These pictures tell the end of the story.
Here's the account from today's Fox News account.
Here's the long diatribe left by Joseph Stack, before he burned his home to the ground, left his wife a widow, and his young step-daughter undoubtedly traumatized.
OldSouth slogged through the long farewell, just to see if there was any nugget of wisdom to glean:
Well, he hated the government in general, and the IRS in particular. And unions. And the Catholic Church. And big business. Accounting firms. CPA's. Politicians in general, members of Congress in particular.
He spent a lot of his energy over the years crusading against all of the above. Especially the IRS.
Along the way, he lost two businesses and a marriage in California.
He relocated to Austin, and it appears the cycle was underway again.
LongStoryShort, much like our intrepid professor in Alabama, he decided that all his heartbreaks were someone else's fault. Therefore, he was justified in murdering his tormentors; and himself as well in this instance.
Not one word contemplated the horrific consequences for the people who loved him, who are left to sort life out in the wake of this crime.
OS ain't preaching, folks. He remembers a time when he felt much like this, and but for grace, did not act out in this destructive a manner. There but for grace...
We live in troubled times. And we're in for a rough sled over the next few years. So, let's hug the ones who love us extra-good, and think of them first as we make any decision, however seemingly insignificant. Let's choose our battles with a bit of humility and wisdom. Let's do something, however small, to make someone else's life better, to tidy up our tiny corner of the culture a little bit today. Let's remember who we are, who we aren't, and how we got here.
And how blessed we are.
1 comment:
I think the IRS generates this sort of feelings of rage in countless citizens. With the IRS you are guilty until proven innocent, and then you may still be guilty because they are not smart enough to understand. The IRS is one of our agencies most urgently in need of elimination.
I realize that we need some sort of system of taxation in order to run the country, but a simply system, that would put all the tax accountants and essentially all of the IRS agents out of business would be a great boon to the country. Then all that would be needed would be a small force to go after the few who would violate the simple system (something like a flat tax or similar simple system).
This man seems to have gone over the edge. To burn his own home down shows a level of desperation that I find perfectly amazing, but it is entirely consistent with the second act of flying into the side of the building. He was through with life! How very sad!
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