I don’t know… I’ve always found Kaczinsky an interesting guy, but now that I’m around halfway through his book, I find his arguements surprisingly weak as in he doesn’t really put a lot of effort into justifying the basics. He just goes on to say “yeah obfuscating the process of survival is bad” and sure I can see how some people might find hunting rabbits with bows more fulfilling than looking at Excel all day but if you don’t accept that immediately then his arguements become pretty weak.
I use Excel to calculate the ages of the oldest rocks in the Solar System. If I was using it to find accounting loopholes for a private equity firm, I’d probably kill myself.
Ted’s problem is that he equates the tools and the processes of post-industrial society with its people. Just because the possibility exists for these surrogate activities to replace meaningful work doesn’t mean we all succumb automatically.
Ted’s problem was that he murdered the wrong people. Let’s be completely honest if he was killing politicians and their corporate masters he would be a hell of a lot less controversial. So long as fascists, authoritarians, and their weak willed followers exist there is few excuses to kill the innocent, collateral not withstanding if someone took out a small town to kill Musk it’d be acceptable for example.
As a John Brown fan and follower of the Allfather I wholeheartedly disagree with you. Sometimes the most just action one can take is the most brutal and destructive one, really it comes down to what one’s own mental liberty allows them to do.
John Brown failed in his original intentions of creating a new country in the Appalachians and triggering a slave revolt. He more than succeeded in becoming a martyr for the abolitionist cause and giving something to rally behind. Also the civil war was inevitable by the time John Brown did his raid on Harpers Ferry, he was simply the Prologue not the cause, even if Brown was a Ghandi like figure there would’ve still be a civil war since the South was not going to give up the institution of slavery without a fight.
I don’t know… I’ve always found Kaczinsky an interesting guy, but now that I’m around halfway through his book, I find his arguements surprisingly weak as in he doesn’t really put a lot of effort into justifying the basics. He just goes on to say “yeah obfuscating the process of survival is bad” and sure I can see how some people might find hunting rabbits with bows more fulfilling than looking at Excel all day but if you don’t accept that immediately then his arguements become pretty weak.
I use Excel to calculate the ages of the oldest rocks in the Solar System. If I was using it to find accounting loopholes for a private equity firm, I’d probably kill myself.
Ted’s problem is that he equates the tools and the processes of post-industrial society with its people. Just because the possibility exists for these surrogate activities to replace meaningful work doesn’t mean we all succumb automatically.
Ted’s problem was that he murdered people.
Ted’s problem was that he murdered the wrong people. Let’s be completely honest if he was killing politicians and their corporate masters he would be a hell of a lot less controversial. So long as fascists, authoritarians, and their weak willed followers exist there is few excuses to kill the innocent, collateral not withstanding if someone took out a small town to kill Musk it’d be acceptable for example.
I’m a Gandhi and King fan so I wholeheartedly disagree.
As a John Brown fan and follower of the Allfather I wholeheartedly disagree with you. Sometimes the most just action one can take is the most brutal and destructive one, really it comes down to what one’s own mental liberty allows them to do.
John Brown failed. He would have succeeded if he were Gandhi before Gandhi. Plus he would have prevented the bloody Civil War.
John Brown failed in his original intentions of creating a new country in the Appalachians and triggering a slave revolt. He more than succeeded in becoming a martyr for the abolitionist cause and giving something to rally behind. Also the civil war was inevitable by the time John Brown did his raid on Harpers Ferry, he was simply the Prologue not the cause, even if Brown was a Ghandi like figure there would’ve still be a civil war since the South was not going to give up the institution of slavery without a fight.
“Equating the tools and processes with the people” is such a good way of putting it that I gotta remember to remember it.
I’m impressed you made it half way, the man was not a natural writer by any means.