A Preliminary Comparison Between the Writing of Victor Ferkiss and Ted Kaczynski

PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF PORTIONS OF THE BOOK THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION BY VICTOR FERKISS, (GEORGE BRAZILLER, NEW YORK, 1974), AND "INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE" BY FC.

by SSA James R. Fitzgerald

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:

A. Titles are very similar.

B. Earlier Ferkiss book, Technological Man, was favorably reviewed in the 1970s by the Chicago Daily News, the New York Times, and Science Magazine, all publications which have either a geographical or otherwise hightened interest level to the UNABOM subject.

C. Ferkiss has spent time in two of the areas of the country where it is known that the UNABOM subject has resided. Ferkiss earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in the early 1950s, and in the late 1950s he completed his doctoral studies at the University of Chicago.

D. Ferkiss was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley in 1973 and/or 1974.

E. Despite numerous direct liftings of concepts, wording, phraseology, and sentence structure by FC of Ferkiss• book, (see below), references in the manuscript to The Future of Technological Civilization are conspicuously absent.

The following pages compare sentences and/or word groupings from both Ferkiss’ book and FC’s manuscript (and one of his letters) which are very similar in content, wording, and overall concept.

I.
FC, Para. 1:

"The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race."

Ferkiss, Pg. 4:

"...the technology created by humanity... is today fully capable of physically destroying the human race."

II.
FC, Para. 1:

"They (the Industrial Revolution's consequences)... have led to widespread psychological suffering."

Ferkiss, Pg. 21:

"But our technological development has... rewarded us with a sense of psychological unease."

III.
FC, Para. 4:

"We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system. This revolt may or may not make use of violence. '•

Ferkiss, Pg. 273:

"A revolution will be liberal society and institute a Ecological Humanism."

(Note: Ferkiss describes Ecological Humanism as the antithesis of the Industrial System, and a desired state of societal

necessary to put an end to society based on principles of existence.)

IV.
FC, Para. 16:

"The liberal and the leftist...is anti- individualistic. . .the leftist is antagonistic to the concept of competition because...he feels like a loser."

Ferkiss, Pg. 52:

"Liberalism has failed...because technological change has created a world in which...individualism, competition...are incompatible with social reality."

V.
FC, Para. 26:

"Thus the oversocialized person...spends his life running on rails that society has laid down for him."

Ferkiss, Pg. 161:

"Social and technological conditions determine behavior in every detail: the way they lay streets out is the way we must walk."

VI.
FC, Para. 92:

"Thus science marches on blindly, without regard to the real welfare of the human race or to any other standard..."

Ferkiss, Pg. 240:

"One problem in controlling technology (and scientific and technological research) is that new developments are usually upon us - involving irrevocable...choices...before we are aware..."

VII.
FC, Para. 92:

"(The scientists are)... obedient only to...the government official and corporation executives who provide the funds for research."

Ferkiss, Pg. 239:

"Our technology is largely created by... corporate or government managed...research labs."

IX.
FC, Para. 184:

"The radical environmentalists...(don't have to) set up some chimerical utopia..."

Ferkiss, Pg. 77:

"Anarchists are right to strive for a society which maximizes freedom and self-fulfillment."

(Note: As per FC's 6/24/95 letter to the New York Times, he equates radical environmentalists and anarchists as being one and the same.)

X.
FC, Para. 186:

"The revolutionary ideology should...be developed on two levels."

Ferkiss, Pg. 264:

"The ability to recognize the need for change has a dual origin."

XI.
FC, Para. 187:

"On the more sophisticated level the ideology should address itself to people who are intelligent, thoughtful, and rational. The object should be to create a core of people who will be opposed to the industrial system." Ferkiss, Pg. 264:

"Some individuals are capable of greater rationality and imagination than others...(and should) act on behalf of society as a whole."

XI.
FC, Para. 188:

"On a second level, the ideology should be propagated in a simplified form that will enable the unthinking majority to see the conflict..."

Ferkiss, Pg. 264:

"Other individuals and groups, more bound by habits of minds and social positions are...unwilling to alter their behavior...(thus describing) leaders and followers."

XII.
FC, Para. 189:

"The revolutionaries should not expect to have a majority of people on their side. History is made by active, determined minorities...which seldom has a clear and consistent idea of what it wants."

Ferkiss, Pg. 265:

"Most members of the industrial working class are still unable to grasp the true nature of the crisis facing humanity..."

XIII.
FC, Para. 194:

"...the green party..."

Ferkiss, Pgs. 89, 270:

"...greening...", "...the veneration of the greenness..."

XIV.
FC, Para. 197:

"...Modern man has too much power, too much control over nature..."

Ferkiss, Pg. 88:

"Man has...achieved...godlike powers over himself, his society, and his physical environment."

XV.
FC letter to Penthouse Magazine, dated 6/24/95:

"...opium of the masses..."

Ferkiss, Pg. 238:

"...opiate of the intellectuals..."