Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczynski
After re-reading his manifesto (about which I posted earlier) I decided to buy this collection to see what else the man had to say. I was not disappointed. The book contains a revised version of the manifesto (though mostly for punctuation, spelling, etc - minimal, inconsequential changes to the arguments therefore), as well as a few articles, letters and at the end a short interview.
The articles expand on certain topics already dealt with in the manifesto, and include criticisms of 'green' movements for their leftism, the leftist bias of many anthropologists when presenting the way of life of hunter gatherers, considerations of where the system is vulnerable, what he considers morality, his conception of freedom and his suggestions for plans of action (which, in his view, must be revolutionary - one of his well labored points is how reform is ultimately not possible).
Some parts are pretty funny given his situation (he is imprisoned for life in a max security prison). Here's some examples:
«Nor should anything in this article be interpreted as recommending illegal activity of any kind. I am a prisioner, and if I were to encourage illegal activity this article would not even be allowed to leave prison» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.249)
«You have to go behind the fist and strike at the most sensitive and vital organs of the system. By legal means, of course, such as peaceful protests» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.251)
«The rest of Hit it Where it Hurts is omitted, because it is considered unsuitable for inclusion in this book» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.253)
This last one is the only case where they omitted something, so one has to wonder what tactics he was suggesting that thet thought would not be ok to publish - even though he repeats several times across the book the mantra of 'legal means' with doubtful sincerity. I have never read a book written by a prisoner before so it was still pretty funny to read this stuff.
Some excerpts are funny in themselves:
«Usually, gathering edible roots in the wilderness is not like pulling carrots out of the soft, cultivated soil of a garden. More typically the ground is hard, or covered with tough sod that you have to hack through in order to get at the roots. I wish I could take certain anarchoprimitivists out in the mountains, show them where the edible roots grow, and invite them to get their dinner by digging for it. By the time they had enough yampa roots or camas bulbs for a halfway square meal, their blistered hands would disabuse them of any idea that primitives didn’t have to work for a living.» (The Truth about Primitive Life, p. 132)
The letters are easily the least interesting of the book, given that they are less focused, but they still contain lots of nuggets of truth and insight, of special note is his relentless demolition of everything leftist thrown at him in the letters (such as the importance of fighting against racist, homophobic, sexist or considering democracy a great system). He truly is an original thinker in this regard, and I do hope he is able to influence at least a few of the leftists he corresponds with.
Lastly, the interview, while short, focuses on his life in the wild and is pretty interesting. You can really see his love of nature and the beauty of living a simple life in the wild.
While his 'enemy' is the industrial-technological system as a whole, I think the neomasculine sphere can find a lot of interesting and important points on his critiques of the current system which we fight - it is especially of importance for traditionalists. Being on myself, I agreed with a very large part of his assessment - on societal progress and his definition of freedom as 'autonomy' from large organizations. I mostly disagreed with his views on morality, but that was to be expected as he is an atheist - although I still enjoyed reading his view. He is a very good writer and interesting thinker.
For these reasons I consider that this book is well worth the time and price and recommend it wholeheartedly, especially to whoever has not considered the problems that technology poses and how they integrate with the larger picture of neomasculinity.
4/5
After re-reading his manifesto (about which I posted earlier) I decided to buy this collection to see what else the man had to say. I was not disappointed. The book contains a revised version of the manifesto (though mostly for punctuation, spelling, etc - minimal, inconsequential changes to the arguments therefore), as well as a few articles, letters and at the end a short interview.
The articles expand on certain topics already dealt with in the manifesto, and include criticisms of 'green' movements for their leftism, the leftist bias of many anthropologists when presenting the way of life of hunter gatherers, considerations of where the system is vulnerable, what he considers morality, his conception of freedom and his suggestions for plans of action (which, in his view, must be revolutionary - one of his well labored points is how reform is ultimately not possible).
Some parts are pretty funny given his situation (he is imprisoned for life in a max security prison). Here's some examples:
«Nor should anything in this article be interpreted as recommending illegal activity of any kind. I am a prisioner, and if I were to encourage illegal activity this article would not even be allowed to leave prison» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.249)
«You have to go behind the fist and strike at the most sensitive and vital organs of the system. By legal means, of course, such as peaceful protests» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.251)
«The rest of Hit it Where it Hurts is omitted, because it is considered unsuitable for inclusion in this book» (Hit it Where it Hurts, p.253)
This last one is the only case where they omitted something, so one has to wonder what tactics he was suggesting that thet thought would not be ok to publish - even though he repeats several times across the book the mantra of 'legal means' with doubtful sincerity. I have never read a book written by a prisoner before so it was still pretty funny to read this stuff.
Some excerpts are funny in themselves:
«Usually, gathering edible roots in the wilderness is not like pulling carrots out of the soft, cultivated soil of a garden. More typically the ground is hard, or covered with tough sod that you have to hack through in order to get at the roots. I wish I could take certain anarchoprimitivists out in the mountains, show them where the edible roots grow, and invite them to get their dinner by digging for it. By the time they had enough yampa roots or camas bulbs for a halfway square meal, their blistered hands would disabuse them of any idea that primitives didn’t have to work for a living.» (The Truth about Primitive Life, p. 132)
The letters are easily the least interesting of the book, given that they are less focused, but they still contain lots of nuggets of truth and insight, of special note is his relentless demolition of everything leftist thrown at him in the letters (such as the importance of fighting against racist, homophobic, sexist or considering democracy a great system). He truly is an original thinker in this regard, and I do hope he is able to influence at least a few of the leftists he corresponds with.
Lastly, the interview, while short, focuses on his life in the wild and is pretty interesting. You can really see his love of nature and the beauty of living a simple life in the wild.
While his 'enemy' is the industrial-technological system as a whole, I think the neomasculine sphere can find a lot of interesting and important points on his critiques of the current system which we fight - it is especially of importance for traditionalists. Being on myself, I agreed with a very large part of his assessment - on societal progress and his definition of freedom as 'autonomy' from large organizations. I mostly disagreed with his views on morality, but that was to be expected as he is an atheist - although I still enjoyed reading his view. He is a very good writer and interesting thinker.
For these reasons I consider that this book is well worth the time and price and recommend it wholeheartedly, especially to whoever has not considered the problems that technology poses and how they integrate with the larger picture of neomasculinity.
4/5