Joe Stack, a Hero or a Terrorist?

Joe Stack, a software engineer who crashed a small airplane into a Texas state IRS building, was hailed by some, especially on the Internet, as a “hero.” Psychologists thought that Stack’s timely attack represented people who are dissatisfied with the government.

Stack’s recognition as “heroic” needs careful examination. If Stack’s action was truly “heroic,” it implies that law and order are no longer required, that people could return to times of barbarism where brute force prevailed. Anti-government websites containing praise for Stack’s action interpret this incident as a message to them to use it as a tool to pressure the Obama administration. But many others think just the opposite, that there is no hidden message behind the event and that it was simply an extreme measure used, by one individual, as a venue to vent long-held resentments toward the IRS.

In fact, Stack’s action is no different from a person taking the matter into his own hands by killing a captured criminal. Can we take the law into our own hands and be labeled a hero? Perhaps American taxation has become such a big problem that the government should bear greater responsibility. As a foreigner, I do not understand such details. But the people who work in the IRS building are innocent. They are paid to do the jobs that they do, and should bear no consequence of a system that they did not set up.

What surprises me is that no one spoke out on behalf of the bereaved IRS employees. Instead, in the aftermath of the incident, some people used this opportunity to vent their anger by calling Stack a “hero.”

In fact, Stack’s behavior draws a comparison to terrorism. Like terrorists, Stack conducted a terrorizing attack with no regard for human life. This is also the reason why extremist web sites embrace him.

It takes extreme courage and negative emotion to take one’s life as a means of complaint. Similar behaviors have been observed around the world, such as South Koreans’ use of self-immolation. The difference is that Stack’s act involved innocent lives. Did Stack think that by killing innocent lives he would attract more publicity, or that it was necessary to fully demonstrate his anger?

No hero would use innocent lives as a stepping stone toward success for his cause. The few civil servants who died during the incident were simply innocent bystanders, and their wives and children are forever victimized. These are simple truths that have been lost in the midst of talk about Stack’s “heroic act.”