I was able to snap up this original Joe Stack Manifesto just minutes before the FBI closed down his blog.
This is the REAL THING
I was expecting a lunatic rant.........
Well..... let the words, speak for themselves.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good
for a change. Bye to
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010