Joseph Stack is a Terrrorist.

     Robert Wright is a journalist who emphasizes culture, politics, and world affairs in his writing. The argument made by Wright in his article about the Joseph Stack "Legacy" is this; Joseph Stack was a terrorist who had major commonalities with most Tea Partiers. "In common usage, a "terrorist" is someone who attacks in the name of a political cause and aims to spread terror- to foster fear that such attacks will be repeated until grievances are addressed"..."this man was, by prevailing semantic conventions, a terrorist"(Wright, 2010). Wright also indicates that Stack had a lot in common with most Tea Partiers, mostly his "populist rage". Wright makes this argument based mostly on the manifesto left by Stack, which outlined his reasoning for flying his plane into an IRS building. In short, this argument is based on hard evidence- a true primary source of research.


     Wright's argument convinced me that Stack was "the first Tea Party terrorist". I am convinced of this because the man I thought of as disgruntled and perhaps mentally ill- and I based this on my lack of information about the incident- was revealed to me in his truer form. Joseph Stack intelligently and deliberately plotted and carried out this plan. He did not care that he ran the risk of killing innocent people (and he did kill one). Accepting this argument seems to hold the implication, for me, that I need to take the time to learn more about situations before I form opinions about them or the people involved. I empathized with Joseph’s frustration and hated him for his actions to begin with. After reading this article, I do not empathize with him, nor do I warrant him the energy it would require to hate him. He was a terrorist- a disturbed man.

     This article holds political significance for two main reasons. First of all, calling Stack out as the terrorist he was should serve as a catalyst in the hearts and minds of the American people- to remember that terrorism is within our borders, and our vigilance is all that will prevent future attacks of a much larger scale. Second of all, it shows just how much one has to do to call attention to his grievances. Would any of the American people have cared if he tried to make his hardships known in some other fashion? Would they have cared? Does the American public, in general, care about anything but American Idol? As a nation, we vote little and complain a lot. Some, voters or not, suffer to the point of losing their senses- for this reason, democracy seems to need reviving. Hopefully, this incident can spur a revival in each person affected by it to reach out more for the common good. The Tea Party seems to have the right idea, but Joseph Stack had it all wrong.