Tapsearch Com EditorPlane crashes IRS -Human Nature Challenged
February 21st 2010 21:36
By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF - Austin Texas
Updated: 9:29 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
Published: 8:28 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
Plane crash: What makes someonedo this? ( Our response is below - see COMMENTS )
Online note strikes a chord with some; it shows internal spiral of anger, UT professor says.
Flying an airplane into a multistory, glass-covered building is a symbolically powerful act, even 8½ years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But it was Andrew Joseph Stack III's online manifesto — describing a life of powerlessness in the face of government hostility and corporate greed — that clearly struck a national nerve last week.
Reaction to his note raced through an already polarized America in a way that spoke volumes about the national mood. It was as if Stack, who authorities have said was the pilot, held up a mirror, and we saw what we wanted to see.
Some lauded Stack as a hero in the war against an oppressive government or a crooked tax system.
Others dismissed the Austin man as a terrorist or cowardly criminal who targeted innocents.
And somewhere in the middle were some who believed Stack, though misguided and wrong, articulated their frustrations with economic hardship made worse by unresponsive politicians or greedy corporate fat cats.
Like others driven to political violence, Stack's angry rant focused
Like others driven to political violence, Stack's angry rant focused on two themes — class-based anger in a time of economic crisis and frustration over having no effective way to voice grievances or improve lives, said Dana Cloud, a University of Texas associate professor who studies violence as a political expression.
"What he wrote has tapped into some common concerns, and people are talking," Cloud said. "It speaks to a deep sense of disaffection and unsettlement. ... I think his action is an index of popular anger and frustration."
Shortly after Thursday's crash, Facebook pages praising Stack generated hundreds of followers and a flurry of comments, including these on a site titled "Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee":
• "Wow, at least someone stood up for us."
• "Stack was a terrorist. He is no better than those behind 9-11."
• "He did what he did to make a point and clear up our vision, the only way our government would understand. I just hope people realize this, and do not dismiss him as another nutjob rebel stereotype."
And just like in many blogs or newspaper stories about the plane crash, commenters unleashed a stream of vitriol and ridicule directed at liberals, conservatives, conspiracy theorists or those striving for a middle ground.
Unsurprised by the strong reactionas UT classics professor Tom Palaima, who studies society and violence.
"Violence of any sort — whether a tragic accident, a terrorist attack or something like this — if it hits your psyche, it's impossible for human beings not to react on some level. I say the molecules of your soul have been moved around," Palaima said.
"There no such thing as an act of violence that does not send out shock waves that we all feel," he said.
The shock waves from the plane crash rolled across a nation experiencing economic turmoil and two wars in a frequently bitter political climate.
Think about December's jobless numbers, Palaima said. The U.S. economy lost 85,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent because so many people were no longer counted. They'd given up looking for work.
"What is that but a way of simply 'disappearing' human beings who are really suffering?" he said. "There are real problems in American society, a kind of fragmentation. People are feeling that they're isolated, that there isn't any sense of understanding of what individuals are going through."
Stack's manifesto arrived — seething with frustration, sadness and self-pity — into a climate where anger at the Bush administration swept Barack Obama into the White House, and a vocally angry tea party movement hopes to sweep him out again.
( For rest of article see :
at Statesman Com News Article - plane crash what makes someone do this )
See our response below in COMMENTS
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF - Austin Texas
Updated: 9:29 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
Published: 8:28 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
Plane crash: What makes someonedo this? ( Our response is below - see COMMENTS )
Online note strikes a chord with some; it shows internal spiral of anger, UT professor says.
Flying an airplane into a multistory, glass-covered building is a symbolically powerful act, even 8½ years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But it was Andrew Joseph Stack III's online manifesto — describing a life of powerlessness in the face of government hostility and corporate greed — that clearly struck a national nerve last week.
Reaction to his note raced through an already polarized America in a way that spoke volumes about the national mood. It was as if Stack, who authorities have said was the pilot, held up a mirror, and we saw what we wanted to see.
Some lauded Stack as a hero in the war against an oppressive government or a crooked tax system.
Others dismissed the Austin man as a terrorist or cowardly criminal who targeted innocents.
And somewhere in the middle were some who believed Stack, though misguided and wrong, articulated their frustrations with economic hardship made worse by unresponsive politicians or greedy corporate fat cats.
Like others driven to political violence, Stack's angry rant focused
Like others driven to political violence, Stack's angry rant focused on two themes — class-based anger in a time of economic crisis and frustration over having no effective way to voice grievances or improve lives, said Dana Cloud, a University of Texas associate professor who studies violence as a political expression.
"What he wrote has tapped into some common concerns, and people are talking," Cloud said. "It speaks to a deep sense of disaffection and unsettlement. ... I think his action is an index of popular anger and frustration."
Shortly after Thursday's crash, Facebook pages praising Stack generated hundreds of followers and a flurry of comments, including these on a site titled "Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee":
• "Wow, at least someone stood up for us."
• "Stack was a terrorist. He is no better than those behind 9-11."
• "He did what he did to make a point and clear up our vision, the only way our government would understand. I just hope people realize this, and do not dismiss him as another nutjob rebel stereotype."
And just like in many blogs or newspaper stories about the plane crash, commenters unleashed a stream of vitriol and ridicule directed at liberals, conservatives, conspiracy theorists or those striving for a middle ground.
Unsurprised by the strong reactionas UT classics professor Tom Palaima, who studies society and violence.
"Violence of any sort — whether a tragic accident, a terrorist attack or something like this — if it hits your psyche, it's impossible for human beings not to react on some level. I say the molecules of your soul have been moved around," Palaima said.
"There no such thing as an act of violence that does not send out shock waves that we all feel," he said.
The shock waves from the plane crash rolled across a nation experiencing economic turmoil and two wars in a frequently bitter political climate.
Think about December's jobless numbers, Palaima said. The U.S. economy lost 85,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent because so many people were no longer counted. They'd given up looking for work.
"What is that but a way of simply 'disappearing' human beings who are really suffering?" he said. "There are real problems in American society, a kind of fragmentation. People are feeling that they're isolated, that there isn't any sense of understanding of what individuals are going through."
Stack's manifesto arrived — seething with frustration, sadness and self-pity — into a climate where anger at the Bush administration swept Barack Obama into the White House, and a vocally angry tea party movement hopes to sweep him out again.
( For rest of article see :
at Statesman Com News Article - plane crash what makes someone do this )
See our response below in COMMENTS
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More than a million workers in the computer industry lost their jobs due to so called Free Trade and Globalization. Today in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a Linda Collister from Middleburg Heights, ( Ohio ), wrote about her daughter who can not find a job in the USA. She says, - "My daughter graduated magna- cum-laude in May 2009 from the University of Texas, Austin, with a doctorate in chemical engineering. She was unable to find a job in her field - let alone a job period. She will probably be going to Japan in August to teach." ( Before going on- I suggest that all should consider something like this before commenting. What happened to the USA to create a situation like this? And if anyone wants to get involved, you have the name above to do something about it. This is not an exception but a common happening in our times. Most likely the common conception is that there is more to the story and it is strange story where someone like the daughter with all those credentials can't find a job. But she is no exception and when time goes by and others look at you this way , it sets the stage for radical responses outside the real personality of a person. There were articles in the past how many people with advanced degrees can not find a job. I worked in several factories while going to college and if these jobs were available today there would be thousands standing in line to get them including many with advanced degrees.)
There was another story in the Sunday Magzine that reveals a way some others destinies play out. Those who feel they can't take it anymore, can take hope and trust in the Lord from this story. When one door closes another one opens. Tom Smallwood lost his job as an auto worker at GM. He had a wife and child - and a mortgage. He set a time limit for his job search and then decided he would take up his past skill at bowling. To make a long story short, he ended up the PBA World Champion for bowling and earned more in any year compared to any "conventional" job.
Tom Palaima in the article tells us about the real world as it is . The unemployment reporting as been a mirage for years with many hiding behind these lies. A person making only a hundred dollars a month is considered employed. This would be a laughing matter back in the 1970s when the unemployment rate was primarily based on full time jobs with benefits. Today a startling figure should rock all of us but it does not. Only about 38 percent of all American workers qualify for unemployment insurance. The other 62 percent are in some sort of limbo regarding their jobs status.
I have a 1985 Catalog of companies and manufacturers in the computer industry. There are literally thousands of software houses and manufacturing. Most likely, about 80 percent no longer exist while our political leaders and journalists call for more high tech jobs with many exported years ago. The sales call book that I carried for many years working in the computer field, has hundreds of companies that no longer exist. Many had more than fifty years of history. What happened that so many went out of business at one time? This is the question of our times with people like President Obama. President Bush and President Clinton ignoring it.
Finally, there was a wonderful high tech magazine that featured new ventures in the high tech world. It was called UPSIDE. It also featured a social conscience and journalists there told about companies like Intel who fired workers at age 39 so that they did not have to worry about age discrimination when the worker turned 40. Many of thes companies had revolving doors, firing and hiring at will. There was an article how workers in the Silicon Valley would go on strike if they had the chance. Other articles told about Bill Gates converting a full time work force to temps and contract workers. These are the workers who had to report as being self-employed and faced nasty taxing problems.
I traveled to the Silicon Valley many times. My company had symposiums about workers dignity in the corporate setting. The company was the prinicple innovator of disk storage devices. They were smashed like an ant by an international consortium with prominent U.S. corporations taking part in the greatest betrayal of workers in U.S. history - See http://tapsearch.com/flatworld or summary of sites at http;//linkbun.ch/aztb
( Again, note the mother's name who wrote about her daughter who can not find a job. The best way to respond the horrible airplane attack on the IRS is to do something now about her.)
Comment by Tapsearch Com Editor
Ethics Box
Stories behind News in Global Economic Arena
The Rationale Quest
The World's News
Tapsearch explores untold stories