Fascinating!!! Great insight, thanks Larry (and Mr. Cullen).
On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 3:16 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]>wrote: > > An interesting analysis of the crash by the author of Columbine: > http://www.slate.com/id/2245337/pagenum/all > > jurisprudence > Seven Deadly Traits > Decoding the confession of the Austin plane bomber. > By Dave Cullen > Posted Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at 6:51 PM ET > > Joseph Stack spent months on his manifesto. He was adamant about > convincing usor himselfwhy flying his plane into an IRS building was > an act of charity. > > The five-page rant the software engineer wrote before his performance > murder is illogical, hysterical, hyperbolic, and deeply dishonest. > Stack's convoluted arguments explain nothing, and the thumbnail sketch > of his impoverished life is absurd. And that's exactly why it's so > revealing. The software engineer tried to con us with a deceptive > self-portrait, but the real Joseph Stack reveals himself in the way he > concocts it. > > I've spent 11 years studying routes to mass murder, in particular for > a book on the Columbine school shootings, and it's startling how > similar all the manifestos sound. Many of Stack's passages were > practically lifted right out of the diatribes of Eric Harris, the > Columbine mastermind. Yet while the notes are the same, the tune is > not. Harris was a textbook psychopath, and Stack doesn't read that way > at all. Stack has more empathy, less callousness, and none of the > vicious desire to torment others for enjoyment. There are echoes of > Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui here, but Stack forms coherent > thoughts and speaks rationally. He gives no indication of insanity. > Instead, Stack shares Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh's disgust with > intrusive government and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's angry frustration > at "the system." > > Each of those killers were driven by different motives. Yet they > shared hallmark traits of a man headed off the rails. I spoke with > several experts in mass murder Thursday, and we identified seven > deadly traits of impending danger in Stack's manifesto. > > Narcissism/egocentricity: Joseph Stack ended his life with a supreme > act of narcissism, and that quality leaps out of every line of his > rationalization. It's all about him. Through 30 years of his torture, > "thieves, liars and self-serving scumbags" in Congress continually > targeted Stack personally. The IRS and his own accountant joined in to > make him their personal whipping boy. When the Senate redrew the tax > code in 1986, "they may as well have put my name right in the text of > section (d)," Stack writes. > > Grandiosity: Stack's grievances are wildly overblown and his swipes at > powerful institutions grand and hyperbolic: "the vulgar, corrupt > Catholic Church . . . monsters of organized religion," "thugs and > plunderers" in corporate boardrooms driven by "gluttony and > overwhelming stupidity" committing "unthinkable atrocities." More > comical is Stack's portrait of his own misery. As a fuller, objective > emerges, we're likely to see more dramatic chasms between reality and > his depictions, but the contradictions are already comical. Stack > likens his plight to an elderly woman in the neighborhood living on > cat food. He doesn't mention eating it in the cockpit of his private > plane. In Stack's version, he lived and died a pauper. In real life, > he amassed a series of businesses, a $230,000 home in an affluent > community, and the airplane he crashed into the building. > > Martyr/injustice collector: Killers like Stack love to project > themselves as martyrs, but that thinking often emerges from a long > history of collecting injustices, while ignoring his ever-growing > wealth. Big Brother "strips my carcass," Stack complains. His > antagonists are merciless: "[A]s usual, they left me to rot and die." > He complains that the 1986 tax revision might as well as "directly > declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave." > > Superiority masking self-loathing (projection): Stack lashes out at > "the incredible stupidity of the American public": "brainwashed" > "zombies" who follow along dutifully, incapable of his keen insights > to look right through the horror of "the real American nightmare." > It's a feeble claim of superiority, when the entire treatise reeks of > self-loathing. Stark ends with an attack on capitalism"From each > according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed." But > this is not a man who rejected the system. He only rejected the idea > of paying his taxes. He spent his life creating businesses, working > the system, and constantly keeping score with his bank balance. Stack > embraced capitalism and then convinced himself he was a dismal failure > at it. > > There is a strong hint of projection in Stack's thinking. When he > complains of moving to a better life in Austin and discovering "a > place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance," he might as > well be describing the document he's composing. Projection is common > among depressed people, who take a personal trait they despise in > themselves and apply it to something external to bat around and > ridicule. The televangelist who decries immorality in the midst of an > affair is a classic example. It looks to us like conscious hypocrisy, > but it's really just a dirty little reusable tool for him to beat up > on his own sins. > > Isolationist thinking: This served as an aggravating factor for Stack. > He presents himself as battling a monolithic series of adversaries: > big business, big government, Big Brother, big religion. He sees > himself as a shrunken David unable to match this Goliath. There is a > suggestion of paranoia here. Stack is a supremely unreliable narrator > of his own story, but he does seem to have created real financial > hardship for himself. When he repeatedly chose not to pay his taxes, > one or more of his business licenses was suspended. > > That seems to be at the heart of Stack's whole mess. Unnamed, but > ever-present in his commentary, is his immersion in a fringe group or > groups who believed they were exempt from the federal income tax. By > his account, Stack devoted enormous time, energy, and possibly money > to this cause. > > Stack made some awful choices on his taxes, but surrounding himself > with like-minded zealots may have been just as dangerous in the long > run. In his insightful FBI study "The Lethal Triad," Dr. Kevin > Gilmartin describes intellectual isolation as a key factor when > extremists lash out violently. It's counterintuitive, but joining > certain groups can be more isolating than living alone. Stack found a > group that encouraged and validated the idea of avoiding taxation, > which might have been difficult for him to sustain on his own. The > moral support he found appears to have helped him sustain a rather > nutty concept for 20 to 30 years, in spite of the economic distress it > inflicted on him. > > Construing selfishness as selflessness: Stack needed a coping > strategy, a rationalization for his financial failure. He found one in > patriotism. Sure, it may look like greed to keep 100 percent of your > paycheck, but Stack was doing it all for us! And, oh, the price he > paid. "That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of > my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0." > > Helplessness/hopelessness: Joseph Stack committed both homicide and > suicide this week, but all the signs point to suicide as the driver. > The FBI trains hostage negotiators to look for two clear signals that > a perpetrator is likely to do himself in. Helplessness is the sense > that I can't get things to work out. Hopelessness sets in when that > belief becomes permanent: The helplessness is here to stay. Stack's > manifesto reeks of both. He felt powerless and took control in the > only way he knew he could "win." He was pretty sure that if he crashed > that plane his life would end. He just needed a way to justify it. > > That's where the first four symptomsnarcissism, grandiosity, > superiority, and martyrdomcame back into play. Performance murders > like Stack's are narcissism taken to its worst extreme. Lots of people > will die, most of them innocent, but sorry, I had to kill them to make > my point. It's all about me. > > Stack also had the grandiose idea that he was on a mission. "By > striking a nerve," he hopes "the American zombies wake up and revolt." > (Really? Because that's how we have responded to previous acts of > performance murder?) As he wrapped up his manifesto and his life, > Stack returned to the martyr theme. He was ready to make the ultimate > sacrifice, for us. > > But there's a problem with this part of the story. Before Stack > crashed the plane, he burned his family out of its home. How to > justify that vindictive act in the diatribe? > > Stack just left it out. > > Become a fan of Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. > Dave Cullen is the author of Columbine, just released in an expanded > paperback edition. Cullen has contributed to Slate, Salon, the > Washington Post and the New York Times. > > Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2245337/ > > > > On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 12:35 PM, Cameron Childress <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 9:06 AM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> You don't have to stick the guy into a room and "reprogram" him, that > >> sort does it to themselves. isolate the person (or have them isolate > >> themselves) > > > > Largely a personal decision. > > > >> then restrict information resources and opinions to a very > >> limited set, > > > > Personal decision. > > > >> and reinforce those opinions continually via newsgroups > >> the web etc., > > > > Personal decisions. > > > >> will have the same effect. In the recent cases like this > >> one, and the shooting in upper New York state last April, the perp was > >> isolated, limited themselves to mostly right wing and similar > >> information sources. > > > > Decisions. > > > >> In other words the brainwashing happened in the > >> open and in the full view of everyone, and frequently with the willing > >> cooperation of the person. There's a lot more involved than the very > >> limited sketch I've given, but the mechanisms are known and to some > >> extent understood. > > > > Yes they are. They are called life decisions. > > > > If I make a decision to hang out with criminals all the time, I will > > eventually get into some sort of trouble as a result. Over time they > > will have modified my perception of normal acceptable behavior. This > > is why I do not hang out with criminals. This is called personal > > responsibility. > > > > -Cameron > > > > .. > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:312431 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
