Biography: Jim Hackett II

[Jim Hackett II]

Born summer 1953. In southern Indiana USA. Farm Country.

Grew up of working class parents both worked to build a life for us kids. Own a home etc. Taught the value of a dollar earned by the sweat of the working people.

Formative years spent working grandfathers farm after school and fulltime in summer and all that goes with 650 tillable acres and learning to drive at age 10 and shoot at age 12. Crops and livestock operations and the inherent love and respect for nature. 200 acres of woods that were my place to hunt and camp at will.

Interested in JFK assassination since 1965 when even at age 12 I found holes in the WC. Granted of "off and on" interest as the HSCA LIES 1979 broke my spirit and hope of ever getting the truth. I got back into interest about 1990.

4 year honorable service USMC 1972 - 1976.

Worked as high steel ironworker (UNION skilled trade) building "skyscrappers" and was disabled in 1992 fall on job. Only "profitable" education past high school was the 3 years in Ironworker's apprenticeship. So when I say the WTC steel couldn't have melted I know what I speak of without an "engineering" degree. A view from the open beam as opposed to a blackboard view of an engineer. I was once the poor guy that had to make the structure do what the print said it did from that office.

3 years post high school at major university IU (bio and poly sci and US history majors) I quit as I could see no future in a degree that at best could go places I didn't want to "live". Teaching in a high school is not for me, it is an honorable trade but not a match for me.

I had not the tolerance to stay in to go to law school. Had I done so I would be the poorest lawyer in the US as I would only take cases representing poor people against the Govt. and corporations as John Edwards did.

Working indoors at repetitive tasks is never a good job match for a country farm kid that hunted and camped all through growing up age and I still do so. Nor was wasting time in meaningless classes of material I would never use. Nor was being placed under the supervision of those that would not know a minimum wage life from the royal life of the favored.

From 1992 disablement I have been a political activist for Veterans and for low income and homeless citizens. For 6 years I had nothing and was homeless, no compensation for on the job dire injuries did I ever get until 1998.

I was sensitized to the issues of social justice the hard way. Indiana is a right to work state and enables employers to duck responsibility for injuries in this current age of Adam Smith Lessez Faire Economics. Sure I was angry at first then I threw the saddle on the anger and knew the "establishment" could do no more to me as I was already on the street and broke.

I became a radical socialist of that decade of pain and social degradation and the loss of home and land to pay the health care cost of hospital and a year of nursing home rehab. A doctor now owns my land and my lake that I built by damming a creek and built a home on my land. My working class "A frame" house wasn't good enough for a doctor I guess. It all opened my eyes to the issues and need for redress.

The roots of my own socialism which go back to seeing that even in USMC I served with only working class sons and a few upper class officers, (but those people were the best people I have ever been part of - Semper Fidelis) the fall injury only gave me back my roots and finished the polarization.

As time has gone on I have become active in political research as I have the time and ability to get to NARA on occasion. My partner common law wife Cindy and I host a Black Op Radio dinner on Thursday evening to listen to Len Osanic's BOR internet radio show and to discuss current events and JFK assassination research. We cook and enjoy the community aspects of the events. The host "place" cycles through the group as it makes it easier than our having to do all the cooking as it was at first.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

Mr Hackett, welcome to the Forum, from a fellow socialist who also had to learn the hard way. Steve.

[Tim Gratz]

Mr. Hackett wrote:

Had I done so I would be the poorest lawyer in the US as I would only take cases representing poor people against the Govt. and corporations as John Edwards did.

Mr. Hackett, if you represented poor people against large corportations as successfully as Sen. Edwards did, you would not be one of the poorest lawyers but rather one of the richest! Sen. Edwards made millions of dollars in contingent fees. But unlike many Republicans, I see nothing wrong with contingent fees or the tort system in general since that is indeed what allows poor people (or even middle-class people) to obtain high quality legal representation. Which is not to say the system always works, but you don't throw it out because of a few unusual cases.

Edited November 4, 2005 by Tim Gratz