21st Century Zombies

Part I: Introduction

We live amongst a sea of 21st century zombies. After hundreds of years of industrialism, servitude, technologization and cultural degradation, the masses have been left in a truly woeful state. For too long, a small group of elites have ruled us from above. For too long, the masses have been fooled. For too long, nothing has been done. That may be about to change.

The Western world as we know it is marching towards a pivotal crossroads– one which will decide the fate of humanity. This is a crossroads of economics, culture, philosophy, religion and nature, and it as it stands is becoming unavoidable. With every passing day we are hurdling ever closer towards reaching it– towards freedom or towards demise. Once the day comes that we reach that crossroads, humanity will be left with a choice– technology or freedom? Our answer to this question will determine our fate for the rest of history. But it is our choice.

The issue lies in the cluelessness of the masses. They must be properly educated should the desired result and future for humanity be achieved. They must wake from their zombie-like state if we as a species and as a world are to overthrow the technological system.

The elites will be working against us at every step. They and their technophile henchmen will stop at nothing to ensure their monopoly on humanity and the Earth goes unchallenged. Therefore it is essential for the masses to rise up against these tyrannical elites to ensure the continued welfare of humanity. In order to effectively ensure the defeat of the elitist class, the masses must unite under the single banner of Neo-Luddism as a united world set on the establishment of a new primitive society that champions nature, autonomy and human freedom.

In this document I hope to highlight the flaws of techno-industrial society where they appear in Western civilization as well as carve out a rough idea of what steps should be taken by Neo-Luddites to be sure they gain their freedom from the technological system. In doing so I hope to inspire more young Neo-luddites to take a stand against the modern world and to establish for themselves a life of simplicity and autonomy. It is also worth mentioning that whilst the topics of this article may well be applicable to the whole of Western civilization, our main focal point from a demographic and sociological point of view will be that of the plight of Generation Z. With that in mind, it is additionally worth noting that this article is intended to serve as a guide for what a concerned zoomer might do in the face of the ever more powerful technological dictatorship which now threatens the Western world.

Finally, before we delve into our conversation, I would like to mention that I am writing this now because I fear the time is short. The crossroads are looming closer, and as such swift action must be taken by freedom-loving Neo-luddites to ensure the security and freedom of the human race.

Techniques of Conformity

Most people will agree that modern society is deeply troubled and is flawed in many ways, and yet they still go on with their day-to-day lives without seemingly any concern. Why is this? I believe it may have to do with a phenomenon I call techniques of conformity. These can be defined as societal mechanisms which coerce an individual into thinking, behaving and generally living in a way that is not threatening to the techno-industrial system. These techniques of conformity are inflicted onto the masses by the elitist class. I define techniques of conformity as falling into five main categories, and these categories vary in terms of the personal avenue of attack that each of the categories exploits. Techniques of conformity are found being enacted everywhere in the Western world and we are all under constant assault from them in one way or another. That being said, discussing the five categories of the techniques of conformity serves as an excellent introduction to our discussion of the state of modern society as a whole.

The first (and arguably the most important) category of techniques of conformity I call economic techniques of conformity. These techniques involve the systematic economic coercion of the individual. High rent costs, fuel costs and sky-high prices on consumer goods prevent would-be societal dropouts (when I say this I am mainly speaking of Neo-Luddites, radical environmentalists, Anarcho-Primitivists and the like. Because this article is mainly concerned with the propagation of the anti-tech, pro-nature movement, when I say words like ‘rebel’ or ‘societal dropout,’ I am referring to an anti-tech or anti-civ individual unless otherwise specified.) from rebelling against society (on a personal level mainly, but also to an extent on a mass level) because they are stuck in the 9-to-5 grind. Economic techniques of conformity keep the vast majority of the population in an economic state wherein free choice and self-sufficiency are simply not ideals they can opt for. These techniques keep the masses reduced to worker-bees in the vast techno-industrial system, unable to choose a life of nature and simplicity because finances cannot allow it. As an example, suppose John Doe (we’ll call this fine gentleman JD for short) wants to leave this world of 9-to-5 wage slavery behind and pursue a life in the woods. He will need to buy a house and/or a plot of land, cultivate a portion of his land, and somehow generate enough income to cover the cost of property taxes and/or mortgage payments as well as any other expenses he may encounter. How ever will JD be able to accomplish this? It will be hard for him, to say the least. According to recent data, roughly 58% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck[1], and this trend is consistent in other Western countries as well. The majority of people in our society do not have the financial means to influence their life in a significant way. Supposing JD is one of such people, it will be very difficult for him to achieve his off-grid dream. Here we see the execution of economic techniques of conformity- John Doe is locked into the system financially, whether he likes it or not. The intricacies of the modern economy are hard for the average person to navigate, and with the craziness of the housing markets and the sky-high prices on many consumer goods, it is no surprise to hear that these techniques have been exploited to the maximum by the elitist class. They view these economic techniques of conformity as an excellent and efficient way to control the masses, to keep us all down-and-out. Economic techniques of conformity, through their rigidity and largely remotely-influenced nature, are hard to rebel against, rather a person must find a way to make gains against these techniques in spite of their intrusive and restrictive nature. Saving money, investing and dropping out of the 9-to-5 system altogether are perhaps some methods that come to mind when we speak about a revolt against economic techniques of conformity, and to the extent that these methods are successful, they can work. But perhaps the best solution lies in the rejection of money and economics as a whole- a sort of rebellion against the concept itself. It is hard to say. What I do know though is that one in which the elitist class keeps its grip on humanity is through the exploitation of economic techniques of conformity, and that we must be wary of such techniques. That is the main thing, in this regard.

The second category of techniques refers to social techniques of conformity. We live in a society wherein the individual is hyper-connected to the people around them and is thus highly susceptible to their influence[2]. Especially with the ever-expanding realm of social media taking its grip on Generation Z and other people of all ages, these techniques of conformity are becoming more prevalent. Humans are social animals, and as such we are all susceptible to social pressures to one degree or another. Humans (generally speaking) crave the attention, respect, love and validation of other people, and this can be exploited by the elites to exert control. Through various sociological avenues, the masses can be influenced to act and even think a certain way such that their drive for social recognition and status serves as a profit for the elitist class. All you have to do is log onto any major social media platform to see what I am talking about. On these platforms, we witness the masses become the victims of social techniques of conformity through various means. Trends, ideas, taboos and culturally significant media are often the discussion topics on virtually any online platform. These topics are all fundamentally rooted in a sociological origin, and as such large amounts of people can be swamped by information pertaining to society and culture such that it influences their ability to think freely and cultivate ideas in a truly autonomous way. This allows the elitist class to cherry pick what media and otherwise culturally significant ideas reach the public, as these ideas/media productions can be plastered across the various social media networks that exist in the modern day. Our sociology is being whimsically sculpted by the elites such that we act, think and even crave social attention in a certain way. In being hyper-connected to each other and society at large, we have never been farther apart (mostly because of the alienating effect of social media platforms and the structure of our society in general. We will discuss this topic more later on in these writings), which becomes important in our discussion of the next category of techniques.

The third category I define as being psychological techniques of conformity. These techniques involve the psychological manipulation of the individual such that they do not dissent from techno-industrial society. These techniques can manifest themselves in several forms. Closely related to social techniques of conformity, these psychological tactics constrain (and to a certain extent) brainwash the individual such that they are reliant on the system for their own psychological needs. The first way in which these techniques manifest themselves is partially rooted in social techniques of conformity and is called the pursuit of validation. In modern society (mostly due to the attack on the nuclear and extended family) many people seek validation from others and society at large as a way to cope with the negative aspects of modern life (particularly loneliness and low self-esteem). People who have fallen into the trap of validation seeking will oftentimes go to lengths to receive the validation they crave, going so far as to conform not only to society at large but to also conform to people in their personal lives in order to become more likable and thus receive the interpersonal validation they crave in the process. This process is most often observed as a person conforming to societal norms in order to feel as though they have ‘won’ in life, even though conforming to societal norms in such a way only subjugates the individual and strips them of their independence. Another way in which the pursuit of validation manifests in when an individual associates themselves with a large (usually subcultural or countercultural) movement[3]. By associating themselves with a large social movement, they actually receive validation in the process. A small victory for the movement is a small victory for the individual. A big victory for the movement is a big victory for the individual. In this way, a person can outsource their own drive for power to a large group, which in turn results in the reception of validation but also the loss of their autonomy[4] (on a psychological level) due to the surrender of their psyche for the sake of said validation. The next point in regards to techniques of conformity concerns the exploitation of mental illness on a systemic level. It is safe to say that mental illness has seen a dramatic rise in frequency in recent decades. Statistics prove this, a quick internet search yields hundreds of thousands of articles concerning the ongoing mental health crisis that is plaguing modern society. Now, there are many causes for this crisis (we’ll discuss this later in these writings) but our focus right now concerns how this crisis is being exploited by the elites to exert control over the population. For starters, let us imagine this– John Doe (again, we’ll call him JD for short) is depressed. He has been for some time, and he is desperately looking for a way out of the rut that he has become stuck in. He seeks help from the ‘mental health professionals’ that have become so common in our society, and he is prescribed antidepressants. Great! This will cure JD’s depression! Hooray! Ah, but not so fast. He has been given a very shallow solution to a very deep issue. He has been given happy pills, that is, he has had his undesirable reaction to modern society[5] (which resulted in depression) quelled by medications rather than him having his situation actually fixed. He has been drugged into conformity under the guise of treating his ‘mental illness’ which in reality is just his (natural and completely justified) brain’s negative reaction to the messed up, hyper-technologized world we live in. In treating John Doe’s ails, the elites have ensured that he is reliant on the industrial system for the sake of his psychological stability. In a general sense, psychological techniques of conformity manifest as a dependency (on the part of the individual) on modern society as a crutch which can meet their psychological needs. These needs have been created by the psychologically damaging environment that is our modern society (we’ll discuss this more later on). Another (and perhaps the most obvious) way that the masses are psychologically coerced is through propaganda. These techniques are now far-reaching in our society, and avoiding them is key for any freedom-loving individual, because as long as an individual is psychologically dependent on society, he cannot be free.

The fourth category concerns romantic techniques of conformity. These techniques manipulate the individual through romantic and/or sexual means and often leave an individual tied to society because society provides them with the love (and sexual relations) they desire. Although not as effective as economic or social techniques of conformity, romantic techniques of conformity are still a very prevalent form of manipulation in modern society. Romantic techniques of conformity often manifest as a dependency on techno-industrial society (on the part of the individual) for sexual and/or romantic fulfillment. Sex, romance, pornography et cetera are all ways in which a person can find themselves tethered to society to meet their needs. This is because (with a few rare exceptions) all humans have a drive for sexual and romantic fulfillment that is difficult to consciously control. To illustrate this point we will again speak of Mr. John Doe. Let us suppose again that JD has had enough of modern life and has decided to begin taking the necessary steps to remove himself from it. Whilst JD is in the process of doing so, he meets a lovely girl that he develops feelings for. They end up forming a romantic relationship that JD is happy with. The issue is that JD’s new lover also happens to be a computer scientist who spends her days crunching numbers and writing lines of code. Let us suppose that JD’s girlfriend gets a promotion and now must move to a big city to continue her computer science work. Soon enough, JD finds himself living in a 72nd-floor apartment in a city of ten million people, with his girlfriend crunching numbers on a laptop. All this for the sake of JD being romantically and sexually fulfilled, it just seems wrong. Shouldn’t there be more to life than that? So we see the effect of romantic techniques of conformity– JD has been tethered to modern life by his pursuit of love, with his dreams of a primitive life gone with the wind. When faced with romantic techniques of conformity, the individual finds themselves deeply invested in our society because they are deeply invested in romantic relations. Although such manipulation can be avoided, this form of manipulation is becoming increasingly common. The individual can avoid falling into this love-crazed trap by holding potential partners to high moral and (dare I say) ideological standards. If there is a conflict, it is probably not meant to be. This brings up an important note in regards to techniques of conformity in a general sense– you cannot live your life in fear of these techniques. You have to weigh your options and then go forth and conquer life. You cannot let these issues deprive you of meaningful experiences. But to summarize, romantic techniques of conformity are essentially a collection of sociological and psychological techniques which can manipulate the individual on romantic and/or sexual grounds.

The last major category we call legal techniques of conformity. These involve the coercion of the individual by legal and/or judicial means. Rigged squatter’s rights laws, hunting laws and fishing laws prevent would-be societal dropouts from living a natural lifestyle, for example. The complexities of the modern societal system we live in make it difficult to achieve anti-societal goals because the legalities of our world often funnel us towards the many techniques of conformity. Let us illustrate this point to an understandable degree. Let us (once again, poor JD) suppose that John Doe has had enough of our modern techno-industrial society. He decides he wants to live in the woods, far away from society. One issue– all the woodlands in his region are owned by either private owners or the government, and land is getting increasingly expensive due to the housing crisis caused by the rapidly increasing human population. What will JD do? Well, he certainly would be taking a risk by squatting, as the fines (and possible jail time) are very taxing. Thus, he is funneled towards the other techniques of conformity- he must start to save up money to buy land, all the while the other three techniques of conformity (social, psychological, romantic) work away at him, trying with every passing day to get through to him. As a summary, legal techniques of conformity are a series of legal barriers that prevent the individual from accomplishing anti-societal goals. These techniques are very invasive in our current society, as the high level of surveillance technology makes it easy to enforce (nonsensical) laws.

Techniques of conformity are the means by which the population is kept tame, controlled and conforming by the elitist class, which inflicts these techniques of conformity upon the whole population. They can be divided into five contemporary categories (more existed in the past, we’ll discuss those in a bit), economic, social, psychological, romantic and legal. In order to avoid being sucked into dependency on the system, freedom-loving individuals must work to avoid and/or defeat these techniques of conformity (we’ll discuss that in a bit as well). In modern society, many issues have their root in these five categories of techniques of conformity. As such, our discussion of the issues in modern society naturally start with the discussion of the techniques of conformity. Before our broader discussion of modernity though, it is perhaps important to discuss religious techniques of conformity.

Religious Techniques of Conformity

Religious techniques of conformity can be defined as any institutionalized religious apparatus or practice that exploits the individual using religion as a locus of control. Common throughout history, this was one of the most historically influential categories of techniques of conformity, and as such much of our discussion of the history of techniques of conformity pertains to the discussion of this topic. Religious techniques of conformity, with rare exceptions, have their roots in Antiquity. The Abrahamic religions in particular have become a major proprietor of these techniques. Old testament manuscripts, the Koran and various other Near-Eastern texts from the period all put on display the sociologically controlling origins of these religious systems. Unlike the Dharmic religions (which have a great deal of flexibility within their spiritual systems), Abrahamic religions are extremely dogmatic, more so than traditional Animistic or Polytheistic belief systems. It is therefore in the best interests of all Primitivists that (in my humble opinion) a traditional, Animistic/Polytheistic system be adopted to avoid the tyranny of religious techniques of conformity. What makes religious techniques of conformity especially dangerous is that they can (by means of belief) trick an individual into doing things which at the end of the day help the techno-industrial system on the grounds of what is ‘moral’ or right. Religion can hijack morality- and that can be a very dangerous thing. Consider the case of ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). They have committed unspeakable war crimes and atrocities, but to them they are the good guys. This is because their religious beliefs justify such cruelty. To them, they are doing the right thing. Well, that same concept can essentially be applied to all devoted adherents of the Abrahamic religions. Abrahamism cultivates a sense of community, a sense of civilization, because it lays down fairly strict rules that all of its adherents must follow. The trouble is, this creates a cycle of ‘command’ and ‘obedience’ that at the end of the day constructs a hierarchy that champions the rules of civilization over, say, the natural impulses of the individual[6]. Naturally, no human would feel any drive to commit genocide or to harm themselves (as long as they are mentally sound), but with religion (particularly the Abrahamic religions), this rules go out the window. Since the dawn of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, history has been filled with religious conflict, genocide, and mass hysteria of various forms. In the early days of Christianity, self-hatred and in some cases even self-harm were commonplace among the ascetic-like desert monks. This highlights the innate sickness of Abrahamism- it creates in humans behavior that is unnatural, and this can have dire consequences. Another terrifying aspect of Abrahamism that ought to be discussed is the fact that Abrahamism secularizes nature[7]. In Animistic and Polytheistic religions, nature is revered and is considered to be a core pillar of these religious systems. In Abrahamic religions, this is not the case. Abrahamism secularizes our material reality, replacing this with a concept of ‘God’ beyond what humans could ever naturally perceive. Abrahamism takes the holiness out of nature and places it within the framework of civilization, it gives it a seat away from what humans should experience. The secularization of nature was essential for the development and spread of the Abrahamic religions because the ‘command’ and ‘obey’ system present in these religions makes humans forsake their natural instincts for the sake of bowing to a higher power beyond what they can influence. This instilled values in humanity that are in congruence with the current techno-industrial system- that we all must obey a higher power beyond our influence for the greater good. To what extent Abrahamism has hastened the development of techno-industrial society is hard to pinpoint. Religion is a complex thing, and as such its adherents and their reactions can vary, leading to a certain amount of unpredictability in regards to the outcome of various environmental-religious conflicts and the way they affect society. But one thing is for certain- Abrahamism, through its doctrines of obedience, self-hatred, conquest and sublimation, laid the groundwork for the successful development of mass technological society by creating a civilization in which obeying authority unquestionably is the norm. Abrahamism secularized nature, leading to humanity’s flight to the city. Through its modification of the human psyche, Abrahamism domesticated a large segment of humanity (especially historically), leading to organizational paradigms which define the world we live in today.

Other Thoughts Regarding Techniques of Conformity

It is worth mentioning that in our discussion of the history of techniques of conformity that certain contemporary techniques of conformity are also present in a historical context, although some to a greater or lesser extent. For example, social and psychological techniques of conformity have essentially existed for as long as organized civilization has. This highlights the shortcoming of human civilization– in order to organize, humans must adopt a hierarchical system of some sort. Essentially, techniques of conformity are the means by which civilization forces an individual to conform to its way of operation. Techniques of conformity are important to understand, because in our struggle against the modern world, these are the first roadblock that any Primitivists or Neo-Luddite will encounter. We have to learn to get around them. We have to improvise, adapt and overcome.

Part II: Problems Plaguing Modern Society

Economic Stratification

Did you know that the top 1% of the richest people on Earth control 66% of the Earth’s wealth?[8] An examination of the economic aspect of our society reveals just how corrupt and unfair our civilization has become. Economic stratification is an issue that is very much deeply ingrained in contemporary society, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Despite living in a ‘modern, progressive, liberal society’, many of us cannot help but notice that in many ways our society is but a manifestation of techno-feudalism. Rent prices are sky high (especially in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, et cetera), food prices have risen consistently for the past few years and virtually every household commodity is to some extent affected by inflation– and that all leads to further economic inequality within our society. On a grander level, consider the wealth difference between a middle-class American and a Ugandan villager– it is huge.

The issue with economic stratification lies in the fact that it allows certain stratas of society to control and dominate the other– leading to a lower quality of life for the subjugated within the parameters of the system. Economic stratification leads to society adopting the shape of a pyramid, wherein those at the top live lavishly at the expense of the much larger base. This system is regrettable for several fairly obvious reasons. Firstly, it is immoral– nobody disputes that. The subjugation of a group of humans by another group of humans has always been condemnable by society’s standards, but it so happens that the only way for society to exist in the presence of its own technique is to follow this path. In order for society to flourish, there must be efficiency. In order that efficiency is obtained, society must be organized so that the vast majority of its citizens have had their free will suppressed (this is largely accomplished by techniques of conformity, and as you will see throughout Part II of this manuscript, many of the issues discussed are either caused or exacerbated by techniques of conformity). Secondly, the stratification of society promotes very rigid societal structures that remove humans from nature and into cities or towns where administration and control can better be asserted. This leads to a plethora of other issues, which will be discussed later on. Thirdly, it has led to the creation of several ideological factions, most of which are regrettable at best, just as stratification is. To illustrate this point, consider this– Communism is a product of the human desire to resist hierarchy, organization and technique. The Communist (or Socialist, really this refers to anybody who has adopted a Marxism-influenced school of thought) desires to escape capitalism. They desire equality and for the elimination of economic and social hierarchies (that they are often the victim of). They desire to live outside of the stratified system that is currently being described. In essence, they want to avoid the march of human technique, and so they endorse Marx’s solution– the means of production are to be seized by the people at the bottom of the economic period such that a new, egalitarian society might be achieved. Great. The only issue with that lies in the fact that the means of production, that is the industrial organism, does not cease to exist. This leads to the necessity of organization. The citizens of this new, supposed marxist ‘utopia’ soon find themselves in a position wherein the need to compete with non-communist states results in the reintroduction of technique, only with modifications such that the state in question is aesthetically ‘Communist’. In any and all industrialized societies, there is little difference on a fundamental level between Capitalism, Communism, Fascism or the like. This is because at the end of the day all industrialized societies must ultimately bow to the needs of human technique. As such, the rise of ideologies which oppose stratification but do not oppose technology are inherently counter-productive because at the end of the day the distinction between ‘equal’ and ‘unequal’ societies becomes minuscule when the element of human technique is introduced. Fourthly, stratification leads to the continued progress of human technique and modern technology. This happens as people either a) try to move up the social ladder or b) try to maintain their position at its summit. Technology equals power, and in a world where power equals a greater position in the social hierarchy, technology becomes an important tool for those who have a strong (or even moderate) desire to obtain it. Competition between social classes and individuals leads to the progression of technology, because (as history has shown) the greater a group or individual's technological advantage, the greater their chances of success. So, not only is economic stratification a terrible consequence of modernity, but it also serves to further propagate modern issues.

Economic stratification is a difficult problem to tackle because, as we have already discussed, it is very difficult for a society to eliminate economic stratification without also eliminating technique. Because nations and societies tend to compete with one another, any political entity which laid down efficiency by eliminating economic hierarchy would almost certainly be overrun by a rival entity.

‘But oh!’ The Communists will say, ‘What about the Soviet Union or Cuba? They were able to become economic powerhouses! What are you talking about?’ Well, here is what I mean– the USSR and Cuba were governed by Socialist regimes, but they did not abandon technique. They kept the technological apparatus in place, and because of the need for governance and coordination, hierarchy was not eliminated. The ideological and sociological environment in the two nations changed, but the presence of technique, technology and hierarchy did not. Thus, the state of the human condition under those regimes did not improve, because the Marxist adaptation to technique is ineffective in almost all situations.

Ultimately, the many different aspects of economic stratification that are present in modern society are crucial to understand as a backdrop to our discussion of modern technology and its effect on us all in a general sense. Through an understanding of the role that technique and the drive for efficiency and power play in the balance of the modern economy, we can then decipher much more in relation to the grander technological situation.

Regarding Intelligence

In the modern world, there is quite a monopoly on information and who is labeled as ‘intelligent’ or ‘unintelligent’ is largely based on character and ideological affiliation rather than their score on an IQ test or the like. This has led to a situation in which the sociological structure of our society has been altered in a drastic way, and it is about time that it be addressed.

The modern concept of intellect and who is considered to be ‘smart’ is one that does not do justice to the right people. Many different kinds of intelligence (and on a more general level, skill) exist, but in modern society, only academic excellence and booksmarts are considered valuable. People are taught from a young age that if they want to have a good job and be regarded as a smart, successful person, they must go to university[9]. From a young age, people are taught that physical labor is for the unintelligent[10]. In general, it may be observed that the ‘nerd’ archetype is being promoted to the extent of glorification. ‘Why is this a problem?’ People will ask. Well, it isn’t an easy question to answer, but there are a few general concepts that can be outlined. The flaws of the ‘nerd’ archetype can be outlined by analyzing individuals who fit into this stereotypical demographic.

Firstly though, what I exactly mean when I say ‘nerd’ deserves a moment of discussion. As I have already established, ‘nerds’ can still be defined by their stereotypical personality profile, although beneath that profile lies a psychological state that ought to be recognized. So-called ‘nerds’ are more likely to have neurological or psychological abnormalities than non-nerds[11]. Conditions such as autism (I speak here mainly of Asperger's syndrome and other high-functioning autistic conditions) and obsessive-compulsive disorder are fairly common in so-called ‘nerdy’ individuals when compared to the general population. This definitely plays a role in the overall character analysis of the ‘nerds’ because the characteristics of those conditions must be considered in our discussion.

Physical and psychological weakness is perhaps the most defining of the flaws we find in people who are highly dedicated to intellectual pursuit. These people choose to pursue arts or science (just as a couple examples) because they are physically inferior, which leads them to have little to offer in the realms of sports and competition, two natural human activities in which people with superior physical characteristics often dominate. Being physically inferior affects multiple areas of a person’s life. As just was mentioned, it leads a person to pursue more brain-centric activities as opposed to more natural physical activities. It also steeps the individual with feelings of inferiority (and it could be argued that due to their physical shortcomings, that person is inferior). Feelings of interiority, if left unchallenged for long periods of a person’s life, result in a host of other psychological problems, such as depression, anxiety (especially social anxiety), sexual dysfunctions (odd attractions, gender dysphoria, et cetera) and self-hatred. This can quickly lead a person down the path of degeneracy, one which ends in a) the complete destruction of the person’s self-worth and b) their total assimilation into the technological system.

As a constituent demographic, ‘nerds’ are among those most susceptible to coercion at the hands of techniques of conformity. In particular, ‘nerds’ are susceptible to psychological and social techniques of conformity on a particularly acute scale. This is especially obvious among young people who are 14 to 24 years of age. The rise of mass social media (and people’s subsequent need for social media to be used as an avenue for personal validation) coupled with an increasingly unnatural environment created by our technological society has led to many ‘nerds’ being completely engineered by the system on a psychological level, which affects their opinions and sociality.

Because ‘nerds’ are so submissive, compliant, and useful to the technological apparatus (they often work jobs concerning highly technical subjects), the ‘nerd’ archetype is promoted as an admirable one in the media. This is especially true on social media, where ‘nerds’ and other related weirdos are validated for their shortcomings. A good example of this might be a youtube channel like Psych2Go. Now, I do not mind some of the videos they release, but I cannot help but notice that most of their videos seek to validate people that should be considered (and are) inferior[12]. Their videos glorify introversion (which in essence is a mental condition that makes somebody unnaturally averse to social interaction, another product of modernity) and mental illness. They validate their viewers, teaching them that their poor character traits are a result of discrimination or their ‘trauma’. They champion the ‘nerd’ image, with their videos portraying animated people going about, doing stereotypically ‘nerdy’ things (reading, studying, using the computer or their phones, etc). Their videos all have a basic formula– a) the ‘nerd’ feels inferior about themselves (they might be ugly, for example, or socially awkward), b) the ‘nerd’ begins to struggle mentally as a result, and c) the narrator ensures the viewer that if they relate to the ‘nerd’ in the video, that is a-okay. The touting of concepts such as ‘body positivity’ or ‘neurodiversity’ displays the sort of pro-system propaganda that is spewed to people who are struggling, and how this propaganda has bred a generation of young people who are without a doubt the most submissive people in their entire bloodline. By teaching young people to be self-worshiping (think of body positivity), our institutions are sculpting an army of mentally and physically pathetic ‘nerds’ who will be reliant on and supportive of the techno-industrial system until their very last breath.

To counter this negative development, I propose that a new paradigm of intelligence be championed– one that teaches values such as hard work, sacrifice, humility and old-fashioned values. Historical figures that might capture this type of person’s being might be Henry David Thoreau or Marcus Aurelius.

Infighting

Humans love to fight. It’s as if it is an inherent and insatiable instinct for us. Be it over ethnicity, religion, language or politics, the amount of time and energy that we as humans spend fighting with each other is absolutely disgraceful. Every day on the news we hear of how more people got mad at each other and started fighting. When we go into work, we hear gossip about how coworker X and coworker Y got into an argument, and how everyone else in the building has started to take sides. All this in mind, it goes without saying that we need to evaluate where we are headed as a species in light of our treatment towards one another, and how it affects the nature of human freedom.

In order to fully understand the issue with human conflict, we must classify humanity into two distinct classes– the elites and the masses. I have already referred to this divide on several occasions, but a reiteration is far from redundant considering the importance of this concept. The elites are the top monetary earners of the world– they control the economy, and by extension they essentially rule the world as an economic aristocracy. The masses, on the other hand, are all the rest of us. We don’t earn millions or billions, rather we are the demographic backbone of the human species.

The masses do most of the fighting, and this fighting is initiated by the elites to pit peasant against peasant, because united against the elites we stand, and divided we fall. Religious, ethnic and ideological conflict have ravaged humanity for centuries, with the elites using their techniques of conformity to pressure people into killing and being killed.

Consider all of the political strife we have witnessed in the United States of America in the past 10 years. All of this fighting is caused by social constructs and societal barriers put up by the elites with the purpose of dividing the masses and making them fight, allowing them the time to further their agenda. Technology plays a critical role in this phase. Using the internet, the government (which is in every regard an arm and extension of the elites) can radicalize otherwise perfectly normal citizens and turn them into hate-spewing machines, who in turn start conflicts with their innocent and otherwise uninvolved countrymen.

If the masses never fought one another, the elites would have a much harder time maintaining their control. For the masses to be united and strong in their integration and opinions would be a nightmare for the ruling class, because the masses have a manpower advantage so great that without being internally weakened, they would easily topple the technological regime facing them. Thus it is essential that occupations like propagandists, politicians, and ideologists exist, for it is their discourse which drives the masses to fight and weaken each other.

Human conflict is also somewhat of a surrogate activity. In our modern world, many people feel as though they have no purpose (we’ll have a whole section on this later), and so they turn to hatred and conflict to satisfy their most primal desires– those of conquest and victory. They pick a target demographic- a group of people they don’t like– and they make the destruction and or defeat of that group to be their goal. Take, for example, an SJW (social justice warrior). A person may be drawn to an SJW-esque ideology because they feel dismayed, isolated or misunderstood (all three of these issues are very prevalent in modern society, where our mental health has been destroyed- more on this later). They choose a group to hate (mainly straight, white men[13]) and they go about with their ‘activism’. Such is an example of infighting that as a species we ought to destroy. There is no need for all this useless fighting.

The elites love it when we fight. To see us tear each other apart over the stupid things we tend to tear each other apart brings them a kind of joy that few experience. Fighting keeps us down-and-out, unable to resist technologization or the like because we are too busy with our other goals (destroying one another).

Stopping our fighting will be a challenge, because from a young age we are taught to hate particular groups of people (some are valid, such as hating the elites or hating transhumanists, but hating someone because they’re a woman or because they are of a different religion is completely absurd). As such, we will need to work together to get over our differences and push for a planet with a future free of conflict and technological feudalism. We can take things one step at a time, slowly building (or rather, rebuilding) our respective societies such that they are more socially preferable for all.

Ultimately, the infighting amongst the masses must cease immediately. We have bigger fish to fry, and now is not the time to be petty. We are facing a future of technological slavery and ecocide, and avoiding this fate will require humanity’s cooperation to a degree we have not seen in a long time. Rather than fight over petty things, let’s fight the system. Let’s fight the destruction of nature. Let’s fight the elites as they grapple with us for total world supremacy. As a united world, we will win. We have the manpower, all we lack now is organization and awareness. Now, these will be big hurdles, but with patience we can get there. It will require each of us to spread messages of positivity and a sense of unity among our schools of thought and ideology, and we will all have to be willing to meet in the middle with our comrades in this fight to ensure a lasting milieu of resistance that will ultimately bring about the end of the system as we know it. By setting aside our differences and focusing on the struggle against technology, we will accomplish something our descendants will cherish us for.

Disconnected From Nature

A discussion of the way that humanity is disconnected from the natural serves to highlight an issue plaguing society that really ought to have been addressed a long time ago. It is actively tearing us apart, leaving us vulnerable to technological subjugation and mental illness. As creatures of this Earth we were meant to be immersed in nature, but the contemporary structure of our civilization cannot allow this. Breaking it down on a piece-by-piece basis, we’ll see that this is a multi-faceted issue that will require a complete change in lifestyle and attitude to solve.

In modern society, man finds himself woefully disconnected from the rhythms of the natural world. At work, he crunches numbers on a computer all day. At home, he watches TV, plays video games and eats processed food with microplastics in it. Day after day he repeats this soul-destroying cycle, always on the search for something he can take refuge in, something else to bring him comfort. Whether we look at his routine, his diet or his hobbies, we can find a plethora of ways that modern man has found himself disconnected from nature.

Most people can agree that the world in its current state is very much caught up in the throes of the hustle culture that emerged in the United States in the 20th century. Many people work more than 40 hours a week at mindless desk jobs, crunching away at numbers they don’t care about or even want to think about. They spend so much time away from a) what they want to be doing and b) what their biology requires them to be doing. I’ll elaborate.

1. Everyone has desires, and almost nobody desires to be at work for 40 hours a week. When we are constantly forced to do things against our will, we will inevitably develop psychological problems. Depression and suicide rates are the highest they have ever been[14], and the reason lies in the psychologically damaging structure of our society. We are prevented from pursuing our goals and we’re prevented from satisfying the needs of our biology, which leads to point B. Another aspect of desire that is worth mentioning is this- oftentimes our desires lead us away from nature and into or towards the technical milieu. For example, I cited an example in our section on techniques of conformity wherein JD was coerced into moving into the city to pursue a relationship. Well, that’s an example of how desires (in this case for love and sensuality) can lead us away from the natural world.

2. Human biology requires that we be doing a certain set of things every day, in order that we remain healthy. We need exercise, we need fresh air, etc. The routine that modern society forces us into can prevent us from pursuing these biological needs in the name of “productivity”.

It’s safe to say that the routines and schedules of modern society are tough to co-exist with. We have to constantly bow to the whim of our employers and the government officials that represent us and reject our human needs. This is damaging on many levels.

On top of our nasty routine, most people also have a nasty diet. Processed food dominates in the supermarkets of North America, Europe, and East Asia, and its effects are known to be quite bad for human health. We have moved away from eating wild meat and fresh vegetables to eating salted, dried and plastic-filled modern foods that are terrible for us on many levels. As an example, look at ramen noodles. They’re very popular among Westerners and Easterners alike, but doctors believe that eating it in any sizable quantity may lead to increased levels of stroke, heart disease and even diabetes. But why is it so popular? It’s popular because people enjoy the taste of it, and the corporations and companies producing ramen know exactly what chemicals and ingredients to put in it to achieve that taste. Corporations have us addicted to modern garbage, garbage that is very much different from the natural foods we’re supposed to eat.

Lastly, we'll talk about hobbies. Most people today are engaged in very unhealthy, unnatural hobbies. A prime example might be to look at video games. Many young men in the West are addicted to video games. They spend hours and hours hunched over in front of a screen and they spend tons of money to make those hours as “fun filled” as possible. The truth of the matter is this: video games are a surrogate activity and playing them will never give you the same rush as accomplishing something good in the real world. Such is the case with most hobbies, they are not real goals that are worth working towards. All the real, natural goals that humans naturally strive for have been rendered obsolete. These ‘surrogate activities’ we have adopted are merely means by which we try to fulfill ourselves in a world where nothing else can give us that feeling.

To summarize, the natural goals, occupations, and diet of humans have been interrupted due to the increasingly apparent negative developments of modern techno-industrial civilization. As we move forward as a society, it will become increasingly important to acknowledge this and find a way to break free from this trap, because being disconnected from nature can have very dire consequences for human health and happiness. Our very freedom, health and autonomy lies on whether or not we can successfully reunite with the natural world from which we came.

Even just little things like taking a hike or going to the beach (preferably away from the city) can help to reforge one’s connection with the natural world. As for long term goals, the technological system stands as the biggest barrier for people seeking a natural life. In time, as will be discussed thoroughly throughout these writings, the system will have to be thrown out. Eventually, through dedicated adherence and activism, we may achieve a more natural world for all. For now, though, the problem remains.

Compromises

Most people know, deep down, that something is very wrong with our society. Plenty of people are aware that technology is bastardizing the human spirit. Lots of people know that we would be better off living the way our ancestors did, and yet hardly any action has been taken to make this a reality. Why is this? It really is a matter of compromises and failure to make a proper stand against the technological system.

Consider JD (who I used as an example in the section regarding techniques of conformity), and consider that JD is not a fan of the technological system. He’d like to see it dissolved and put to rest. At the same time, JD has other goals in life- he’d like to set aside money to purchase rural property, get a job to help with this and (like in our previous examples) perhaps get into a relationship with someone. These goals, on their own, are not inherently bad or problematic. Everyone should have goals to pursue, and what JD is doing is not a bad plan on paper. However, looking deeper into JD’s plan, we can begin to see where, in order to guarantee his success, JD must make deals and compromises with the technology he is so verdantly against.

Firstly, we’ll consider JD’s job. Let’s suppose that JD finds employment at a local supermarket. This is great– now JD can start saving in order to purchase a cabin or homestead. On the other hand, though, there are a number of compromises that JD must make in order to be successful at his job. For starters, he’ll need a phone and high-speed internet at his residence. Secondly, he’ll need a reliable source of transportation. Thirdly, he’ll need to conform to the social environment of his place of employment. When you consider the effect this will have on JD’s lifestyle, it becomes clear to see that in order to escape technology, one must also have the mental fortitude and patience to embrace it for a short period of time. That is, compromises have to be made. You have to conform to escape.

This is where we encounter the trap of technology and compromise. With regards to modern technology, every compromise is a step down the road to assimilation, and so by striving to escape we can (counter-intuitively) become entangled in the technical apparatus. This is where all anti-tech and pro-nature individuals must tread with extreme caution.

Next, in a slight change in topic, we’ll discuss JD’s desire to have a romantic relationship with someone. In order to be successful in this pursuit (especially nowadays due to the internet and social media), he’ll have to align himself with societal beauty standards and mold his personality to that which is considered ideal. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like the sort of pursuit that will be damning to his quest to escape technology, but as we analyze the situation further, we see a whole other side of this story come to light.

Relationships, especially in the modern era where social checks, media and television have drastically blown our standards out of proportion, are hard to come by. In order to be successful with his goal of meeting someone of a decent quality and forging a genuine connection with them, JD will have to do everything he can to maximize his chances of success. This means conformity. Modern male beauty standards? He must achieve them. Financial and other monetary standards? He’ll have to meet those, too. Whatever ideology one harbors inside, the path to interpersonal connection is the same- conformity to the system, and obedience to the norm.

With all of this in mind, I’d like to coin a concept, or rather a rule. I call it the C=C rule, and it serves as a warning to individuals hoping to escape the technological world:

Compromise = Conformity

Compromise always equals conformity when we speak of the technological system. No matter what argument is brought up against this, it will hold true. In order to advance yourself in this world in a way that will be recognized by your fellow citizens, you must navigate through the world of technology. In order to escape technology, you must make a compromise with it in order to make money to buy a rural plot (or something of that idea), and to do that you must conform so that you are successful in your endeavor.

With all of that in mind, it becomes obvious that the way success is measured in our technological society is based entirely off of our ability to conform. Based on the conjecture that success is proportionately related to our level of conformity, we can make another assumption about the nature of contemporary human society– that the stratas of society (and the individuals that belong to them) most promoted and deemed successful (university-educated types, especially university-educated women, social justice activists, mainstream environmentalists, feminist ‘thinkers’, etc) are actually the stratas of society (and people) that are the best at conforming or who have the most malleable will and psyche.

To wrap up this section, a summary of the nature of compromise and conformity is in order. In the introduction, we discussed techniques of conformity and how they have built the modern, technophilic society we live in today. Again and again these concepts are repeated because in our analysis of modern society they are impossible to overlook, and they are either a result or a cause of many social issues faced by the people of our contemporary civilization. As such, our discussion on compromise quickly devolved into a talk about conformity, because ultimately conformity is the result of compromise with the technological system. Lastly, I’ll point out that the Industrial Revolution was the ultimate compromise– we accepted technology holding the position that it would provide us with benefits, despite the fact that it would bring about centralization and environmental degradation. All in all, as Luddites we must approach the concept of compromise very carefully.

The Modern World: A Cultural Cesspool

I am certainly not the first person to make criticisms of our contemporary Western culture, and I won’t be the last, but I think a discussion of the cultural atmosphere of North America, Oceania and Western Europe will serve to further my points regarding the influence and negative effects of modern technology. Simply put, our culture has been bastardized. Looking around us, it’s clear to see that where culture once existed is now filled by corporate scams and gimmicks designed to line the pockets of CEOs as opposed to enriching the lives of the average person. Culture, as a critical element of the human experience, ought to be preserved, but in the modern world we see the very opposite trend unfolding.

When I say ‘culture’, what do you think of? Perhaps you think of holidays or dressing customs or even spoken language. Maybe you think of music literature and visual art. Whatever the case is, we all have an idea of what culture is and we all have a cultural practice of some kind that is important to us. Culture is very important for humanity because it applies meaning and significance to our way of social organization, and although this is certainly a good thing for healthy societies, the way this mechanism manifests in the contemporary technological world is far from utopian. As we have discussed extensively in previous pages, the primary function of technologization is the continued organization and subjugation of humanity. Culture, being a sort of social glue that holds people, no matter how different, together, is thus a key ingredient for a successful technological autocracy.

Perhaps to illustrate my point I will refer to the Christmas season. In the Western world, Christmas is probably the biggest and most significant holiday of the year. Every December, millions of people come together to celebrate the holiday with each other, and on the surface, it might seem like there is nothing inherently wrong with our current concept of Christmas. But, and this is a rather large but, there is sadly a dark side.

When you were a child, you probably observed your family (chiefly your parents) going about various activities during the Christmas season. I certainly can remember doing this. In particular, what were they doing? Were they outside, picking dogwood berries and spruce boughs to make wreaths? Were they out skating on tranquil frozen ponds, dwelling in their own thanks and family? Were they singing merrily in the streets without a care in the world? Probably not. If your parents were or are anything like mine, you know that in actuality they spend their holiday season shopping, getting all stressed out, and doing some more shopping. Shop, shop, shop– that seems to be the name of the game for cultural celebrations in the modern era.

Our society is based on the display of perceived value[15]. For our celebrations or cultural events, we often buy each other things, and we interpret these things as having the same value as our efforts and feelings towards the receiver. Instead of focusing on intimacy or on the celebration of shared values or experiences, we show our love and honor to each other by buying each other things. This is the new cultural soul of the West– let us not show our love, let us not show our appreciation, let us buy it.

But how did we become programmed to be this way? Once again, we must look to the corporations and the elites. With their technological system in place, the elites convinced us all that our holidays ought to evolve into shopping sprees. They used the media extensively to achieve this. Movies, advertisements, books– the list goes on and on. Year after year they pound it into our skulls that in order to show value and significance in our culture we must buy. But tell me– what is the point in celebrating anything if it has just been turned into a massive shopping party? Can’t we have connections more meaningful than that?

There are other shortcomings in our contemporary culture as well. Consider our music as a second example. Every day, people fill their brain with the most vile music– music that does not do anything to enlighten a person but rather fills their psyche with vulgar lyrics and messages that ought not to be communicated. Our most popular songs sing of drugs, alcohol, interpersonal conflict and relationship issues. Firstly, this is a reflection of the sad state of our society– why are these themes so prevalent? Second of all, why do they continue to gain traction? Why is it cool? Why is it relatable? This points, once again, to a larger issue– there is an inherent sickness in the way we have all been made to think.

At some point, change will be needed. As long as the presence of technology in its current form continues though, it is an uphill battle. The cultural issue we face in the world today is beyond what we have ever seen as a species– what other supposed ‘great civilization’ glorifies adultery and promiscuity in nearly all of their music, for example? Each person, though, can play their part to make the mainstream culture a little more tolerable. Although in the long term cultural separatism will be valuable for the Luddite movement, we can all do little things to make the situation as a whole a little better.

For starters, being mindful of the cultural situation we now face can do a lot to, at the very least, open up our perspective. If you view society as the be-all and end-all, then you are bound to run into some issues when it comes to resisting it[16]. We need to look into cultural alternatives and take examples from past and current healthy societies. We need to band together to reintroduce the wholesome elements of our cultural legacy into the everyday, and we need to strive for the creation of a culture centered around not consumerism or hedonism, but rather around family, friendship and nature.

Transhumanism

The philosophical ailments of modern man are many and complex. We are all faced with a series of existential questions at one point or another in our lives, and the way in which we tackle these questions and soothe our ailing minds can have a very positive or very negative effect on the world around us. Consider the influence of one individual over the people in their immediate life– the average person knows 126 people, and so the philosophical leanings and opinions of even one person can have an effect on hundreds. Perhaps the danger, then, of this connectivity is best exemplified by the emergence and spread of transhumanist ideology.

Now, what exactly do I mean by this? Well, consider the following– ideology has a grip on us all in one way or another. We all need something to devote ourselves to, otherwise depression, purposelessness (we’ll discuss this later) and a host of other issues appear. Transhumanism, for many disillusioned and philosophizing people in our sick and twisted society, is a great escape.

We have to analyze transhumanism from their perspective. According to most transhumanist philosophers a person might stumble across on the internet, the ultimate goal of transhumanism is to end human suffering by making leaps and bounds in biotechnology and nanotechnology such that sickness, whether physical or mental, will be extinguished. They assert that the ‘liberation’ of all life forms from the ‘primitive and pointless’ reality of suffering is their goal. They want to ‘free us all’ from the issues currently faced by our species by integrating technology into our nature. Now, many people will ask, what is the problem with this? It is a complex topic, one with many ins and outs, and I won’t personally be discussing them all in this short section on transhumanism, but what I plan to do is outline the major flaws in this pattern of thought and its underlying causes.

People ultimately want to escape the pain that we face in this day in age. Everybody, whether they observe it as a consequence of technology or not, will agree that there are many issues that plague our contemporary society, and so everyone– big, small, young or old– is looking for a solution. People like me can see where technology has caused a lot of the fundamental issues in our civilization, but to others who view technology in a benevolent light, they might view technology as a sort of non-human solution to human problems. This raises the first issue with any techno-centric belief system, but especially transhumanism– these patterns of thought view technology as being separate from humans on a fundamental level where logic and decision-making is concerned, and as such it can occur that technology, to them, takes on an almost god-like form. This is a dangerous position for a person or society to be in, because ultimately technology is the seemingly perfect product of imperfect creatures– us– and so the question must be raised– what faults hide behind the glimmer and glamor of technology in the first place? Transhumanists ignore this question. They are as closed-minded and dogmatic surrounding technology and its god-like perfection as a devout southern Christian might be surrounding Christ.

Transhumanism is essentially a philosophically justified and advanced form of techno-animism[17]– that being the pseudo-spiritual or spiritual observation of the benefits of technology, or the fusion of technology into religious practice. Transhumanists are the ultimate worshippers of technology, and as such, they promote it as the one-size-fits-all solution to all of humanity’s problems. Environmental decay caused by industrialization? They want to solve this issue by bringing in more technology. Cancer caused by exposure to radiation? Let’s bioengineer humans so that the genetic code of the human race so that cancer is eliminated. Surely that’s much easier and less invasive than simply removing the radiation.

Transhumanists are terrified by what our society has become, much like Neo-Luddites in all comparisons, but their proposed solutions are much more radical and destructive than that of the Luddite. The Luddite looks at the problems we face and comes to the conclusion that we have overcomplicated our lives with technology and that the answer to our issues obviously lies in the removal of said technology. On the other hand, the transhumanist argues that the solution to any problem related to technology is to create new technologies to fix the issues. The flaw in this approach is that if technology has caused the issue in the first place, will more technology do anything other than worsen the situation? That would be like fighting fire with fire. The result? Only more flames.

Another issue regarding transhumanism, one that I touched on briefly in previous paragraphs, is the fact that it is an inherently extreme ideology. It promotes wild, never-before-seen changes to our society whose effects we cannot predict. Now of course, transhumanists will promptly shoot back at this, saying– well, Neo-Luddism is an extremist movement as well, hypocrite– and to that I call absurdity. Tell me, transhumanists and anti-Luddites of the world, what is so extreme about wanting to see a nature-centered world where peace and human autonomy prevail? What is so extreme about wanting to live like Thoreau? Doubtless it is less extreme than wanting to genetically engineer my own kids.

The bottom line is that transhumanism is a very flawed and dangerous ideology, and so I don’t even see it fit to give it much time of day. I could go in-depth into the many ins and outs of their messed-up way if thinking, but I don’t feel that it will accomplish much in the end, and the truth of the matter is there are probably very few (if any) transhumanists that are going to be reading these writings, and so I don’t feel it to be necessary to be overly evangelical in my writing in the sense that I might convince the transhumanists to change their way of thought. Soon, the Neo-Luddite movement will overtake the transhumanist movement, and in their crushing defeat the transhumanists will start to see our side of the story, whether I write about it or not.

Physical Health Problems

We are all sick. In one way or another, we have all been poisoned, drugged or altered by the terrible, artificial things that surround us, and the situation will only become more intense with time. Many years of pollution, dietary alteration and the promotion of unhealthy lifestyles have led to a world wherein those in the most developed countries are also the sickest. In many Western countries, chronic illness is on the rise and already accounts for a large percentage of the population. For many, they are chronically ill from their 40s onwards, meaning that they spend about half their lives with a low-intensity sickness[18] that doctors and other professionals can only mitigate the symptoms of. As for reducing causes or even identifying them, doctors and other important health figures have been slow to the task.

Consider the declining testosterone levels in Western men. For years, this has been an issue that received little attention until recently, and that was only because private journalism and content creation started to bring this topic into public attention. But actual reporting aside, the causes and impacts of something like the testosterone crisis are terrifying to say the least. We are now living in a world in which the plastics and chemicals around us are damaging our fertility and making it more and more difficult to be the men and women we ought to be. This is truly something straight out of a sci-fi psychological thriller. Seriously– our world is so polluted that people’s hormones are messed up to a point where even their own sexuality is a mystery to them– what kind of dystopia do we live in?

We might also examine the diet of modern man. Most of us (and with the prices of high-quality, naturally-sourced foods I can’t blame anyone here) are gnawing through some pretty vile foods on a daily basis. Foods that provide us the calories, but not with the vital forces needed to truly nourish us. In places like Africa and South America, on the other hand, we can observe indigenous groups living traditional lifestyles who are eating healthy, nourishing food on a daily basis. Our food system is meant to feed, not to nourish.

Even if we could eliminate chronic illness, we would still face major health crises that would doubtless have an effect on us all. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of how human civilization and our hyper-technologized world can quickly become a nightmare. The pandemic was primarily caused by the fact that humans in our modern system live in such close proximity to each other that pandemics can be allowed to happen. Cities were the hardest-hit, and many rural areas were largely Covid-free (look at Africa[19]). In traditional hunter-gatherer societies, pandemics were unheard of because people kept their distance and so if one person got sick, chances are they wouldn’t spread it to massive amounts of people. Also, it is worth noting that hunter-gatherers have much stronger immune systems than modern people. Our plethora of physical health problems also serve as a tool for businessmen and politicians. Looking on the internet, we can see just how fitness-based and conforming our culture has become. Everywhere you look, someone wants to sell you a fitness class, and it is to the point where we must ask ourselves how this became such a prevalent issue.

We can’t continue to live the way we do. Our life expectancy continues to increase whilst our overall health and quality of life continues to decline. We need to treat this issue holistically, and so simply looking for new meds or this or that will probably not do much for us in the long run. The truth is that there is no evidence to suggest that primitive people are less healthy than us. Looking at tribes such as the Hadzabe, we are affirmed as to the health and security that the hunter-gatherer society provides. Another aspect of this issue is as follows– we can’t expect to excel in arts or sciences or whatever other fields we as humans or system value because if we are all sick, then we will be unproductive. People are missing a lot of work due to sickness, and whilst that is not inherently a bad thing because it weakens the system, it is a bad thing for the individual just trying to get by. This cycle has to be broken, and in order for that to happen, the system which we live under must be broken as well and we must be prepared to take action at some point.

I think that anyone looking to take back their physical health should start by simply spending more time in nature, obviously this will not solve all of the issues a person has, but I do believe that simply exposing ourselves from nature has a therapeutic effect on both the body and mind. Nature has a way of setting things right, and seeing as where it is the ultimate balancing force in our world, I think that in giving it a chance to work its wonders we can derive great benefit. The isolation from nature that many people are facing is certainly only making whatever else is wrong with them worse, and so part of breaking the cycle of ill health is to reclaim our connection with the natural world that surrounds us.

To conclude this section, I’ll recap that our physical health problems have been exacerbated by our isolation from nature and by exposure to pollutants that are a direct by-product of technology. Our society, having been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, is faced with the challenge of fighting off infectious disease despite our inability to do so because of our large-scale organization. On top of all that, our ill health has been turned into profit and gains by business people and politicians. All in all, the challenge of reclaiming our health must lead us back down the forest path, and the day we do that will be the day that we start to see improvements once again to our ailing civilization.

Psychological Issues

Perhaps the most ravaged aspect of the individual to behold in the wake of our technological servitude is the psyche. For many, the mind is untamed and deadly frontier, putting them through more torture and anguish then is imaginable to an external point of view, and to say that technology and its effect on the way we live is a part of it would be an understatement. The mind is fragile, and thus it is no surprise that psychological suffering is among the most prevalent issues plaguing modern society. With every new development of technology we are exposed to a new situation that has the potential to ignite a fire in our brains, often for worse. Growing up in a so-called ‘advanced’ country, not only did I witness some of the horrifying mental states that my peers went through, I endured them myself. The structure that our world has taken on is very psychologically damaging, and I truly believe that if we are to continue down the path of technology, which hopefully we will not, then something will have to be done to set people’s minds right.

There are many issues with regards to psychology that plague modern people, particularly the youth of the West[20], and so I feel that some categorization is needed to properly address all of the issues that we are currently up against. That being said, I have chosen to divide all of the psychological ailments we see nowadays into three distinct categories, based on the way it makes the individual behave with the people around them. It is worth mentioning that I am by no means a psychologist, but rather my observations are only to be applied to the extent that they are used to formulate my hypothesis surrounding mental health and technology. It is with all of this in mind that I designate three categories for psychiatric distress– hypersocial, asocial, and ambi-social– for people, particularly youths, in the modern, technologized world.

People who fall into the ‘hypersocial’ category display psychiatric distress that involves them seeking to commune with other people or otherwise derive some kind of relief or sense of accomplishment from their interactions with others. People in this category seem to oftentimes have a psychiatric disorder originating from low self-esteem and a lack of social validation (under-socialization in some cases, over-socialization in others). They often engage in attention-seeking behavior (self-harm, tall tales, drama– particularly with people their age, etc), sexual deviancy, and what I would call ‘mainstream subculture’ (example– being ‘goth’ or ‘emo’ is a subculture that is not mainstream per se, but it is so common that there is little to no social sanctioning anymore for those identifying with these movements, compared to more ‘extreme’ subcultures). It would appear as though these people are looking constantly for a community and sense of purpose, but they cannot find anything for them in mainstream society, and so they turn to counter-culture for fulfillment. Oddly enough though, they will still hold onto certain mainstream beliefs. People in the ‘hypersocial’ category are inclined to lean left in terms of politics and social movements. This makes sense because additionally, people in the ‘hypersocial’ category are often quick to adopt what I call ‘special labels’, or in plain terms, they are inclined to align themselves with marginalized groups. For example, a person suffering from a ‘hypersocial’ disorder might self-diagnose themselves with a psychiatric disorder that they do not have. In my own experience, people in the ‘hypersocial’ category seem to like to diagnose themselves with Asperger's Syndrome, other high-functioning autistic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or even psychotic disorders in rare cases, along with more obvious disorders like major depressive disorder. In some cases, people in the ‘hypersocial’ category actually do have these disorders, but these disorders are over-diagnosed and over-represented in this demographic. People suffering from ‘hypersocial’ disorders want to feel special. They want to feel different. They want to have a label and an identity, and they want other people to validate them. They are not enough for themselves, because they feel that they are inherently flawed. People in this category are essentially addicted to a cycle of being depressed or anxious, and then relieving said feelings by engaging in attention-seeking behavior and getting validation from others.

People who fall into the ‘asocial’ category are people who have a psychiatric condition that reflects an aversion to people. These people may possess low self-esteem or a sort of grandiose self-image, but either way, the result is somebody who is generally unproductive, apathetic, and reclusive[21]. Typically, at least in my experience, people of this type do not engage in the same type of deviant behavior as the ‘hypersocial’ types, but as in everything there is some overlap. People in the ‘asocial’ category are usually more intelligent than those in the ‘hypersocial’ category, but this fact is completely diminished by the fact that in general they are viewed to be worse than the ‘hypersocial’ types by the majority of people in our society. People in the ‘asocial’ category are not nearly as self-worshiping as people in the ‘hypersocial’ category. They tend to instead idolize a certain person or ideology, often devoting themselves to a weird, idiosyncratic, counter-culture that is substantially more removed from the mainstream than that of the ‘hypersocial’ subcultures. People in the ‘asocial’ category are more likely to be ideological extremists, whereas ‘hypersocial’ types are more likely to be drag queens. People of the ‘asocial’ type are more likely to be physically destructive to others and psychologically destructive to themselves, whereas people in the ‘hypersocial’ category are more likely to be physically destructive to themselves and psychologically damaging to others.

Then there are of course people who are still sick in the head that do not definitely fall into one category or the other, or share elements of both, and these people I designate as ‘ambi-social’. They still harbor psychiatric distress, but it isn’t so acutely associated with the following psychological types I’ve just described. At any rate, one can view ‘ambi-social’ type people as being a mix and match of the other two types.

This all ties back together when we recognize technology as being the source of mental illness for most people. It has scrambled the sociology of our culture such that people are inclined to walk down dark paths so created by our technologized environment.

Loneliness

People are social creatures. Humans are meant to connect with one another, but when we do not, things go south very quickly. As I mentioned in the last section, the human psyche is fragile, and one thing that can really set it off is when a person finds themselves alone. Exacerbated by the rapid progress of modern technology, human loneliness is an issue that urgently needs to be discussed, or we risk disaster.

I first became interested in the state of human loneliness when I began high school. There, mental illness and loneliness was extremely visible, and right up to my graduation, I knew that this issue of lonesomeness would be a major hurdle for the people of my generation and the generations to follow. In regards to romance, I wrote about this awhile back, and I think what I said there is still a valid analysis of the subject.

One of the most heartbreaking ailments that seems to be unfolding in our technological civilization is the epidemic of loneliness. Simply put, romance is dead. In a study covered by the Daily Mail, they found that 60% of men in their 20s were single, sexually dormant, etc[22]. This is shockingly high, and what’s worse is that the same study shows that only 20% of women experience the same problem, indicating a truly devilish societal structure that leaves the needs of 40% of the whole population romantically unfulfilled. This contributes to the previously discussed mental health issues that are running rampant in modern society. Humans need companionship and romance. Humans need to feel loved. Humans need to sexually express themselves. Despite this though, the trends show that nearly half of us young people in the West won’t experience these things in our physical prime. It’s a shame, really. It makes one existential, as we no longer get to experience the wonders that our ancestors did, and we wonder why suicide rates are so high. I consider this to be one of the biggest threats to the system however, because there is nothing more dangerous than legions of young men (and to a lesser extent women) with nothing left to lose. What’s concerning is that industrial society promotes education and academic greatness instead of the glory of one’s character. Why is this an issue, you ask? Roughly 60% of bachelor’s degrees go to women, simply because women are better at navigating the educational system than men (men tend to be more visual and hands-on than women, whereas women tend to be better at analytical subjects. Additionally, women are better adapted to the classroom setting compared to men, as men are more inclined to physical movement, which is restricted in classroom settings). This leads to a society wherein women are better-off than men financially (on average, of course). This by itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when you combine that with the various other issues (endocrine disruptors, mental health issues, physical health issues, spiritual unfulfillment, etc.) afflicting men, we reach a point where society becomes extremely hypergamous and extremely unfavorable for most men. And these 60% of men aren’t all basement-dwelling weirdos (a certain percentage definitely are), rather most are just average guys.

Part of the issue surrounding loneliness that isn’t often discussed is the fact that most people view the issue in a myopic way. When a person is confronted with loneliness, say, in a romantic and sexual context, they often view the issue as it pertains to society. They begin to compare themselves to societal standards and adapt accordingly. In all actuality, that is the romantic techniques of conformity I mentioned at the beginning of these writings coming into play. This raises another issue surrounding the loneliness epidemic– it is actually being utilized to engineer conformity within our society, to make it more cohesive and easy for technology to govern. Of the multitude of different techniques of conformity one can see displayed, this is perhaps the most effective. It is sad that this is what it has come to– people have been isolated and beaten down only for their raw emotions to be utilized by our technological society to pressure them into a life of conformity and servitude.

But how exactly does loneliness come about as a consequence of technology? It is a multifaceted question– one not easily answered in a sentence or two– and it involves a few different systems of both technology and human behavior. Firstly, technology has broken down natural human communities. In the pre-industrial era, people lived in smallish groups of people that they knew, and they were often blood relatives of their closest neighbors. Large, extended families stayed in contact, and this gave everyone a sense of community they could hold onto. With urbanization came the need for people to ‘fly the coop’ in the sense that work often leads people away from their families. As a perfect example, it is completely unnatural for a person to leave to go hundreds of miles away for university studies, and yet young people of my generation are doing it right now. Secondly, with the creation of social media we have seen the dating market effectively crash, aided by the aforementioned education gap.

Ultimately, we as a society need to find a way to rebuild natural human communities, but in a world where technology requires efficiency and productivity, these relationships are often sacrificed for profit. The plague of loneliness has many consequences, and so tackling it is definitely in the best interest of humanity. At the same time, we should strive not to comfort people in a way that will benefit technology and the system. Instead, we should focus on building the communities we desire through our own hard work in a way that the system will not benefit from (we’ll discuss more of this later). To sum it up, I will reiterate that the plague of loneliness in the modern Western world is primarily a result of the urbanization and mass-organization of the population, which has destroyed natural and authentic human communities.

Purposelessness

A subject which is deeply connected with any discussion of mental illness is that of purpose. Most people have to have a reason to be around. Most people need to have a sense that the future guarantees some sort of reward or mission. Without this sense of purpose, nihilism can begin to creep into a person’s psyche, and any number of psychological ailments can follow from that point.

The question for Luddites, in regards to purpose or the lack thereof, is how technology may have a role in altering the situation. Technology has a critical characteristic that I think makes it very dangerous to human purpose– automation. Technology, by its very nature, is designed to render certain functions more efficient. It tries to make everything run as quickly and as smoothly as possible, and this is sometimes (as a matter of fact, if it relates to humans the argument could be made that it is most of the time) a bad thing. For people to have purpose, they need to have something to work on, some product of their labor to be proud of. As an example, I enjoy writing for the online (hopefully one day offline) Luddite movement because I feel producing literature for my fellow technological critics and nature advocates gives me a sense of purpose. A fisherman may derive purpose by glancing at his net and beholding at his catch. A farmer may feel that his purpose is to raise a good crop. A father may feel that his purpose is to protect his family– you get the idea. But technology rips this away from people, because all professions and worldly occupations (including that of the fisherman, farmer or even father) are being technologized and annexed by the ever-marching front of automation. Thus it becomes an obvious fact that humans, derived from meaningful occupation, search for something else to satisfy their drive for purpose.

So, faced with purposelessness, what do people do? Really, there are only two options, and everybody goes down one road or another. This is where a discussion of the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche come into play. Technology, beginning in the 18th century with the disastrous effects of the Industrial Revolution, has derived humans from purpose for a pretty long time. In the 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche began to analyze this sense of purposelessness that many people, including himself, endured. He is perhaps history’s most prominent nihilist, because to Nietzsche, there is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it. I believe that this is a fair conclusion given our circumstances as a civilization, but I view it as myopic in scope. Nietzsche viewed the decline of religion, specifically Christianity, as the main force behind the rise of the existential question regarding purpose, and to the extent that such a conjecture is applied in a reasonable and well-rounded manner, this is true. However, he fails to call much attention to the fact that technology is the real culprit[23].

Technology killed religion and real, natural human social groups, and so it should come as no surprise that it killed purpose, too. When you introduce technology that replaces people in their occupations, renders their social networks unworkable and their religion obsolete, they naturally will begin to wonder what purpose is left for them in this world. We need to battle purposelessness, but first we need to understand what people do in the wake of it.

The first of the two ‘roads’ that I mentioned earlier is negative nihilism. People who fall into this loop genuinely begin to believe that there is no inherent purpose in this world, and so they begin to search for ways to ease their pain at this realization. For some, this means plunging themselves to decadent hedonism. For others, it means suicide. Either way, the coping strategy that people afflicted with negative nihilism use is often self-destructive and absolutely unsustainable. Negative nihilism does not accomplish anything, and in the end there is not much point in discussing it that much other than to make people aware of either their own thought patterns or the thought patterns of others where this knowledge might be useful.

The second ‘road’ is positive nihilism, and in our discussion of purposelessness the discussion of this ‘road’ is very important. Positive nihilists assert that while there is no inherent meaning in this world, we have the power, through our own will and psychology, to apply meaning to it. This is good in the sense that positive nihilism can actually be a pretty good headspace to be in, as it gives people an internal sense of purpose to compensate for the loss of external purpose, but it is negative in the sense that it does not always lead the person to discover the source of their nihilism in the first place– technology.

As such, I do not view nihilism as an appropriate answer to the technology-induced purposelessness that has forged its grip on society. Rather, we need to create for ourselves a sense of purpose that would have just as much inspired our ancestors as it would inspire us. We have to escape the technological trap of being forced to create meaning in a cold, steely environment where in reality there is none. Rather, we need to look to nature, family, spirituality and ideology for purpose, rather than from hedonism or some abstract mental state that is unsustainable at best.

The issue of purposelessness is one that as a society we need to grapple with all of our might, but as with many things, as long as technology continues to advance and stand in our way, we will be faced time and time again with its interference. We cannot expect to solve the issue of purposelessness in a world where robots are quickly humans in the realms of meaningful work. It was technology that took our purpose– nature, family, spirituality, etc– away, and so in order to claim our purpose we must put technology in its grave.

Misidentification of Social Issues

Faced with a plethora of issues pertaining to virtually every area of modern life, man must ask himself– what is the cause of this confusion and suffering? As society changed rapidly and violently after the Industrial Revolution, it became of paramount importance to identify the ‘cause’ behind the suffering it induced. People tried to get things all figured out– they turned to religion, ideology and personal fulfillment as potential answers to their question of how a society, with all of the most modern advancements of technology, could still possibly lag behind in happiness and meaning. The social issues that I have discussed throughout these writings this far are the sort of things that grab everybody’s attention. People– whether they are philosophers or the common man– are all interested in solving the problem of how humans are to find meaning and morality in the contemporary age. As such, this leads to the misidentification of social issues– people placing the blame on one thing or another when they ought to be shaking their heads at technology.

Think of the many social issues that our society faces today. We have religious, ethnic, and ideological conflict that runs deep and divides us by the millions. These problems are very real, but to what extent are these issues overblown by the media-wielding elites in order to distract us from the principal cause of our suffering? The elites have their ways of diving us without much cause, and to divide us on account of social issues is critical to the maintenance of their regime because if we were to all be angry and united surrounding our state of technological subjugation at their hand, it is likely that we could collectively do something about it, and they strive to avoid that result at all costs. I wrote about this issue awhile back, in another piece of writing I put out, and I think a refresher regarding that commentary might be useful in our discussion of this topic.

Something I find highly frustrating is that whilst the societal issues I have highlighted are already relatively well-known, most people will not be successful in seeing their true cause. People will blame communism, racism, sexism, capitalism, etc instead of realizing that the root of the issue is, in reality, modern technology[24]. As Luddites, we must strive to destroy these misconceptions so that the masses can finally come to their senses regarding the source of their problems. The elites, however, will continue to promote certain social issues as a distraction. For example, they will likely attempt (really, they’ve been doing this centuries) to incite racial and ethnic conflict to make people hyper-focused on racial tension as opposed to the real issue of technologization. People will blame ethnic tension for society’s shortcomings instead of modern technology. This is a very important issue to recognize, as it is the elite’s best trick, it works every time. Another example: religion. The elites absolutely adore religious conflict because it diverts the attention of the masses from more pressing societal issues. One thing that needs to be said is that superficial differences between people (religious beliefs, biological sex, ethnicity, etc.) will be exploited to put peasant against peasant. Don’t let the elites trick you into fighting their petty wars.

The elites have, on more than a few occasions, installed ideological or political figures and movements purely with the aim of dividing humanity along lines of thought such that they will not be united under the banner of Neo-Luddism. Some notable examples include feminism, the men’s rights movement (manosphere content in general) and the politicized LGBTQ+ movement. What all of these movements have in common is their self-worshiping attitude and their hatred of one or more groups of people that could be considered ‘others’ or something of the like. Starting with feminism, it is fairly obvious to see how it is used to divide people. It creates a ‘victimized women versus oppressor men’ mentality that at the end of the day just devolves into misandry. The same goes with the men’s rights movement or the manosphere. What started as a self-help community which expresses the valid struggles of men has turned into social commentary that often goes beyond the border with misogyny. Thirdly, the politicized LGBTQ+ movement has caused chaos and division among our society by dividing us on whether or not deviance of sexuality[25] is acceptable with wider Western and international society. Once again we can see how a non-issue like the existence of gay people has turned into a massive culture war incited by the elites. There is no world in which people must be this violently divided along lines of sexual orientation, political position, or even biological sex for goodness sake. One of the many indicators of the madness of a society is when men hate women because they are female and vice versa. For the sake of our future and the preservation of our autonomy into the 22nd century and beyond, let us set down these differences and unite against the elites and against technology. As a world, we need to move past these petty differences, because as of now, in early 2024, we have bigger fish to fry. Technologization is eroding everything that we hold dear– be it our jobs, our families and our nations– and to ignore this critical issue in the face of something that is frankly stupid would be a shame.

The misidentification of social issues is an important topic to discuss, and as we finish up this section of these writings it is critical to recognize that the remedy for this issue will be tough to come up with. What are you supposed to do when so many people cling to social conflict for a sense of odd fulfillment? Faced with the stress and destruction of the modern world, people need to focus on the real problem. The elites are masters of distraction and stimulation, and so avoiding these things is critical to subverting their rule. You cannot let emotions govern you– only your love for humanity and for the prowess of the natural world.

Part III: The Plight of the Natural World

What is the way forward? Faced with the ecocide of the very ground we live on, what will the masses do as the machines grind through our forest, kill the wildlife, and pillage the Earth for every last material they can? How are we aiding in this process of annihilation? Looking at past societies such as Easter Island, it could be concluded that the last symptom of a sick and dying civilization was the slaughter of its own territory. Faced with this issue again, we must act. The question is– can life prevail?

Deforestation

I would like to start with deforestation because for me it is a very important topic. Deforestation is a negative thing for a few very crucial reasons, and to educate the reader that technology is indeed the main proponent of environmental destruction, an illustration of this point in regards to deforestation seems reasonable. With all of this being said, I have identified three key reasons for why deforestation is ecocide– and moreover, the effects that this ecocide has on humanity.

The first reason behind why deforestation is so bad is quite obvious– it destroys natural habitats. As a species, we have deforested about one third of the world’s forest area since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution[26]. It turns the land into something less, and it kills non-human species by removing their habitat. Additionally, it makes it harder for the Earth to absorb moisture and it can cause erosion and other landscape issues. Now, all of this information is fairly well-known, but I think the losses behind this loss of habitat dig deeper than this. What about the loss in human environments? Where are humans to live (other than in the filthy cities) if all of the natural habitats on Earth are gone? How are humans supposed to retain their wildness if there is no wild for them to go confide with? Deforestation has destroyed the landscape of the Earth just as much as it has destroyed the landscape of the human soul, and to say it is an issue only to the birds or the bees is simply not true– it affects us just as much. How is a human supposed to live out their full potential choking on dirty city air and walking on concrete slabs all day, with their faces pressed to a screen, staring at numbers that would mean nothing to them if they lived a more natural, harmonious life? By removing the forests from the world, we have removed something else as well.

The second critical pitfall of deforestation involves the subsequent conquest of civilization over the once-wild land. Consider this scenario- a forest, covering 10 square kilometers of land, is felled. It is chopped, processed and sold to line the pockets of sleazeball businessmen and the elites. What happens to this now barren land? Well, a few different things– for one, it is not uncommon for timber industry thugs and the like to replant cleared land with monocultures[27] that they might harvest in 15 to 20 years. Around my hometown, you can find hills dominated with Pine monocultures, where loggers replanted cleared land. This is a bad thing because it results in biodiversity loss (I will have a whole discussion regarding this later on), which simply hurts the Earth even more. For two, it might be developed into residential lots. This is becoming increasingly common, especially in the area where I live. Across town, developers recently cleared a wooded area to build more apartment units, and the result so far has been nothing but increased flooding in the area. All that for some subpar apartments. For three, we might consider how this conversion of wild land into human-controlled land alters the lives of people in the area. Whenever a forest near a more traditional human settlement (a village or cluster of small farms, say) is destroyed, the locals often suffer. The idea that logging and forestry is a benevolent industry helping rural communities is a fat lie. Forestry companies often hire very few laborers compared to the overall population and they almost never hire unskilled workers in my area, for example.

Thirdly, and this is something that in particular must be emphasized as a real danger to our freedom, the destruction of natural areas results in human dependence on unnatural areas. As I mentioned earlier, if there are no natural environments for humans to live in, then they must flock to the city. If they flock to the city, then the elites will have their full control. Cities inherently modify human behavior by removing them from their natural environment, and once a person’s natural rhythm and cycles are broken, they are broken as well. The elites want to break people– because broken people are easy to rule over. Strong people are rebellious. Broken people comply and accept the way things are without trying in the slightest to make a change. Deforestation is taking away the homes of millions of plants, animals and people and killing millions more, and on top of all that handing over humanity to the elites for them to govern.

Deforestation goes far beyond the destruction of land and resources. It destroys us and everything around us, and seeing as where it has become the poster issue of the modern environmental movement, I feel it is essential to voice this burning perspective. We need to shift the focus of the environmental movement more towards a movement that observes technology, not people, as the destroyer of the natural world, and to get to that point will be a great accomplishment. The Green movement needs to stop and reflect upon the true causes of the 21st Century ecocide and decide for itself whether it will embrace truth and reality, but until then, the message from these writings will be very clear, almost blindingly– technology destroys forests. Not people– not farmers, ranchers, hunters or whoever else they like to scapegoat. The culprit is technology.

The relationship between deforestation and the continued advancement of modern technology is one that needs to be analyzed closely, and I think that in due time it will become more apparent to people that technology must be eliminated to eliminate the risk of complete environmental destruction. The truth of the matter is that technology poses an existential threat to nature and to human freedom, and the recognition of the crisis currently at hand is essential to solving the issue. When people start to see technology as the life-killing force that it is, things will begin to change in a real way.

Pollution

Pollution is but another ecological crime that racks itself up as debt to the Earth that humanity will have to repay. Pollution is an issue that in recent years has gotten a lot more exposure due to the fact that we now have the means to truly understand the scope of its consequences. It does not just make the Earth look dirty and get seagulls trapped in Coca-Cola rings- it is killing us one day at a time. Whether we look at the effects of pollution in regards to wild nature or its effects on the human body and mind, there is one thing for certain– pollution is like the feces of our failing technological civilization, and by eliminating technology, we could do a lot to slow or reverse the pollution crisis that we now face. This is because at the heart of every environmental crisis is technological growth, and when a species has the technology to pump out unnatural compounds en masse, it should come as no surprise that the natural world will suffer.

Pollution has been a problem for a very long time. In 18th and 19th century England, fumes from coal plants smogged up every industrial center in the country. In the United States, a similar problem was encountered. Throughout the past 250 years, pollution has increased at a steady rate[28] owing to the continued development of modern technology. Moving forward to the present, we still see the effects of this kind of smoggy air pollution in essentially every large human settlement. So, perhaps a discussion of air pollution is a good place to start our conversation. Air pollution is pervasive– it is everywhere, and air pollution in one area of the world can greatly affect another region, and the effect that air pollution has on people is of course quite negative. Over the years, we have seen a sharp increase in lung conditions and this can only really be seen as positively correlated with the increase in air pollution in almost every society. Air pollution has a simple, radical solution, much like many environmental issues– stop the production of essentially everything. Stop running the factories. Stop running the cars. If we want to live in a green and healthy world, then we must be prepared to make some sacrifices.

Next, we might want to focus on the pollution of the Earth’s water table. A few months before writing this, I saw a video on a forum showing hundreds, if not thousands, of fish washed ashore, dead, somewhere on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. For me, it was a real eye-opener as to the ecocide taking place in our oceans. The plight of the aquatic ecosystems of the world is quite disturbing, and to see it all unfold without it garnering that much attention is frustrating to say the least. Chemicals from our power plants and factories are constantly leaching into the water, and to say that this affects marine life in a catastrophic way would be an understatement. Fighting water pollution is tricky because it can so easily take on a toxic form, and because phenomena like acid rain make it difficult to access clean water even in areas that are on paper free from pollution. Water is a basic human and animal right, and the fact that it is being ruined at such a startling rate ought to outrage anyone. Perhaps in a better future wherein the world is cleaner people will be able to enjoy cleaner water than they do today. Time will tell, but it is certain that water pollution is as important an issue as air or water pollution, despite the fact that it is often overlooked.

Land pollution is the most visible type of pollution for many reasons, but the main reason being that it often directly affects human settlements. Garbage dumps, burnt-out structures– you name it– land pollution is everywhere, and its negative effects are obvious. It destroys ecosystems, contributes to air and water pollution, and degrades human and animal quality of life. By ruining territory with pollution, humanity is actively destroying the only environment it can actively thrive in.

Pollution, in a very general sense, is something that needs tackling almost immediately, but the issue that really bothers me is the fact that virtually no one has a sound view of the crisis. The environmental movement, in its mainstream and contemporary form, will fail to save the Earth. Despite decades of ‘action’ on their part, the problems surrounding the environmental crisis, in particular the issues surrounding pollution, are still worsening. Thus, and this is an imperative, the mainstream environmental movement must be toppled to ensure the protection of wild nature and the Earth in a general sense.

Pollution is one of the uglier and more visible shortcomings of the technological society we live in, and at the moment there is very little being done about it beyond the superficial, ‘oh look at me, I’m an environmentalist hehe’ level. Thus as Neo-Luddites it is essential for us to work as a movement to reverse the damage that business and industrialism has done to the Earth, and if we stick to it, we can make a difference in the long run. We have to recognize that we are stronger and more morally justified than the mainstream Green movement, and with enough effort we can destroy their leftism-motivated movement in its entirety. For now, the issue for us lies in the fact that we must recognize the simple fact that in reality, nothing is being done. Once we reach that conclusion, the natural impulse to do something about it will kick in. Pollution is one of the issues of our time, and we cannot expect the problem to go away on its own. Humanity has a debt it must repay to the natural world, and it will take real-world action to make things right. Through our own self-motivated efforts, things can and will change. We will see this come to fruition in due time.

Climate Change

Climate change is a tough nut to crack with regards to the Luddite movement, and so with this section the plan is to outline in a general way the sort of issues surrounding climate change that might be of principal interest to Luddites. The topic of climate change is vast and controversial, and so approaching the subject from any fresh perspective is tricky because the sheer multitude of reactions to any new argument are astounding. However, with all of this in mind, I think I have done an okay job of outlining the general attitude of Luddites in regards to the subject of climate change. Perhaps the focal point of the modern environmentalist movement is the state of climate change. It is almost perennially on the news and across any Green website on the internet. Whether it is discussed by politicians, writers (like myself) or activists, the whole issue is always brimming with opinions and controversy. Well, I am happy to add another layer.

I would like to outline a few truths about the state of climate change that can be used to formulate perhaps the semblance of a sound argument. Firstly, we must consider the effects of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP)[29] and the Little Ice Age (LIA)[30]. Consider the following– the Industrial Revolution started during the LIA, and since then the global temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees centigrade[31]. Now, it is worth considering that the Medieval Warm Period was still warmer than the current age. In short, the Earth has been warmer than it is now, and there were no major, catastrophic consequences. Secondly, the alarmism (because that is what it is) surrounding the state of climate change is convenient to the industrial system because an erratic climate is bad for civilization, but not for hunter-gatherers (think of the many climatic changes that have occurred whilst humans still lived in the Stone Age). Thirdly, the alarmism surrounding climate change is a great tool for social control (think of the proposed ‘climate lockdowns’ and such). Fourthly, the push for renewable (or rather, green) energy in the wake of the ‘climate crisis’ is only going to allow for the more sustainable development of modern technology far into the future. I am going to go in-depth about these points with the hope that some may resonate with the opinions given.

For starters, a discussion of historical climate patterns. Many mainstream environmental activists will cite that since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the Earth has warmed by 1.2 degrees centigrade. This is certainly true– the Earth is warming, but we need context to see the whole truth. The Industrial Revolution began during the Little Ice Age, when global average temperatures were lower than normal[32]. By contrast, the MWP previously discussed saw temperatures higher than those experienced currently. There were forests in Greenland during the MWP, and the Vikings were able to sustain a settlement there for hundreds of years. They were able to cultivate crops in the Arctic. Now, compare that to the modern day– Greenland is almost uninhabited and farming activity, if not impossible, is severely limited. This shows how much the climate has cooled since then. So, if 1000 years ago it was so warm that crops could be cultivated via primitive methods in Greenland– most of which lies North of the Arctic circle, how warm is it now, really? Additionally, it is worth noting that the Little Ice Age lasted until the 1800s. Naturally the climate is rebounding. With this in mind, why are the elites so quick to scream about the climate? It involves their attempt to further the power of modern technology.

The climate change fiasco has been a great promoter of green energy. People have been pushing for sustainable alternatives to the finite supply of naturally occurring fossil fuels that currently dominate the energy industry. Green energy, however, is a total scam from the Neo-Luddite perspective. Green energy allows the technological system access to an infinite and renewable supply of far less costly energy, and this is actually a terrible thing because it means they are able to advance the goals of transhumanism one step at a time without having to worry about the extinguishing of their energy supply. Everyone knows that peak oil is on the horizon, and so the elites are on the hunt for a new energy supply to maintain their power. By engineering the climate change scare campaign, they have accelerated the rate at which research has been done to develop sustainable energy alternatives. This puts us at a precarious spot– until now, technology was not a sustainable apparatus. Now, it is close to evolving beyond that point.

Social control is another element of the climate change debate that has been discussed, but only to a disappointing extent. Every major ideological or religious group has a scare campaign that they use to promote themselves. Christians assert that when Christ comes again, anyone who is not a believer will go to hell. For climate change-promoting elites, everyone who denies climate change is a lunatic who ought to be locked up. The elites are actively using the climate change argument to control human behavior, shut down farms (look at the Netherlands) and alter our diets (phasing out meat products, mainly). This is all part of an attempt to alter our way of life to make it more sustainable and efficient for the techno-industrial system.

Climate change is a difficult thing to fully understand, and I do not deny at all that the Earth is warming and that humans have played a part (the proportionate role of humanity is hard to pinpoint). However, it is vital to understand that this climate change hysteria is the perfect tool for the elites to alter our behavior and further their technological dictatorship. We need to understand that whilst the Earth is in trouble, reliance on the measures of the elites will only make the overall situation worse. Things are not always as they seem.

Loss of Biodiversity

The Earth is faced with a crisis– we all know that. Every forest, every fertile plain, every wetland– it is all under threat due to the strides of modern technology. The loss of biodiversity we are seeing today is widely referred to as the Holocene (or anthropocene) extinction. This issue is as relevant as ever, and seeing as it is almost exclusively caused by the development of the industrial organism, it only seems fitting to discuss it here. There are a few different elements of biodiversity loss that ought to be covered, and they sometimes aren’t discussed to their fullest extent. There are three main causes of this biodiversity less we are witnessing today, and they are all aided by the destructive technologies that humans have created. Whether it is hunting, harvesting or development, the conquest of the natural world in favor of human profit is a real concern for anyone who advocates for nature and opposes the technological dictatorship.

The first type of human activity that contributes to biodiversity loss is hunting. Whilst the lesser of the three evils of biodiversity loss, it is still a considerable threat. Hunting clears the land of valuable animal specimens that are needed to propagate the populations of many ecosystem-supporting animals, thus undermining the strength and vitality of natural self-propagating animal systems. This puts nature under pressure, as the balance is thrown out of whack, and it thus paves the way for further environmental damage. Hunting and its negative effects can vary from region to region, as in some areas (Canada, USA, Northern Asia & Europe) hunting for wild game is not harmful but actually good for the ecosystem. This is because in some of these areas the population of, say, deer has grown unnaturally large (see Eastern Canada as a good example). In other regions though (Western Europe, Eastern China, much of Africa) the population of wild game had best be left to their own accord. Hunting and its negative effects are hard to fully capture and evaluate, but needless to say that it does contribute to biodiversity loss.

Harvesting is the next type of human activity that damages the biodiversity of the Earth. The clearing of forests and the alteration of other natural areas for human cultivation has been a major driving force behind biodiversity loss for a long time. Harvesting is driven by the growing needs of an ever-growing human population, and as such the rate of agricultural activity and subsequent environmental damage is positively correlated. When considering the effects of harvesting as a plant-destroying factor, we must take into account that although harvesting existed well before the advent of industrial technology, it has only been accelerated by it. Before, in pre-industrial times, agriculture and harvesting rarely caused environmental devastation. So, once again, we have technology to blame. Agriculture on a mass scale must eventually be destroyed, and once that is complete we will quickly see a bounce-back on nature’s account. The facilitation of this switch away from mass agriculture will be discussed later on in this work. For now though, the main goal of the Luddite movement will be to raise awareness of the issue and frame it as an issue concerning the question of technology. The destructive nature of over-harvesting is currently being put on full display in the Amazon and in Borneo, and one only needs to see the ecocide unfolding in these regions to have a grasp of the issue of over-harvesting. Agriculture will always come at a price for nature, and so the fact that it is so widely implemented now is a warning sign for nature advocates. Harvesting in general is hard to stop as the humanitarians of the world will insist that it will do good for local economies (they’ll argue it promotes community cohesion, development, etc). A careful examination of the issue of mass-harvesting shows that it is a critical issue in the fight for biodiversity, and that by recognizing this travesty we as Luddites can begin to chart the way forward.

The third component of biodiversity loss involves human development. Consider all the new building projects, urban sprawl[33] and industrial areas that have sprung up in the past couple years alone– development for human purposes is a critical component of the destruction of the environment and the loss of biodiversity. When humans destroy a meadow to build a factory, the inhabitants of that meadow– the trees, the animals, etc are the victims of a sort of anthro-centric conquest. We are seeing this exact injustice being committed over and over and over again– all in the name of progress. From the perspective of a deep ecologist, this is a travesty and is proof of humanity’s self-centered worldview. Since when were the inhabitants of nature our tools? Since when were we permitted to defile tranquil forests because some rich guy wants to line his pockets? These are questions we need to ask ourselves as we analyze the current state of the world. Human development, like many other aspects of our civilization, is aided by technology and promoted by population growth and techno-centric ideological factions. Development, or in other words, the massacre of the Earth’s natural ecosystems for human profit, will be a recurring issue in our fight for a free and natural world.

Biodiversity loss is a tragic reality of the 21st century. Looking at the many intricacies of the issue, we can see that it is a multi-faced and sometimes hard to analyze predicament. This being said, our analysis of this issue can serve as inspiration for future Luddite movements, as in the face of this issue we can derive from within ourselves a sense of duty to protect the Earth from loss. It is also worth noting that the three types of human activity we mentioned are not the only types of human activity that contribute to the loss of biodiversity. There are countless things, big and small, that fuel the fire. In any case, the loss of biodiversity is a serious problem plaguing the natural world.

Most People Don’t Care

The many environmental problems confronting us today go unnoticed or are otherwise regarded as being unimportant or overly reactionary. Part of this is spurred on by conservatism, although I would wager that much of it is unrelated to politics directly and pertains more to the individual than anything else. Nobody wants to trouble themselves with a broad, existential crisis such as an environmental crisis or technological enslavement if they can help it. People, to put it in simple terms, just want to live their lives. Considering the plethora of other issues facing the average individual, it does not come as a surprise to me that someone confronted with the environmental problems (and the facts, stats associated with them) of today would simply choose to live in ignorance.

But first, because it is an issue that isn’t getting attention within anti-tech spheres nearly enough, let’s discuss how conservatism is ruining the public perception of the environmental issues we face.

Nature has been politicized. If you love nature and want to prevent deforestation, biodiversity loss, etc people will assume that you are a raging leftist. Likewise, if you argue that living rural and engaging in traditional occupations such as farming or ranching is a superior way of living, people will brand you as an extreme conservative or as an ‘ecofascist’. There is no in-between. In my country, if you dislike the oil sands and want to see the boreal forest survive for future generations, you paint yourself as a liberal, progressive, socialist, etc type of personality[34]. This is unfortunate, because it creates a division among the population– most people are raised being familiar with a particular ideological belief system that becomes a sort of moral compass for them as they progress through life (think of a child from a liberal, ‘socially progressive’ household. They go through their lives believing ‘racism’ and ‘homophobia’ are some of the greatest threats to our society), and this can result in people developing partisan beliefs about the natural world through the lens of human affairs– a massive roadblock for anti-tech and deep ecologist work. If people are raised to view their opinion of nature as part of a wider portfolio relative to the current state of our civilization, then you best believe the consequences will one day manifest as viewing nature not as a being in of itself, but as a territory or concept to project opinions and ideologies toward. Considering the nature of modern conservatism in this light, we can see where political organizations such as the Conservative Party of Canada or The Republican Party fall short. They use their pro-economy stance to give people an alternative to leftism– this is because the left has co-opted environmental thought and pro-nature ideology. They have taken it as their own, which is laughable, because nature does not belong to anyone or to any political movement. Conservatism purposefully promotes economic growth and national prowess over the sanctity of nature because the alternative would be serving up the same eco-nonsense that the leftists propose (think ‘green energy’ and ‘sustainability’ and all those other terms you hear people talk about).

The simple fact of the matter is that people cannot be bothered to care because our political and ideological options with regards to solving the environmental crisis are so narrow, anthropocentric and ineffective that there is little point in affiliating oneself with environmentalist action as far as most people are concerned. I cannot say I blame someone for feeling lost with regards to topics such these, and if an individual is not familiar with the concepts of Neo-Luddism or deep ecology, they may very well view there being no solution besides apathy. This is the unfortunate truth with regards to this topic– we have completely fumbled any chance to save the environment with the context of a civilized framework. We, through poor management on a global scale of our impacts, have created a very dualistic situation– either we continue to progress as a species at the deadly expense of the natural world, or we must fall to save it. We are approaching an era in which that decision must be made.

Another aspect of people’s apathy can be considered as well. People are distracted– very distracted. Media, TV, video games, world events, etc all draw attention away from the movement to save the natural world– the supreme struggle– and divert it towards less important events that may seem more important to the average individual because they view things from the perspective of human civilization. As kids we are raised to have a very anthropocentric worldview– human civilization is touted as being the most important matter on this Earth. This is ingrained in our heads in a number of different ways, but principally it is due to media, TV, video games, etc– the things I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. Media is a weapon, and the powers that be use it to their full advantage, I have discussed this before elsewhere. Every time a child watches or otherwise consumes a piece of media, they take the ideas they have just consumed and project it onto the world around them. Sure, they may consciously oppose certain ideas they stumble across, but even then continued exposure only leads to their psyche being softened and desensitized to more and more concepts as the years go by. Now, obviously, this can be seen in the context of many things, but with regards to people’s anthropocentrism and apathy towards environmental issues, this has a particularly devastating effect.

People’s apathy towards the environmental struggle ought to be regarded as disgraceful, but ultimately in many cases the individual is simply a product of their environment. As Luddites, we should focus on doing what we can to curb this, although it will be difficult, and the hope here is that we can help at least a minority of people to see the true scope of the ecocide unfolding in plain sight all around us. For wild Nature, we must.

Part IV: A Paradise Lost

In July 2023, in the midst of a pretty brutal heatwave, I found myself contained for a few days in the shade of my house, contemplating technology, human freedom, and the like. I had also been flipping through an old Norton Anthology, and in it found the twelve books of Paradise Lost by John Milton. A few days later, I penned The Tetralithic Era: So We Shall Not Mourn A Paradise Lost, and it was subsequently published to the Ted K Archive, a few anti-tech forums, etc. In that period, the concept of a lost paradise, one that is pre-industrial, came upon me. It was for me a revelation of Arcadia or something of the like, and its inclusion in this book for me seems essential.

The Concept

The concept of a lost natural paradise is certainly not one that I by any means invented myself. Just look at the archetypal notions of Arcadia or the Garden of Eden– both point towards a prevailing human sentiment that we have truly lost a natural utopia (or as close to it one can get) through the process of our ‘progression’. The concept itself is based on a sort of existential regret– have we as a species, through our chasing of progress, pride and plunder, gone too far? I think the answer is becoming obvious to us in the 21st century.

It seems that humanity wants power. Humanity wanted to play around like Gods and divine beings, wielding technology as their power over their adversaries. They wanted to crush the wind and the rain and the cold that formerly shaped their lives, they wanted to tame the wilderness and make it something profitable, and they wanted to derive from this world any cheap, immoral pleasure they could get. Unfortunately, this brutish human desire to be in control and to be surrounded by eternal comfort has prevailed over the sacred, eternal natural world for the time being. At the moment, a greedy human horde has won the day, and the natural paradise of old is gone. At least for a time. We still see its remnants scattered across the globe– North Sentinel Island, the Western Amazon, Papua New Guinea, the High Arctic, Patagonia, etc– the world still has many wild and free territories, and this will remain this way for a long time. As Luddites, there are places we can go to achieve primitivity. But the question of the fate of the ‘civilized’ world nags many Luddites, and so the prospect of simply escaping modern society and ignoring its march towards infinity is simply not an option. For us, the concept of the lost paradise is one that urges us to continue our fight for the freedom of the Earth and of humanity because we know there is an alternative that we can tap into– the know there to be a golden age that, with enough effort and action, we can revive. We know there is meaning beyond consumerism. We know there is intellectuality beyond the halls of the universities. We know there is freedom in this world to be found beyond any national constitution or charter. Deep down, we know that nature is waiting– waiting for humanity to permit its ultimate reemergence. For those of us patriotic to the struggle, we wait for the moment we can reinstate what the Earth truly has to offer.

The concept of the lost paradise is based around the fact that this world does not exist as a supply closet. This world is a diverse collection of unique regions, ecosystems, and nations. It is a collection of plants, animals and other organisms that form a great tapestry of life that by the blood in our veins we Luddites will not allow to die. Some are passionate about their culture. Some are passionate about their nation. We, the Luddites of the world, are passionate about life. Technology has caused death, destruction and suffering on a level the Earth has never experienced, and for this crime technology itself must face execution. It must lie on the heap of its victims, serving as a reminder of the resilience of Nature and the triumph of life over death. The world is here to be enjoyed, not to be farmed by industrial civilization for the benefit of a few million organisms above the tens of billions that exist.

The stories of Arcadia, Eden and the like have served to inspire generations of anti-civilized thought. People have taken these archetypes and applied them in various ways, but the one core feature of this admiration is the belief that there is intrinsic value in Nature– there is something glorious about even experiencing Nature that makes it worthy of preservation and self-governance. These archetypes show there is an inherent worth to wildness, that there is an appeal to a rustic life, and that dreams of a natural paradise are not combined to the minds of a few scattered individuals– the desire for a natural paradise is present in us all. If we could take our combined efforts and funnel them all in the direction of the archetypal Arcadia or Eden, who knows how far we could go? While it is true that no society is subject to rational human control, the destruction of that which prevents us from attaining Arcadia could do us a great deal in getting there again.

Ultimately, the concept of a paradise lost is something that does a great deal to inspire natural patriotism and hope into the minds of those that oppose our technical civilization. It gives us a vision– one that we can hold in our minds through conflict, chaos, fire and flames. As we witness the disastrous march of technology before our very eyes, the concept of a paradise lost can replenish our hopeful dreams of a free world beyond flashing screens and poured cement. We can look to the future with bright eyes knowing that our vision could destroy the current reality, and that through work and fighting spirit, we do not have to accept the cruelties and indignity of the modern world.

The notion of the paradise lost, of Arcadia or Eden, is in direct conflict with the technological utopia proposed by the transhumanists. The transhumanists seduce the masses with pipe dreams of immortality, galactic empires, and starships. They tell fairy tales of civilization on Mars or meeting aliens in the Andromeda galaxy. Truth be told, these dreams are illusions and lies about the future of technological slavery. They are hymns to the religion of science. None of it can conceivably become a reality. Whether they will admit it to us or not, the transhumanists cannot be sure of this world or of anything. But our great heroic myth– that of the paradise lost– will last an eternity.

The World We Let Go

I for one was always of the opinion that the transhumanist view of the world could offer us nothing but suffering, and I stand by this assertion fervently. I do not advocate for complicity– instead, I view simplicity as integral to the attaining of true, genuine human freedom. This being said, when speaking of the world we let go, I saw it fit to insert within this passage one of my old essays[35] that I wrote as a young boy. It pertains to the discussion of simplicity, and while the essay itself is certainly no Harvard paper or great work of classic literature, I figured that it got across a point that is not unimportant, to say the least.

The modern world is a scam and an illusion. The average person works forty to fifty hours a week, sometimes more, for useless and imaginary tokens that we call money. The average person thinks that all they need is money, and cool things, and the newest iPhone, and that will finally make them happy and make their life meaningful and purposeful. But it is all a trick. All these so-called privileges that the average person has are just mediums of enslavement. The worldwide capitalist system is an enslaver and a destroyer of our planet and our traditional, natural way of life.

What we need is a return to nature. The only escape from the current system is to let go of fake desires and meaningless worries and reject it. To forge for yourself an authentic, natural, and fulfilling life, one where you are always in communion with nature, and always in tune with yourself. It may seem far-fetched, but it is not. Just remember, you only need four crucial things to survive. You need food, water, shelter, and warmth. Nothing else. The key to happiness, true happiness, is having less. Consumerism is the greatest enemy of the people. Subsistence is the key to fulfillment.

In regards to food, the average person needs just one good feed of meat and plants a day. By hunting, fishing, and foraging your own food, you would not only become more self-sufficient, but healthier too. The average person poisons themselves daily with modern, processed food filled with chemicals and microplastics. This has dozens of negative impacts on the body, including a weaker jaw, compromised immune system, nutrient deficiency, and hormone disruption. It also has led to almost half of Americans becoming overweight. By comparison, the act of hunting keeps you in excellent shape, as it requires running, jumping and heavy lifting to have a successful hunt. You certainly won’t go hungry either. The average Hadza tribesman consumes around 2600 calories per day. That’s slightly better than modern-day people. In addition to that which has been mentioned above, a study on the Hadza tribe found that their hunter-gatherer lifestyle and diet kept them very healthy, strong, and disease-free. So not only is eating like a hunter-gatherer natural, but it also keeps you very healthy.

In regards to water, things are simple. To survive, one needs to drink clean, pure water on a regular basis. You would think that with all of this modern technology securing clean water would be easy, but it’s not. Over eighty percent of drinking water that comes out of a tap, as clean as it may seem, has an average of 4.3 pieces of microplastics within it. In order to truly obtain pure, clean, plastic-free drinking water, one must look to the wild. A remote well, stream, or lake could provide you with a nearly infinite supply of fresh water. All you have to do is boil it. For thousands of years we have been drinking from streams and wells, no water tests or gimmicky purification tablets needed. In addition to all of that, hunter-gatherer societies also made lots of tea from a variety of different trees and plants, and some, like conifer tea, were said to extend the life and health of those who drank it. At the end of the day, drinking like a hunter-gatherer will benefit you greatly.

In regards to shelter, we don’t need nearly as much as we think we do. The average person lives in a relatively spacious apartment, with all kinds of fixtures, and that’s all fine and dandy until they have to pay the rent. The current housing crisis is seeing housing prices skyrocket, with many young people in particular unable to buy their own home. Additionally, the homes themselves are simply unnatural and out of touch with how humans are supposed to live. We don’t need two living rooms, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a porch and a mudroom. We used to live in mud huts barely ten feet long, after all. Another thing worth mentioning is that the Hadza people live in small, easy-to-build huts made of straw, tree branches, and dirt, and they still are healthier than most modern people. So when it comes to shelter, you don't need to buy yourself a massive fifteen-hundred square foot house with three bathrooms, as you’ll find that a simple, free, and cozy cabin or hut in the middle of the woods can be just as good.

In regards to warmth, the answer is easy, you need fire. It is simple to make and it will keep you warm and dry even when the temperature drops below zero. Yet the average modern person would rather pay thousands of dollars per year on gas heating, which is terrible for the environment. Also, heating your home with gas or oil can be a headache, as whenever your furnace malfunctions or stops working, you are left in the cold with a nasty repair bill. By comparison, fire only takes a match, two sticks, or a flint striker to create and never stops unexpectedly. Additionally, it is free, and maintaining a fire is great exercise, as you have to harvest wood or other fuel regularly. All in all, a bonfire beats modern heating any day of the week.

When it comes to rejecting modern society and liberating yourself from the grind of the modern world it’s important to take lifestyle choices very seriously, and to embrace minimalism as a means of freeing yourself from enslavement by the consumerist ideology and way of life that dominates the modern world, because at the end of the day, all you need is food, water, shelter, and warmth. Everything else is secondary, and to abandon modern society, it must become secondary as well.

The Birth of a Luddite

It is during this section of the book that I figured I would tell my story as a Luddite, because when we discuss where the Neo-Luddite movement is headed, it is essential to look back at our roots not only as a movement, but on an individual level as well. I figure my story will be similar to other Luddite’s stories, although there are certainly moments when I feel I was led to conclusions in rather unorthodox ways.

Looking back through notes, journals and media saved to my devices, I concluded that my earliest blatant anti-tech leanings could be dated to the summer/autumn of 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic was raging, and lockdowns kept me from my affairs, much like everyone else I knew. At that time I became highly interested in nature, politics, religion, and alternative lifestyles. I was reading a lot more than I had previously, and I soon stumbled across online communities that were saying something I had been thinking for a long time– that technology is not all that it is cracked up to be. Originally, I found myself leaning more towards the anarchoprimtivist side of the movement, but over time Kaczynskism started to have more of an influence on my stream of thought. The following spring, in April of 2022, I penned my first anti-tech writings. By the time this book, 21st Century Zombies, is released, those writings will be two years old. Back in those days I was still in high school, and obviously my writing lacked in a number of ways. But, it inspired me to be able to write something meaningful, and so with every few months past I would put more words to paper, eventually releasing further works for the anti-tech community. But honestly even before the pandemic led me into the arms of the anti-tech movement, I showed pro-nature leanings in childhood. As a kid, I was obsessed with the Canadian television program Survivorman featuring Les Stroud, and as early as the fourth grade I had developed an interest in bushcraft and survival. As a pre-teen, I can recall watching the show Doomsday Preppers as well. All of these things, little by little, led to the creation of a prevailing anti-tech worldview.

I look back nostalgically at my journey through the anti-tech movement. I had a lot of fun– I wrote, connected with people, and learned a great deal about figures such as Ted Kaczynski, John Zerzan, Pentti Linkola and so on. I can recall having spent a great deal of time researching various anti-tech topics simply because I found it to be enjoyable, and in a time period where illness kept everyone from what they loved to do, I found for myself a passion at the perfect time in my life. As I grew a little older, I graduated high school and began working full-time at a local store, which allocated me much more time to more thoroughly explore and understand the various concepts that comprise the anti-tech sphere of thought. I wrote a lot more, too. Through the summer of 2023 I released an 8000-word collection of ideas in the form of a propaganda leaflet titled The Tetralithic Era: So We Shall Not Mourn A Paradise Lost, which I mentioned earlier in these writings. This book, although there are significant differences, is essentially meant to be the first of a series of gradual improvements to the ideas expressed in The Tetralithic Era. Anyways, although The Tetralithic Era was released in July 2023, it still contained a lot of my writings from high school the previous year, and as such was certainly a flawed document. In these writings I wanted to build upon what I had laid down in my formative anti-tech years, and this in a sense leads us to the present. At the moment, I am highly focused on my career as an anti-tech writer and activist, and this status will remain this way for quite some time.

There are some other stories from my anti-tech past that are worth sharing. In the summer of 2022, a few months after the release of one of my first essays, I joined the United Neo-Luddite Front, which was aimed at the creation of a standing Luddite village in Montana, USA. Although I was always skeptical of the prospects for the success of the group, I remained optimistic, and eventually rose to be 4th in command for the organization. I think that the UNLF serves as a great example of what not to do as an anti-tech organization. The movement, although strong and boasting hundreds of members at its outset, soon grew divided along religious, political and personal lines. I, being observant of European Paganism like another 23% of the organization, was subjected to persecution by the hand of the organization leader, who in addition to being younger than even myself at the time was a devout Christian who placed his own beliefs ahead of the goals of the organization that he formed. Now, obviously not all Christians are like that and I can appreciate a good, respectful and decent Christian Luddite, but this individual was something else. Soon enough, because of the conflicts he started, the 150-strong UNLF splintered into several factions, fought fiercely amongst itself and accomplished nothing. The group dissolved in late 2022, and the original leaders have since disappeared from the wider anti-tech community. During this time, I also led a 26-member community of Asatru-adhering Luddites, but this eventually fell apart when I was banned from the platform in which it was hosted due to my involvement with the UNLF.

In the spring of 2023, I started an organization called the Neo-Luddite Network, which to this day still exists. We have a few dedicated members, and it is for them that I write this piece. Our focus on group loyalty and dedication to the production of anti-tech media is something I really have come to appreciate.

With that, the abridged story of my life as a young Luddite is complete. As the years go by, more stories and memories will emerge, I am sure, but for now that is what I have to tell. In the future, I plan to live rustically. I would like to purchase a plot of land for myself and build a small, tech-free cabin in which I could live out my days as a man free in the natural world.

Part V: Anti-Tech Action!

We have reached a time in human history in which the tyrannical reign of modern technology in all forms must be put to rest. The years have passed by, and with every flip of the calendar the devastation of this world at the hands of the technological dictatorship grows more and more extreme. The masses still lie clueless to their subjugation, and the Neo-Luddite movement thus far has failed to seriously threaten the techno-industrial system. Thus, it is apparent that what we need now more than anything on this Earth is anti-tech action! The system will not just give up its reign of terror on its own. It is up to us as Luddites to make a difference and set things right once and for all.

The Companionship of the Masses

Those familiar with the struggle know that the anti-tech movement has varying opinions on the masses of people caught in the crossfire between the revolutionaries and the elites. The masses are confused– many realize something is wrong in our society but they cannot put their finger on what or worse they blame the wrong thing. Millions of people around the world are fighting for what they believe is right, only to be vanquished– many of their efforts simply circle back around to support the technological regime[36], therefore digging their hole deeper than before. The masses are stuck, and for the anti-tech revolutionaries to dislodge them their contemporary position would be an enormously hard task.

When considering the relationship our anti-tech revolutionaries have with the masses, it is essential to remember the sort of movement we ought to be. We should not put ourselves in a position wherein we find ourselves against the masses at large. I think Theodore Kaczynski said it best when he said, “The line of conflict should be drawn between the mass of the people and the power-holding elite of industrial society (politicians, scientists, upper-level business executives, government officials, etc.). It should NOT be drawn between the revolutionaries and the mass of the people” (Industrial Society and its Future, paragraph 190). The anti-tech revolution must make itself grassroots and generally receptive to outsiders, even if just for the purpose of keeping some semblance of peace with the masses. That being said, as Ted Kaczynski states in Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How, the anti-tech movement must not be afraid to make itself feared. In general, there is somewhat of a balancing act to be had when considering the revolution’s relationship with the average person.

The nature of the masses is something that is a little harder to understand. There are many reasons to believe that as a whole the masses are being greatly stressed by the technological system at present. Mental illness rates are climbing with unprecedented speed, and in general the voices of dissatisfaction and despair around grow more numerous every day. These people are aware that something is wrong, but I would say they are having trouble figuring out exactly what might be troubling them. For many, they try to relate it back to a personal source, rather than seeing it as a wider societal issue, and this creates even more problems as people start blaming things about themselves or others as the source of their suffering when in fact they could not be farther from the truth. Back when I was in high school, one of my favorite pastimes was examining the mental states of individuals I selected from different classes or acquaintance cohorts of mine. Often, I would observe these individuals casually from afar, sometimes for years, to see if changes in the way they presented themselves to others changed with relation to events in their personal life. There was one subject in particular that I found to have a particularly profound effect on my opinion of the sociological structure and mechanisms of our society.

This person, who for the sake of convenience I will call ‘DF’, was someone that attended the same classes as me for the better part of a decade. They, in their earlier years, were remarkably and perfectly normal. They enjoyed art, music, and fashion topics and from what I could tell they came from a fairly well-off family that lived in a forested subdivision just outside of our town. This person was smart, and as such they were always near the top of the class in terms of grades. They seemed to be very happy as well– I can recall thinking about how giggly and smiley they were on a daily basis. This trend continued throughout this person’s developmental years, right up until about age 16 or 17. It was around this time that COVID-19 lockdowns and social media took my generation by storm, and this period of time that was so critical in forming me into the Luddite and writer I am today was for this individual a descent into something much less. For context, this individual was a bit of a late bloomer with regards to their physical development. They were always very wiry and had a low weight. Their facial features were not that remarkable either. They were not ugly, not at all, but they did not meet the beauty standards of today. I believe this had an unbelievably negative impact on their self-esteem. I saw, over the course of a year or two, this person descend from their happy world into a pit of self-loathing and degeneracy. It still makes me pity to think about it. Nowadays I still sometimes see them around town, and instead of smiles I see a mask covering their face. Instead of tan lines and signs of physical activity, I see pale, ghostly skin and thick-framed glasses. Instead of life, I see depression.

This is what the masses are up against. Faced with every challenge and hurdle, they are in a constant struggle just to maintain a sense of self amid the crisis of technology in this modern world. It is a shame how many people fall through the cracks in our society, their lives laid to waste by the endless misdeeds dealt to us by an ever-decaying sociological hell that shows no sign of slowing down so long as technology reigns supreme over the lives of so many millions.

In our struggle against technology and against its terrible side-effects, we need to rally around the idea that the masses need our help– and it is true! For every day that we wait here, suffocating in our own inaction, people’s lives are being ruined. In the fight for the freedom of the Earth We must never forget the broken people that we swear to avenge. With all that being said, the masses are not a force against us– they are a sea of souls waiting, praying, to be saved. We must never forget that.

Memes & Internet Propaganda

For this section, I have prepared an excerpt from a conversation I had a while back[37] with a fellow Luddite regarding memes and internet usage as a means of instigating real, tangible revolutionary activity.

The argument seen in this community regarding the limiting of online technology usage is an idea that is controversial due to the plethora of different personality styles we see within the anti-tech spheres of thought. For some individuals, the usage of technology (even to connect with other Luddites) may be a net-negative situation due to their addictive personality or their inability (due to time or content restraints) to create meaningful anti-tech media. Still though, I'd say most people are perfectly capable of creating a meaningful piece of anti-tech media or writing without too much serious detriment and/or struggle. Consuming online content unrelated to anti-tech philosophy could be viewed as counter-productive or wasteful, though. The main thing with online internet usage for people dedicated to the anti-tech revolution is to use this tool we have for good. We need to utilize the internet as our greatest weapon to promote anti-tech (or pro-nature) ideology.

Creating in-person communities is of course the ideal for all Luddites. When we can connect with people in-person about our ideas and work towards the common goal of escaping/destroying the techno-industrial system, we go through the power process which is of course the ultimate goal in many regards. The trouble is we can't just approach our friends, family or community members out of nowhere and talk about Ted Kaczynski to them, that wouldn't go over well owing to the technophilic and highly propagandized society we live in.

The online anti-tech community is complex and it is a community that needs refining and a lot more organization for sure, but I would say that it has the potential to become a serious threat to the system, and here's why:

Imagine this, it is 2016 and the US presidential election campaign is well underway. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are neck-in-neck in the race for political dominance in the United States. As all this is taking place, an online army of trolls and meme-makers arise in support of Donald Trump. Overnight seemingly, the internet is absolutely flooded with right-wing and pro-MAGA content. It’s on every forum, it’s all over social media, you get the picture. In no time at all, the right-wing component of the internet swamped every platform with memes and content that aligned itself with their cause. Fast forward to November 8th, 2016 and Donald Trump is elected president of the United States of America.

Many left-wingers and right-wingers alike were shocked by his victory. How had this man, who was hated by so many people, had such a mass appeal to the citizens of America? The answer was propaganda. The answer was memes. Through trolling, meme-blasting and subsequent content follow-up, Donald Trump’s “meme army” had won the hearts and minds of millions of Americans.

I’ll first discuss trolling, since it’s a controversial topic. Trolling in online forums was an effective way for TS (Trump supporters) to spread their message. This is because they could provoke a response from users by saying something user X didn’t like and then turn it into a whole argument and internet freak-out. This created exposure, and exposure is exposure, whether it’s negative or positive. This in mind, the trolls and subsequent exposure that the anti-tech community could exploit could well prove to be a solid method for preaching anti-tech ideals. Secondly, by meme-blasting I mainly mean the spam-like rate at which TS were able to post memes. Every site on the internet was filled with TS memes, and whether you love Trump or hate him you can’t not respect the dedication of his followers in spreading the message. Thirdly, by content follow-up I mean that while TS swamped the internet with easy-to-understand memes and other media, people looking for a more intellectual side to this content could read books by or about Trump to satisfy their need for an intellectual component. These three things combined led to a wildly successful campaign, and even today we feel its enormous effects.

They called this great effort the 'Great Meme War of 2016'. Again, politics aside, it serves as an example as to how a fringe minority of people can have mass influence. In the Luddite sphere of the internet we see lots of edits and memes surrounding Ted Kaczynski, Henry David Thoreau, John Zerzan and the like. These are essential to any real attempt by the anti-tech circle to push the envelope as without them our message would go completely unheard.

It is unreasonable to assume that the average person is, at this point in time, receptive or even capable of reading an essay like Industrial Society and its Future due to the high levels of technophilic propaganda and tech-related attention span problems in the average person. That being said, by using the internet we have the chance to spew tons of anti-tech content at people in quick succession, which may in the end be an effective tactic. Again, to reference the so-called 'Great Meme War of 2016', we can see that by overloading people with content, they will eventually agree with what is familiar, in simple terms, memes at high density and that are repeated often in high traffic areas of the internet can serve to “brainwash” people. And in this case, it’s for the greater good.

Once a substantial portion of the online community (anti-tech or otherwise) has seen/been exposed to our anti-tech content, the road to revolution is clear: we need to organize the masses of new recruits and funnel towards making radical social changes within society. Jacques Ellul (whom I’m sure you’re probably familiar with) talked about unionizing and forming grassroots movements that could counteract technological development by making technophilic development a cultural taboo. In other words, we need to “convert” (through propaganda) a sizable minority of the population of a major country like the United States or China such that anti-tech views are a) normalized and socially acceptable and b) so that continued technological development is met with stiff social and intellectual resistance from the now-enlarged anti-tech community.

Additionally, whilst I certainly promote the usage of the internet for the cause of spreading anti-tech propaganda, I also think it’s equally important to discuss the ideal of living away from technology and taking a nature-centered approach to anti-tech content. In ISAIF, Ted talks a lot in one or two paragraphs about how people are more motivated to fight for a good cause than to avoid the effects of a bad one. That being said, we need to market the anti-tech philosophy in a way that is advocating for an ideal society, because that way newcomers to the community aren’t scared away by a) doom and gloom (we see too much of it in our community right now, the pessimism has to stop) and b) the lack of purpose to this mass movement. We can’t take a wholly reactionary approach to this scenario we are dealing with (that being the industrial system) because reactionary movements often fail. We need to strive towards good, as opposed to avoiding a bad outcome. This keeps people moralized and ready to fight for the cause.

This excerpt does a good job of explaining some of the sentiments surrounding our strategies, and I think the 2016 election case study really serves to illustrate just how effective a good meme, or series of memes, can be to push a real, serious agenda. Now, this is in contrast to arguments that have been lobbed around in the anti-tech community. I have heard many people say the anti-tech spaces online ought to abandon their use of memes, edits, etc because it means that nobody will take it seriously. Well, evidently memes can be used to serious ends. The meme exchanges we witnessed in 2016 are proof of this. When examining revolutionary strategy, we need to remember that, at the moment, the media is our greatest weapon and the internet is our championed platform. We have to fight fire with fire. In order to destroy modern technology, we must make effective use of it.

Forming In-Person Communities

The formation of in-person Luddite communities should remain a top priority for Luddites as time goes on. There are a plethora of reasons why this should be the case, but above all else, in-person communities will allow the Neo-Luddite movement to secure its own subculture, values and physical territory, which in turn will make for a good foundation for the Neo-Luddite movement to base itself off of. This must not turn out like previous attempts to set up ‘communes’ or ‘utopian societies’, however, because in the end that would be counter-productive.

There are several intricacies that make forming an in-person Luddite community a bit difficult, and these hurdles will have to be overcome. Firstly, there is the issue of great physical separation. The Neo-Luddite movement is, at the moment, largely confined to the internet. A survey I conducted[38] during the writing of this piece revealed that only 9.8% of Luddites active on the internet have participated in in-person Luddite groups. This is a discouragingly low number, as it complicates the push for in-person Luddite communities. How are we supposed to put up villages if we only have 9.8% of the population physically in contact with one another? The answer is a hard one to come up with, because this high degree of interpersonal separation is hard to treat. For example, let us make the assumption that a group of Luddites, maybe 200 strong, have been chatting, planning, and financing a village project entirely through the internet. There are a number of things in this scenario that could go wrong. Firstly, how is everybody supposed to physically meet up when the time is right? They would all have to fly to a rendezvous point and try to find each other there. Additionally, what if the financial aspect is rigged, and the project's funds stolen by a supposed ‘fellow Luddite’ or another scammer? Also, what if the group was in fact laced with federal agents or other enemies of the movement, and the physical meet up turns into an arrest-fest? There are so many things that could go wrong if a group of Luddites tried to set up a village project over the internet. The physical separation makes things extremely tricky, which is very unfortunate, because among Luddites, not that many know other people in their personal life who hold similar views to theirs. Generally speaking, most Luddites are not in a position to form a community with anyone or any group.

As an example that actually happened, we can take a look at the United Neo-Luddite Front, which I mentioned in my autobiography. The UNLF was a group that was dedicated to the formation of a real-life Neo-Luddite community (many members proposed that land be bought in Montana) based on the principles of Industrial Society and its Future by Theodore J. Kaczynski. The group totaled around 150 members at its peak, and had several key personalities which for a time held the group together. The group, although interesting for someone like me who was young and passionate about the movement, had several things about it that to put it bluntly were very wrong and contributed ultimately to its downfall. To start with, the financing system they had proposed (though they never actually got around to setting it up) was very trust-based and essentially relied on the assumption that the people at the top of the organization could be trusted with hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people’s money. It was pretty sketchy in that regard, but before that could ever be rolled out, the group was destroyed by other things. Mainly, religious and ideological conflict resulted in the group splintering and failing miserably. The leaders were not accepting of the religious beliefs of a very significant and influential minority of the group. This caused a lot of tension within the group, and sprinter groups, including my very own Asatru Luddite Assembly, emerged out of the chaos. This caused even more havoc, and soon enough everything blew up in everyone’s face. The group was a total failure in the end, and to this day its former members are scattered far and wide among the online anti-tech spheres. It serves as a lesson that, generally speaking, online attempts to form offline communities never work.

So what would work? I have thought about this question since the downfall of the UNLF, and although I have had ideas cross my mind, I cannot say that there is any one-size-fits-all solution to this question. Forming a community is ultimately reliant on a great deal of planning, interpersonal loyalty, trust, and common ground. I do not think that one Luddite village would suffice. There are so many different types of Luddite– there are some like myself who adhere to Asatru, others that adhere to Christianity, others to Islam, Hinduism, etc. I believe that the key to the cultivation of meaningful and successful Luddite communities ultimately lies in acknowledging that there is more than one type of Luddite, and by extension there will be more than one type of Luddite community.

In the realm of practical community-forming advice, I would say that a person’s best bet is to start by forming a network (in real life, not online) of Luddites that are interested in pursuing a primitive existence. This sounds crushingly difficult to some, and indeed it may be, but the group doesn’t have to be that large. Frame it in a way that makes it seem accomplishable. Instead of saying ‘I need to find a Luddite community to somehow join and start planning a village with’, say ‘I am going to find 5-10 people that would like to live in the woods with me’, because that is much easier for a person to process. It comes down to each individual in the end, and if your dream in life is to live tech free and connected to a like-minded community, you must pursue this goal with every fiber of your being, undeterred by any setback or roadblock that dares to get in your way.

Cultural Separatism

As I briefly mentioned when discussing the formation of in-person communities, it is essential that these groups procure a unique and resilient subculture to shelter its members from the increasingly hostile throes of the modern world. Cultural separatism means many things and it can be applied in many different ways, and so an elaboration as to the concept within the framework of the Neo-Luddite movement seems essential.

Various subcultures throughout history have created their own communities by first creating a distinct culture which justified their separation. Examples might include the Amish, Mennonites, Quakers, hippies of the 1960s and 70s, etc. These groups all had unique worldviews and objectives that made them culturally distinct from wider society, giving them a degree of separation that allowed their ideas to flourish. In particular, the Amish have been very successful in creating their own little world. They have a distinct religion, language and way of life– they have created a traditionalist, technophobic society right in the middle of the otherwise dystopian nightmare that is the United States. They value family, faith and hard work in a natural setting– all very amiable qualities of their cultural group. They have essentially done 90% of what many Luddites want to do. In that respect, the Amish are somewhat of the ultimate case study. Another example might be the Mennonites– particularly those in South America (they seem to use less technology in their South American settlements when compared to their American or Canadian counterparts). They took to vast wilderness areas, like the Gran Chaco and the outer Amazon, and created their own autonomous cultural communities. These groups prove that cultural separation is possible.

Looking at the Amish, we can see how effective they have been at creating a culture that is closed off from mainstream technological society. They have consciously molded their culture such that there is a clear ‘them’ and a clear ‘us’ and this helps them to avoid being re-assimilate back into the system to at least some degree. Their children are brought up with a deep admiration of their culture, and if a particular child for whatever wants to leave, they can– this protects the community from dissent and rebellion. But the vast majority of Amish youth choose to stay, because they have known the Amish lifestyle their whole life, and this serves to solidify their culture– the Amish have a society distinct enough that the modern world to them seems very alien. With this being considered, it is safe to say that the Amish have been very successful in creating the cultural group they desire.

So what would cultural separatism look like for Neo-Luddites? The question is multi-faceted, but there are a few basic principles that we can look to in order to come to a reasonable conclusion. For starters, Neo-Luddites, as I mentioned in the last section, need physical communities and real life connections. This will always be the first step to securing a real countercultural movement. On the internet, ideas can be propagated and the foundations of the anti-tech culture can be laid down, but it is in real life that these principles must take root. This is how the Amish were successful– they had physical separation from wider society because of their agricultural settlements. Once Luddites have physical connection with one another, the next phase of cultural creation can begin. Traditions need to form, and an overarching ideology championing nature, tradition, etc needs to prevail. The children of the Luddites will have to be raised to be proud of the cultural group they were born into, and there must be a definitive line drawn between the vulture of the Neo-Luddites and the rest of the modern world. Emphasis must be placed on belief– because it is ultimately the belief in something other than what the modern cultural monoculture that makes the anti-tech movement unique.

To reference the UNLF once again, we can observe how this group failed to lay down the foundations of a Neo-Luddite cultural group. Its presence solely online meant that really the only way people could relate to each other was through common experience with civilization, rather than with experience with one another. There was no family or tribe to consider. We were all just strangers to each other, and no emphasis on the community could be placed on the premise of blood or past experience. Additionally, the group was too culturally heterogeneous– there were Asatruars, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, etc as well as people from various different locations across the world. All of these different worldviews coming together, while a testament to the universality of the technology problem and a great example of how the struggle against technology goes beyond any group or nation, created struggles for the UNLF. There were so many different opinions regarding how the group should be run because there were a plethora of different cultural opinions affecting the matter. This just goes to show that religious, secular and geographically diverse cultures sometimes are unable to come together to form one cohesive, diehard subcultural group such as the Amish. There appears to be a need for homogeneity when selecting a base population for a new cultural group.

This lends credence to the idea that there will be more than one Neo-Luddite cultural group. Instead, I think the anti-tech movement should be focused on the promotion of diverse, various, unique technophobic societies, because no single Luddite culture will emerge– and thank goodness! Who would want a world that was boring and the same wherever you went? Fostering cultural diversity within the anti-tech movement will, in the long run, be beneficial to its sustainable, long-term development. If we are ever to declare our independence from the modern world, we need to recognize that there will be more than one way to go about this. So, my advice to young Luddites is this– go out into the world and find your people, no matter what it takes. Be selective– these people are your first line of support in the revolution. Moving forward will be complex, so you best have good allies.

Part VI: Conclusion

The world and our generation are faced with perhaps the most dire crisis of history. Our people– no matter where you go– are under relentless assault from the ever-marching advance of the technological organism. The population, paralyzed by ignorance and duress, seems powerless against the industrial regime that faces them. It is up to us– the Neo-Luddite movement– to ensure the freedom, dignity and autonomy of all the living organisms of this Earth. It rests in our hands to avenge the many victims of technology, and in our struggle we must never forget what we have lost. The future lies in our arms, and with courage and fortitude we must fight.

Nature, Eternal

There will never dawn a day in which I am not fervently patriotic about the natural world and its inhabitants. Outside our door, we all have the greatest empire of all time waiting for us, with trees and grasses and animals punctuating a piece of living history that reminds us that we, the human race, are part of an ever-evolving tapestry of life that so long as we put a stop to the acceleration of technology will last eternally.

It is in the fact that Nature is the antithesis to technology that we can use it as a symbol not only of our movement but also as a vision for the future. Nature to the Neo-Luddite movement represents balance, stability, and justice– Nature is perfect, and no amount of technological development on behalf of humanity and the machine can ever come close to replicating its beauty and prowess. When we analyze Nature for what it is, we quickly come to the realization that we are in the presence of an accomplish so inhuman in its perfection that we cannot ever hope to truly fathom it all– but that mystery is the beauty in it. Nature restores to us the sense of mystery that makes this world exciting– for what is there to discover in the sterile world of concrete and science?

We all need to take a step back towards the forest– the archetype of freedom and stability that it offers is something truly valuable, and lights the way forward for a movement that must succeed. Whether the revolution comes now or sometime in the future, it is vitally important to remember that with every day that passes we will still always have Nature to guide us in one form or another– in that way, we are undefeatable. The world seems stuck sometimes– stuck in an arms race between technology and rationality. The civilization we were born into is in turmoil, and with it many of the things we love are becoming more unstable and rare. But, so long as we have Nature, we have the hope of rebuilding a just world that we can all enjoy and relish in– the shortcomings of this tumultuous time in history are temporary– Nature will be eternal!

As Luddites, it is our duty to rally around that which is green and defend it. Deep within the forests, far across the plains and up in the highest mountains lies the last vestiges of truth and reality left for the human race to explore. We live in a world of civilizational psychosis, and Nature is truly the only cure. For that hope, we must fight on. We must do everything within our power and more to secure a future for our children that is bright and prosperous and free of technological slavery. The dystopia that surrounds us is in every way inferior and defeatable at the feet of the natural world, and it is this fact that ought to fuel our ambitions.

What meaning is there to this life if not for taking refuge in the serenity of the Earth that seems to flower up all around us? Can we not, even just for a moment, stop to think what meaning or purpose is bestowed onto us by civilization? The truth is this– there is no meaning in the hedonic cycles of our civilized life! There is nothing concrete, nothing that is undoubtedly real, between the slabs of drywall and plexiglass that we call our abodes. There is, however, meaning in adventure, in spirituality, in mystery, and in peace– all things that Nature can offer us. We have killed the wonders of this world with the desacralizing effects of our contemporary civilization, and it is about time that we recognize this and put a stop to the madness!

21st Century Zombies

They walk along, wrapped up in the throes of their ignorance, as our technological society throws them around like useless dirt, sending them to the fronts of civilization’s war on all that is human, natural, and esoteric. They bow to their one sworn religion– science– and they adhere to such holy creeds as physics, chemistry, mathematics, and astronomy. They find themselves insatiably thrust into the world of computers and subjugation by their most carnal and slimy desires– there are days when it seems hedonism is their only true purpose. With arched backs, they religiously worship their icons– their glowing screens, applications and flashing lights– all talismans of the technological organism. Every day, every month, every year– every interval of time seems a blur in the face of the fast-paced world of lights and distractions that these people find themselves in.

These people are 21st century zombies. Technology and slavery is all they know, and they obey the authorities that are like Gods, obeying laws and rules so religiously you cannot help but feel they are robotic in their very soul. They lack masculinity, femininity, and lucidity as to their condition. They lack the ability to realize the scope of their predicament, and they are forever imprisoned within the myopic worldview trained into them from youth. Most lack the rebellious spirit, or if they do, it is wasted on resistance so futile and mislead that there is no difference between apathy and rebellion for many. These people feel no connection to their country, to Nature, to their families, to their people, to their spirituality– they are lifeless in all senses except physical, and they are so pitifully misinformed that they essentially have no concept of the world beyond the scope of our civilization. It seems sometimes that these people live to pay taxes and help carry the cross of modern technology, nothing more.

My conclusion to these writings is to remind you all of the state of the world as it is now– we are living in a dystopia where science replaces spirituality and fulfillment does not come from honorable means but by the quenching of filthy, primal thirsts. We can see this in the behavior of the people around us– note most people’s fixation on sexuality or on the consumption of media and food. The adventures and experiences the masses partake in now are pathetic compared to that of their ancestors. In the times of old, people journeyed across mountains and seas to find riches, incredible places and cultures foreign to them. People put their lives on the line for their families. Men fought for clan and honor. Women created homes and cultures that lasted for centuries. Nowadays, do we see the same thing? No, of course not! Instead of journeying through forests to find game or resources, people ‘take a journey within themselves’ to ‘discover their true self’ or ‘their sexuality’ or some other cringe. Contemporary, so-called ‘advanced’ peoples are so lame– rather than embrace Nature and spirituality, they would much prefer to embrace degeneracy in all forms. People lack the bravery to embrace tradition and morality– they would much rather just serve themselves at the cost of everything around them. Most inhabitants of the ‘civilized’ world are self-worshiping, with their personal pursuit of pleasure being paramount to all meaningful occupations. In this sense, people are engaging in a weird, convoluted form of humanistic satanism– to most, there is no power more necessary to adhere to than their own drive for stimulation.

The masses, although their companionship may one day be necessary, are certainly no example of how one should go about their life. That being said, I urge all Neo-Luddites to observe that there is no crime in being different or in being a ‘loser’ by our societies’ standards. In fact, I would argue the opposite– the Luddite should utilize self-denial to his advantage. Through selectively taking on the character of the ascetic, we can aid ourselves in avoiding the pitfalls of the worship of pleasure that modern society shoves down our throats. Do not let your greed, your lust or your fear of missing out tear you away from the struggle. Do not let this modern world beat you down and leave you subjugated in the face of technological tyranny. Through self-denial, we all have the opportunity to regain our real, rebellious, revolutionary spirit.

So, here we stand– it is the Neo-Luddites of the world versus a power that many believe to be unbeatable. The world cowers in fear of the machine where we dare to resist. The masses shake in their boots at authority where we assert our autonomy. We are like windward spirits, impossible to trap and shape to a sterile mold, and through this quality we are the greatest of threats to the system. We have the energy, the passion, the valor and strength to wage this silent war against foes unseen to us directly. Through everything– fires and flames, peace war– we have taken on the character of heroes in our struggle, and the time has come for the march of the Luddites to begin. Through our self-denial we remain sovereign in a world of conformity. Through our stance we resist the seductive attacks of the modern world, lest we too become 21st century zombies.

Author’s Note

I have a few words I would like to jot down as a conclusion to these writings. Firstly, I would just like to let my readers know that this will not be the last of my releases by any means. Basically all my written works up until now have been primarily practice pieces– my next step is to produce something that will be published by an actual publishing company and available in the form of a physical book. I cannot say for sure exactly when this goal will be accomplished, but when it is, I will be sure to let everyone know. I hope to have something out for late 2025/early 2026.

Secondly, I want to issue a little note at the end of this document to highlight the fact that these writings do not, in any way, shape or form, condone violence, hatred of others, or the like. This essay was not written for consumption by extremists, racists, or anyone else who has infiltrated the Neo-Luddite movement with their previous biases. The goal of this document was to point out that the anti-tech revolution will not be fought with weapons, but with community, propaganda, and sociological mechanisms.

Also, thanks to Luddite Chat for their continued support.

[1] A CNBC article, which is linked here, delves into the details.

[2] A paper published on opentextbc.ca explored various sociological and psychological mechanisms that contribute to conformity. I found this to be an insightful read, and the interested reader is certainly encouraged to check this paper out for themselves. It is very scholarly and appears to be based on British Columbia university curriculum.

[3] From OpenTextBC, we find the following quote from the textbook:

“...people who were feeling anxious would prefer to affiliate with others rather than be alone because having others around would reduce their anxiety.”

[4] This topic is also discussed in Industrial Society and its Future for any interested readers.

[5] “The concept of “mental health” in our society is defined largely by the extent to which an individual behaves in accord with the needs of the system and does so without showing signs of stress.” (Kaczynski, Industrial Society and its Future, paragraph 119).

[6] Consider how some Christians feel sexually repressed due to their moral obligations.

[7] Interestingly enough, Jacques Ellul mentioned this in The Technological Society, and it makes sense in that the emphasis in Christianity, for example, is on God as opposed to on Nature.

[8] An article on Oxfam.org explored this in detail. Although I do not agree with the general worldview of this website, their data collection here was on point.

[9] This was something I witnessed firsthand when I was finishing high school. There is a certain vanity that is exploited when convincing pupils to go to university– “oh, you’re so smart, you’re so curious” are phrases we see used against young people. Really, what does university get them this day in age? Massive debt?

[10] This is another trap used against young people. I read an article on 3 Quarks Daily that explored the issue in an interesting way.

[11] There was a good article/case study that I read concerning this pattern.

[12] I know– how controversial of me to suggest some people are inferior to others! How insane of me! Well, to an extent everybody believes this. The truth is, some people simply have more admirable characteristics when speaking of humans with the context of natural survival situations. Some are smarter, some are physically stronger, some prettier, et cetera.

[13] “Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality.” (Kaczynski, Industrial Society and its Future, paragraph 15).

[14] An article in the Time Magazine explored this.

[15] Discussions of materialism often touch on this in one way or another.

[16] A popular video by anti-civ youtuber Forest Anon mentions this sort of thing. In the video, “Reply To Javier”, the following quote stands out– “When you make your entire life about civilization, and when society is your entire life, and society has an illness, you're bound to have an illness in your worldview.”

[17] Here is a technophile yapping about the ‘potential’ of AI, techno-animism, and the like. Notice the imagery that accompanies the article– it’s telling, I think.

[18] More details from a US government site.

[19] A semi-valid interpretation from Stanford University

[20] Further information from the WHO

[21] The interested reader may wish to research Cluster A personality disorders. This includes Schizoid Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder and Paranoid Personality Disorder.

[22] The full Daily Mail article is available here. Note their conclusions– technology to them is not the culprit.

[23] Given that he lived in the 1800s, this is understandable. The issue of technology was much less visible back then.

[24] This is common among both the left-wing and the right-wing segments of our society. I have heard some describe this as a purely leftist trait, but in fact the right-wingers of our civilization are just as guilty of this.

[25] Deviant in the sense that heterosexuality is undisputedly the norm– biologically speaking, heterosexuality is what guarantees the existence of the species. Additionally, the DSM-1 model of homosexuality wasn’t so much disproven as it was simply removed– the subject is still up for debate.

[26] This source just says “in the past 10,000 years”, but the vast majority of this was post-industrial.

[27] Regarding monocultures and forestry

[28] Interesting US government article.

[29] Further information about this period is available through this Britannica article.

[30] Another Britannica article which discusses the Little Ice Age.

[31] An interesting Yale article. Note its position on the matter.

[32] Most sources cite this as 0.6 degrees Celsius colder than the previous period.

[33] In my hometown, suburban sprawl destroyed many square kilometers of forest.

[34] Having dealt with this problem myself, I can say that it appears to be related to the dualistic thinking I talked about earlier.

[35] The sources for this essay are available on my substack.

[36] See Jacques Ellul’s “useless resistance” concept or Ted Kaczynski’s “The System’s Neatest Trick”.

[37] Although this excerpt draws heavily on the MAGA movement for examples, I will state right now that I am in no way supporting Donald Trump or the Republican Party. This is merely a case study.

[38] The survey was published to a forum by one of my colleagues.