I find it laughable that he suggests that the solution to this problem is somehow Communism.
That's not what he says. He just quotes the creed in order to play off of it regarding capitalism.
and that would be why I said "suggests".
Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
121–130 of 218 posts
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#122What are people's thoughts on the hosting company pulling the site so quickly at the request of the FBI? Would they legally be required to? IANAL but I can't think of any reason.
It was pulled even before the FBI request. The original pull text said something along the lines of "This page has been removed in light of the events in Texas earlier today". Later it was changed to mention the FBI request and gave the link to the smoking gun mirror.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#123What are people's thoughts on the hosting company pulling the site so quickly at the request of the FBI? Would they legally be required to? IANAL but I can't think of any reason.
I suspect they were not legally obligated to take it down (without a court order or a National Security Letter, anyway). But they also, of course, had no obligation to keep it up. I'd probably take it down if I worked there.
It seems quite obvious he wasn't going to be paying his hosting bill anymore.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#124The site was pulled down, here's the copy of the rant: 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. Need…
I really respect this guy. Once you realize your life is over, you might as well take a few other people with you.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#125This blog would hold no value if it were not pinned to this story of "terrorism".
If you look deep and examine what is happening here, 106 comments later, you see that people are thinking. A great thing.
Another question I stop to ask myself: His method was poor and for a lot of people that disqualifies his perspective. But should it?
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think his distaste was that when he made some mistakes, he got caught and shafted by arcane laws, yet when some richer folks deliberately committed fraud, the government barely did anything about it or rejigged the laws for them.
I'm in no way condoning fraud or corruption or entitlement or whatever, but I think the reason "the rich" often appear to get away with a lot more stuff than "the rest of us" is because, in some sense, as much as you might not like to admit it, they did somehow became rich - and that usually involves years of work and contributions to society either by the person him/herself or their family. So, in some small sense,…
I agree. Life isn't fair. That doesn't stop us from seeing a small percentage of people who believe everything should be fair and just going postal, though.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Easier said than done. In the long run, I don't see humanity surviving if it doesn't figure out how to keep smart, disgruntled people in check.
That's rather defeatist. I'd say humanity doesn't have a chance of surviving if it doesn't figure out how to address the concerns of smart, disgruntled people. Keeping them in check just delays the inevitable meltdown.
I'd say smart, disgruntled people aren't as smart as they think they are.
The societal problem is convincing everyone that they're a genius. When life hands them less than the best and they have to overcome it, they just get disgruntled, because "they're too smart" to deal with it.
Parents, remind your children that there's always going to be someone smarter/faster/stronger/etc than them, and that they should focus on doing as well as they can with the circumstances they're given. There's more good in being the best you can be than there is in being the best; for a lucky few, those things are identical, but for the rest of us they aren't.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#128In 2008 somebody in Germany got fed up with the high taxes on fuel. He couldn't afford to run his business (which required a car) any more. So he parked the car on a lawn in the city centre of Frankfurt, wrote "Fuel Profiteering http://www.acidware.de/ in big letters on it, and put it on fire. I just want to say that there are other routes to explore before taking it this far. http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/0,151…
> I just want to say that there are other routes to explore before taking it this far.
Yes, but they are much less effective. E.g., I have never ever heard of him or his protest before.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
You, sir, have obviously failed to memo that in this post-9/11-world, only brown people are terrorists. Here's a key, in case it gets confusing again: - Guy in an airport with a Koran and an accent: terrorist. - White software developer who flies a plane into buildings for ideological reasons: not terrorist.
Actually, this guy's goal was not to incite terror, hence not a terrorist. I'm not necessarily defending the way the government labels different crimes, though. AFAIK the Unibomber was pretty much like this guy.
He's absolutely a terrorist according to 18 USC 2331:
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that— (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
His explicitly stated goal was to affect the conduct of the government and coerce the civilian population via mass destruction.
Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building
#130I surmise his software ventures never succeeded because he hated the IRS more than he loved programming. In 1987 alone, he says, he spent at least 1000 hours railing against the tax code -- about 20 hours a week.
His obsession with, and resentment of, the IRS started when he and others tried to create their own religious organization, ostensibly to draw attention to the capricious laws exempting religious organizations from taxes. How this plan was supposed to work is unclear. L. Ron Hubbard saw the same opportunity and was better at exploiting it.
People don't respond well to acts of violence directed against them or those with whom they empathize. Timothy McVeigh's act caused shock and anger yet achieved nothing. Whatever message Stack wanted to convey has been utterly discredited by attempting to murder people going about their day. And if he wanted to give the government a way to dismiss him, he couldn't have made it any easier.