What gets someone so upset that they’ll burn their own house down and make a suicide run with a plane into an office building? If you listened to the media this week, the leading reasons that Joe Stack re-enacted 9/11 are because he was enraged at the IRS, upset that his wife left him and angry at big corporations and the Catholic church.
Those are the reasons on the surface, but there’s a true underlying cause: he loved money above all else. Above his wife, his children, his grandchild and his own life. How much so? All of those things combined were worth about $40,000 to him, which is the amount that became his life’s obsession.
We aren’t given guarantees that life will be fair. However, it does seem like we’re pre-programmed to believe that resources should be shared equally. Even many primates will retaliate against other group members that hoard food, shelter, or treasures.
But we’re supposed to be above that sort of thing, right? We’re higher beings after all! We’ve created a vast maze of laws that are meant to set up a structure of moral imperatives and equal treatment for all citizens.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mesh well with capitalism, which has its own priorities of advancing economic interests over all else. So, we have two very powerful movements in conflict with one another, which can sometimes leave victims in its wake.
Joe Stack saw himself as one of those victims, and felt powerless to do anything about it. He joined a group of other people who felt like he did, and their solution was to live by their own interpretations of the tax code (with disastrous results), which brings me to my advice for would-be Joe Stacks:
1. Play the game, or get played.
Pretending that the game doesn’t exist, or trying to create new rules for the game on your own won’t work. That will only cause the rule makers to look unfavorably on you, and will lead to penalties. In Joe Stack’s case, his first penalty was about $10,000.
2. Have realistic goals and outcomes
Expecting that the IRS and federal lawmakers will be impressed by your patriotic attitude and incredibly persuasive arguments for 100 percent tax-free living is unrealistic. If you build up public sympathy by telling real stories of truly burdensome taxes and unfair practices, you can make small changes that will build up over time.
3. Have someone else write your arguments
The line between “passionate” and “crazy” is blurry, so try to get a disinterested friend who is a good writer to help you with your arguments. You might think your righteous anger and passion will help you create stirring letters, but trust me; everyone who reads them will think you’re a crank.
The resources required for creating social and political change are far more than most individuals can handle. The direct benefits of the change you’ll see in a tax law will never be enough to offset the amount of time and money you’ll need to invest. If you’re only concerned with your individual financial situation, then forget about change and concentrate on legally acquiring as much money as you can.
Now if you’re a Christian, none of this applies to you. Your time here on earth is temporary and fleeting, and you already know that you cannot serve two masters; you cannot serve both money and God. Lord knows we try, though. I’ve spent a number of years pondering ways to reconcile the excess of riches we are given in this country with what Jesus says about money, and I still can’t do it.
Joe Stack, however, loved money. He loved it so much that he built his reason for living on it. When the money went away (as it frequently does), his reason for living collapsed.
If you think that Jesus had some good ideas but suffered from a messiah complex, then I hope my advice will help. If you’re up for reading about ancient ideas about money, dust off that old bible and read Matthew chapter 6, starting at verse 24.
Ryan Ryals lives in Maple Valley and writes a weekly column about politics and life in the city.
