Clearly, another example of how Stack was far from rich & was clearly being exploited straight to the core, like any working class member of society in this country. He put in many hours just to get things done, despite the easier choices he could've made - hence why he said he could've just left engineering altogether, but instead kept working, knowing damn well he was being exploited. And, like a lot of us in the working class, our retirement isn't really a future choice for us, because, if we want to get by, we have to keep working 'til the day we die probably. That's unless the system isn't overthrown by then.
Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.
Here's where he points out how he no longer was even an independent engineer, because of the occurrences that took place the past decade or so.
By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.
To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.
Apparently, one could say if he would've just stayed in Cali, none of this would've happened. Though, what's done was done, & we must understand why. Before he moved out of Cali, all he had lost was his independent career after realizing that, even as an "independent", the corporations are still in control & will bite your ass once it's out in the open. But when he came to Texas, he then loses all his savings & retirement. In my dictionary, I would classify this as pure working class. I don't know about all of you though, since, according to you, he's a bourgeois right-winger. :rolleyes:
So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.
When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.
This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.
As we can see here, another corporate screw-over against Stack took place, but this time by what we consider in this system "professional help". I like to keep in mind as well that, throughout all these occurrences, they took place before he had ever came to the conclusions as laid out by this manifesto. So what all happened to him, shaped him into what he became before he took the desperate measure that he felt was needed.
I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.
All too true. I would say Stack has this dead-on with how thing the bankers of today have changed from their pre-banking ancestors during the first Great Depression.
As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.
I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.
The one thing I'll point out in this is to help clarify more on why I truly believe (know) he was not a right-winged tea-bagger. One of the huge issue that the tea-baggers have are immigrants; coughcoughcougharizonacoughcough; Yet, Stack points out a wider picture of how, it is not just him who is being exploited in this country, but it's also the black race & the the poor immigrants who are suffering through capitalist exploitation within this country. Not a single tea-bagger would agree with this notion, because I would argue that the whole lot of them are just a bunch of racist-traditionalists.
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.
I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
Now if no one in this forum agrees with this then I fear of what's to come to this planet. Stack, as I feel, absolutely nailed it when it comes to what the only answer will inevitably be when it comes to goals that we seek so desirably. There will never be a bloodless revolution that'll gain what we seek.
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
Now comes the biggest notion that began being spit out, in which I felt was completely bullshit - that Joseph Stack was not a supporter in Communism &/or he was actually making fun(?) of Communism, as he was to Capitalism as well at the end, as quoted above. After reading this article & giving it a close analysis of what Stack went through & what his feelings were, then to find him quoting a famous phrase by Karl Marx located in the Critique of the Gotha Program, I couldn't but just laugh at the notion that he was "making fun" of Communism, let alone going against it. He was clearly pointing out his belief, in which he probably felt what was needing to be brought forth as a result to said revolution. What I see him going against clearly, though, is Capitalism. And even if he didn't put down his own creed for Capitalism, we could clearly see where he was getting at throughout the entire manifesto. So to claim that Stack was anti-Communist, or merely made fun of it, is a false notion that is illogical & misleading altogether.
So again, this is not to support Stack's actions. I know that he attacked a building filled with workers - even if they were workers exploiting other workers - workers nonetheless. But I am a supporter in his views & the reason why he did what he did. This is to clearly point out that he was not a right-winger, he was not a tea-bagger, he was not an anti-worker, he was not a bourgeois, & that he was not anti-Communist. To me, if a revolution was to come soon, I'd proudly chant his name out as we marched towards victory against the Capitalist powers.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)