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Unread 01-18-2008, 04:00 PM   #29 (permalink)
Repugnant Abomination
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I just sent this to my Editor to be published in the University paper next week:


The Unabomber’s manifesto
Through the late 1970’s to the mid 1990’s the American terrorist Ted Kaczynski carried out numerous bombings by mailing explosives to people. He was a certified genius, testing with an IQ of 167 as a relative child. Fast forward a few years and he was admitted to Harvard at 16, where he scored at the top of his class. So what drove him to bomb his fellow man over the course of nearly 20 years?
What led to Kaczynski’s capture was the New York Times publishing his Manifesto, a 35 page essay that his brother’s wife recognized to be written in Kaczynski’s distinct voice. The man was reviled as a monster and barely escaped the death penalty. He now lives out his remaining days in prison with a life sentence and no possibility of parole.
Before I continue I would like to say that this is not a pity party. I’m not trying to gain sympathy for the man, and I’m not trying to justify his attacks. What I am interested in is understanding why he did them. The answers are in his manifesto.
For those who haven’t read it, his manifesto is a scathing attack on the industrial revolution and its consequences for man. He argues: “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in ‘advanced’ countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering…and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world.” While some of this is subjective, I think he may be onto something.
What indignities are we suffering, you might wonder. According to Kaczynski our technology has created a situation where people feel inferior. They have a feeling of powerlessness and have a defeatist attitude. I think that all one needs to do is look at the current situation of American politics to know what he’s talking about. One always holds the hope for change, that the system can be fixed, but people are cynical for a reason. The amount of manipulation that takes place in the media alone is just one example of how we are constantly bombarded with rhetoric used to sway opinion and deceive the public.
Trying to summarize a 35 page essay in a little column is impossible. What I’ve provided is a glimpse, and I encourage anyone who is interested to read the manifesto at: http://www.thecourier.com/manifest.htm.
Some might argue that I’m promoting someone who shouldn’t be promoted. My response to that is I don’t think we should discredit someone’s ideas because of their actions. Clearly his bombings were wrong, and even unnecessary – someone with his status could have easily gotten attention for his manifesto through reputation alone. But regardless of how wrong his methods were it doesn’t mean his ideas are.
The human machine continues, and will continue, to push forward at break neck speed. At this point, barring catastrophic disaster, I don’t think there’s any way to slow this train down - Kaczynski’s dream of a technology free world is all but impossible. And even though I personally believe that technology does as much good as it does bad, there’s still no harm in thinking about it, if at the very least for the environments sake.
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