The problem with Joe Stacks is that even people who disagree with what he did, understand why he did it.
When terrorists attacked the United States on 9/11, there was not just universal condemnation: There was universal confusion. "How could they attack us," Americans asked? How many children died because of revolutions the CIA started? How many Palestinian children died because the United States supports Israel? As immoral as 9/11 was, it most certainly was not incomprehensible. Yet Americans were - and remain - incapable of comprehension. "Why," they still ask.
When Joe Stacks flew his plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, Americans were outraged...sort of. Unlike with 9/11, there was no universal condemnation. Many believed that Mr. Stacks was a patriot rather than a terrorist.
Even scarier is that, almost to a person, people said: "What that guy did was wrong. But I can at least see why he did it."
Still more scarier is that it's hard not to understand Joe Stacks. The United States is allegedly a democracy. Many people elected President Barack Obama in order to see change. Obama has changed nothing.
Instead, the military-industrial complex enriches private contractors. Wall Street is making record profits off of a crisis they caused. Pharmaceutical companies enrich themselves due to government-granted monopolies.
The ballot box has been a failure. Obama is a shill for the power elite. He and his inner circle are already planning on ways to cash in once they are out of office.
The November 2010 elections might mean the ouster of Democrats, and a blow against Obama. As I've said to my Republican and populist friends, who are hopeful for reform: Then what?
No one has an answer for this question...Then what? Start asking people. No one has an answer.
The Republicans will change nothing. The rich and well-connected will continue enriching themselves at the expense of the dying middle class.
Even today, a majority of Americans believe that the Federal Government does not govern by the consent of the governed:
The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% disagree and say the government does not have the necessary consent. Eighteen percent (18%) of voters are not sure.
My question, for you, is: Once millions of Americans realize that Washington D.C. is incorrigibly corrupt, and that voting means nothing...Then what?
