But for anyone who seriously wants to do something about the technology problem, the initial task is quite clear: It is to build a nucleus for a new movement that will keep itself strictly separate from the leftists and the irrational types who infest the existing anti-technological movement.
– Ted Kaczynski
Among all the people Kaczynski put in contact with me, many of them turned out to be undesirable or unreliable people. And a person very close to him, once said to me the same: many of the people that contacted her via Kaczynski were leftists and kooks
– Ultimo Reducto
In previous essays, I have stated that the anti-tech movement is doomed for leftist/irrational types. It seems Ted has the same opinion, or rather, he thinks its already in the movement. I don’t disagree to be honest.
However, I have not really explained fully why this is the case.
The anti-tech movement’s goals are to destroy the technological society. This may also mean destroying advanced technology as advanced technology requires technological society in order to function efficiently. This solution is of course one that requires extreme measures and so puts itself on the fringes.
Extreme movements are usually revolutionary or call for a drastic change in society.
Genuine question. Why is it that so many Neo-Nazi’s today are bloated fat blobs, why so many feminists are fat and single, why many incels are NEET virgins and why many Communist/Far-left types are that of the rich and well off? Because extreme movements are usually used nowadays to implement the desires of people who blame society for their individual problems or failings, or because said person hates themselves and wants to cleanse themselves of whatever “sin” they have committed.
Lets take the example of the Neo-Nazi. He’s fat. If the Nazis of the 1940s saw this man, he’d be humiliated. But because of propaganda, this man feels like the ideal “western man” by being a fascist and so it does not matter for how fat he is, he is “defending” Western Civilization and so is no longer the “sinful” “beta male” or “modern man”.
The communist is ashamed for being born rich. They hate themselves for being born into privilege, they shame themselves for being from a successful family. So they throw themselves into communist thought and far left movements to cleanse their “sin” of being born into privilege.
As for feminists and incels, they are somewhat similar. Feminists are usually single and lack sexual fulfillment. They start to become hateful towards the opposite gender for rejecting them. It has to be stressed that some feminists have suffered some form of genuine trauma from males (rape for example), and so their contempt for males is due to this trauma. So they demand a society that certainly isn’t equal to gain sexual fulfillment or relationships easier.
Incels are pretty much the same as feminists. They desire a traditional society which is male dominated, in order to gain sexual fulfillment and relationships with the opposite sex.
Every extreme movement will have this problem. Regardless of whether or not they are anti-leftist or not. Extreme ideologies will alter society dramatically, and so therefore, those who are well-adjusted, who are successful in society, have stable relationships with little or no problems will not join such movements. The vast majority of radicals are those of the leftist/irrational mindset as they are the social outcasts, and so will attempt to throw society upside down in their favor.
I will now try and apply this to the anti tech movement.
Those who are most susceptible to Ted’s ideology are those who are affected by the ills of technological society the most. Some of these include those who have been left behind in society, have not advanced the social ladder, or those who use technology more than most.
In a letter to David Skrbina, Ted talks about how if one gains the power process, they are immune to learned helplessness and the psychological issues of technological society. I hope to elaborate more on this topic in the future.
For now, it explains why so many of those who are anti tech or are revolutionaries, are those with leftist/irrational tendencies.
Those with lack of the power process, turn to radical movements. This was explained by Ted in his manifesto, but this goes far beyond the movements Ted mentioned then. This problem is not a problem of Leftism. Its something far greater [1].
Imagine someone who uses the internet a lot. They are not exactly skilled, and so are stuck in a dead end job. They are frustrated by their lack of progress. They read Ted, it all comes together. They’d be so much happier without technology. They begin to feel ashamed at enjoying all the things they enjoy, because its all “fake” so he throws himself into the movement to remove the “sin” from him. It doesn’t matter he’s spending more time online discussing Ted’s views, he’s against the system now.
David Skrbina was once a part of the Green Party in the US, its clear he cares for the environment. He also seems to have a fetish for the medieval period. Destroying technological society clearly caters to his desires for both.
Chad Haag has to pay his student debt. Given his contempt for academia, it is possible that some of his opposition to the system and those in power is personal. No system, no student debt to pay back and he can get back at his teachers or whoever upset him for looking down on him or his views.
Of course, I stress that some of these examples are not all for nefarious reasons and I can sympathize with them. Nor am I saying that David or Chad are doing what they are doing because of the reasons I have put down, rather to explain that the movement can indeed be helpful to leftist/irrational types.
Now, if one looks at Ted’s journals, one gets the impression that he, ironically, is affected by the leftist/irrational psychology. Organised society has laws and regulations that stopped him from killing whoever he felt like killing, from doing whatever he felt like doing. He felt contempt for the society which had ruined him and wanted it to burn completely.
Everything that was his fault, was blamed on society. Sexually repressed? Organised societies fault. Unable to talk to a girl? Organised societies fault. Having twisted sexual desires? Organised societies fault. If he improved himself, or asked for help he could have sorted himself out, but due to how extreme his individualism was, he would see any self improvement as simply adjusting to the systems needs.
For every plane that, heaven forbid, flew over him. For every motorcycle that just so happened to pass by. He wanted civilization as a whole to burn. This may be why he is so laser focused on proving that revolution is the way to go. While others see the stresses we are facing as horrible, its music to his ears for him. More stress, more chance of the whole thing going to hell.
Again, I’m speculating for the most part here, but the whole thing about wanting to burn it all down for personal reasons, is true. Ted admitted it himself that most of what he did was out of personal revenge.
To me, there are many in the anti tech movement with exactly this kind of thinking. It doesn’t matter about the consequences. Its just to burn it all down. Its not to genuinely sort these problems or to make a better future, but out of simple revenge.
Its not doing it because of genuine good, but to fulfill empty desires. These people are Plato's tyrants. And as I mentioned in TRAWIWF they’ll implement something that certainly isn’t freedom.
They are a slave to their passions, and a master to all they enslave.
To conclude, no attempt to transform, eliminate or reform the system will be successful with a radical movement. A radical movement will always have leftists/irrational types no matter how hard one tries as their numbers make up a large bulk of radical politics and movements. When one suffers from depression, anxiety, or the like, rational thought becomes difficult. You only see the horrors and not the good in the world. I say this from experience.
Only a movement with a large bulk of well adjusted, socially successful people can hold off these types of people. No radical movement will ever have such a thing.
[1] Ultimo Reducto is right to assume that some of the extreme right do indeed have the same issues as leftists and that these people should be shunned from the movement. Ultimo himself is more anti-leftist than Ted (Ted is opposed to leftists on practical grounds, not so much ideological) and according to him, opposes it completely. However, his desire for wild nature to an extent that might not be possible may lead to problems in regards to conflict within, as I mentioned in A Critique of Tedposters, Tedites and the Anti Tech Movement. Then there is his anti-civ stance which as I stated in TRAWIWF is impossible (in my view) to implement, as I argue civilization is embedded in human nature.