INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY ATTENTION, AMERIKA- AND ITS FUTURE THIS IS THE UNAMBOMBER! ''To get our message before the public with some chance of making a lasting impression,we've had to people" kill ;;-:.' " , .• The Un.bomber is Amerika's Most Wanted Man, responsible for "" " .- , sixteen bombings in many years. killing injoring more. The � as 3 and 23 FBI baffled by his motives, no closer to catching now they ,;--" J are him than { were sixteen years ago. . ... :- When he broke his silence in April 1995, the Unabomber offered a unique deal. He would call off his one-man war on techno-industrial I . society if the media would publish his reasons for it. With the ,. technocrats of Amerika held hostage, the mediacould only comply. When published, the Unabomber came across a forceful and as articulate advocate of primitivism, not the crazed serial killer of the , FBI's personality profilers. His radical critique of teehno-industrial civilisation,Industrial SocietyAnd Irs Future, captured the imagination of an Amerikan public that can now that teehnology and liberty are see incomp.table.
For the first time in UK, we publish the Unabomber's manifesto in full, well Fe's April commWlique and introductions by as as 1995 Green Anarchist and Autonomous Anarchists Anonymous. A pamphlet worth killing for? Read it and decide for yourselves!
£1.60 IN CASH OR BlANKPOSTAL ORDERS ONLY FROM The Unabomber's ManifestoSeplembu 19, 1995 GREEN ANARCHST MAIL ORDER. POBOX407, CAMBERL£Y GU.6 3FL as published In lheWashluatOD Post, 1'lJtsday. THEUNABOMBER CONTENTS
Coruellls I AboutThe Author 2 WhoseUnabomber'1 6
Introduction • Psychology of Modem • Ll:ftism Feelings of Inferiority 10 Oversoeia.lisation 12 The Power Process 14 Surrogate Activitie.s I' Aulonomy " Sources of Social Problems I6 Disruption ofthe Powa in Modem Society 18 Process How Some People Adjust 21 The Motives of Scientists 23 Nature of Freedom 2' The Some Principle.sof History 2S Industrial-Technolo1,>lcaiSociety CltilnoL Oe Reformed 21 Restrictionof Freedom is Unavoidable inIndustrlLll SocieLY 27 The 'Bad' Parts of Technology Cannot Be Separued From The:'Good' Parts 2' Technology is aMOle Powerful f-orcethan the Aspira1ion for Freedom 30 Social SimplerSocial Problenu Hive Proved In1l'IIctable: 33 Revolution Refonn 33 is EasierThan Control of Human Behaviollf 34 Human Raceat a CrOiOsroadi 37 HumanSufferi ng 3. lbe:Future ,. StnUegy '2 Two orTechnology 47 Kinds TheDanger of Lertism 48 Note Final 51 N"� S2 APPENDIX Unabomber's Communiqoo 58 Useful Addresses 61 -
INDUSTRJALSOCIETY AND rrs A/T1JRE THEUNABOMBER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 111 _In 17 V ...... bomber'. ThenUlli InIH Date Location What Happened TheUnabomber is at the lop of America's MoSlWanted .. $1 million reward on his head for 16 list, May 25, '1$178 Northwestern Univ bombings since 1978. A specialist team of 150 FBI offic:en have interviewed over 10,000 suspects Package bomb. 1 injured speDt$50 million in an unsuccessful anempt to Slop They admit he'. ''very clever" and ". Evanston, III and him. craftsman", exhaustively familiar with explosivu boIb commercial and underground, 'cook boo b' new and old, and individually f&sWoning the parts of devices from SCflIp metal, right down to hb lIay I,1178 Northwestern Univ Bomb in a box. 1 injured screW," to make himseUmore difficult trace. 10 Nov1S, 1878 American Airlines Bomb lor delivery to . He also won celebrity in the US a.s the Pimpernel of mailbombers" and spectacular "Swiec Chicago to unknown location explOdes publicity for primitivistideas worldwide during the evenu:that led up to the publication of Industrial Washington aboard Boeing 727. Soci,ry FI/.IIiU in September 1995, forcing even technocrats targeted by him to concede 4< lu 12 a linIe o(the Unabomberin each of us", injured "there', bit .June10, 1880 Lake Forest, 1/1 Package bomb. 1 injured The Unabomber'l first device. .. cigar box with match-head charge elastic band detonators and within. was foundIn the earpark of the Univemy of Chicago, on 2S May 1978. Instead of Oct8, 1181 Univ of Utah, Bomb in classroom filinoit, reaching the professor at New Yorlt's Rensselaer Polytecilflic Institute was addre,used the Salt Lake City Noinjuries il 10, device was posted back to Northwestern University where it slightly injured a campus cop that lIay 5, 1882 Vanderbilt Univ, Pipe bomb. 1 injured becamesuspicious enough openit. 10 Nashville A second device ignited at Northwestern Univemry almost a year later, 9 May 1979, slighly injuring nudent but was the explosion of a third device in the belly of a Boeing 727 on a .July 2, 1182 Univ of CaliJomia Pipe bomb. 1 injured a it domestie flight between Chicago and WlUhinglon on IS November 1979, injuring 12, thllt got the 81 Beri(eley FBI involved. Thistllird action boughtthe previous two to light, setting the reds on long and their May 15,1885 Univ of California Bomb in computer SUlChfor Amenka's"1er.haI Luddite". new development didn't deterhim from posting fruitJeSi This al Berkeley room. 1 serious injury Perey Wood, president of United Airlines, ..book bomb that injured him in We on 10 f"On, filinois, June1980. The attackon Wood led the FBI to file their elusive serial bomber 'Vnabom' .tune13, 1885 Boeing Company Package bomb. No injuries II.'; - 'Un-' standingfor 'univemty' as much as 'United Auburn. Wash. Airline5'. In his 1995 oommuniqueto the Nt"" York the Unabombtt ooncededplanting his next Nov lint Ti�I, 16,1185 Ann Arbour. Mich. Package bombmailed to deviceIn a classroom of the University of Utah's Business on g November 1981 was "a sc hool home of Univ of Mich. mistake". It injured no-one. professor. 1 Injured Two montJu after a S May 1982 pipebombing injured an unidentified academic at Vanderbilt DK a University, Nashville,Unabomber the struck for the first time at the University of California on 2 11, 1185' Sacramento, C lif 80mbexplOdes outside a July 1982. During the national holiday weekend, a parcel.bomb was found on the floor of the coffee computer store. 1 dealh Joungue or lhe Berkcley campuses engineering department. An electroruu professor's face and Feb 20, t887 Salt Lake C;ty Bomb outside a computer hands were severely damaged as he unwnppcd the package, which he mistook. for a "measuring store. 1 injury instrument". Some yearslaler, the Unabomber got right to the bcny of the Berkl:ley fuewor:k.! Three .June22, 18D3 Tiburon, Calif. beast,leaving a parcel bombin its computer room on IS May 1985 thai cost the maths gradualethat Package bomb', mailed 10 opened it the fingersofhiJ rigbt hand well known geneticist. . than a month later, on 13 June 1985, the Boeing Corporation was hit a secondtime. bomb 1 severe injury Leas I being sent the Wuhington office but getting inlercepled could do harm. �ss fOI1unale .Nne Yale to before it 24, 1883 Univ. Package bomb, mailed to wu the rcsearch.assUtant of a University of Mlehigan professor. Although sent to his home on 1 S New Haven offic� of a professor. November 1985, the assistant wu injured operung the parcelfor him. Homan shield tacticsor what? 1 severe injury The Unabombcr changed tactics too the next month, concealing his next device under wooden NJ boardJin the park of I Sacremen\o, California, oomputerstore on 11 1985. The store Dec 10. 1884 North Caldwell, Package bomb mailed to ear December manager foundl: the device and, bending to pick it up, had his hurt shredded by the ensuing home of Thomas Mosser, explosion. the first of the Unabomber's die. Oearly encouraged. he tried to repeat this NY advertising executive. targds 10 tactic outside a Salt City computer store on 20 1987. Again the store manager 1 Lake February death concernedwas injured but somtOne wl:aringa hood and big, dark: shadCJ thl:FBI believe may bethe 24, 1885 Sacramento, Calif. Package bomb mailed to Unabamberwas spotted in the earparle by a womanclerk. This was the closest he evergot being April to of caught and the FBllhemse\ve5 admit the stlLlldaroartiJl's skdCh arising from the witnessdescription iobbying offices Cah1 is "crappy" they can't even decide his hair colour or estimate his age more lICCunuely Forestry As&oc. 1 Death so on than II -
UNASOMBER INDUSTRIALSOCIETY AND ITS FllTlJRE 1lIE ber's motive was lhak y, consistently professor. He was relieved to find allit contained was a copy of Industrial SodlllJAnd Its decade either wayl FBI usessment of the Unaoom .eq�a1I)' � PuJurC'1 . as out of such unlikely personal moovation. being bumped (or manuscript and a of eminently sane qucstions, all her nII refuting the pror. of the visualiJing • nut' .cling list carlcatun: him as ')one Going years withoUl JeJolt - Unabombctas a ps�ho lacking valid motives. seal or employment by c:ompurtr1lI10matiOn. an airline robbed of methods - the FBI's Unabom wk force was eventually On 19 Seplcmbcr 1995, the newspapers but they'd been cracking way before then. AI perhapi und dably given their ended erstan May 1995's end, a letlCf the Unabombcr had wrinen to Sdtnlific American coodcawing modem disbandlcd. science its "anogance" made it onto the front cover of Ntwswtd:. For wccb following, for the spectacular 1993 World Trade Center bombing by for thiJ m might have lUted but world-renown glossy WIIS prinling rcadcn praising Fe's insights inlo the crapOCSI on the same level as There atten tly offing penoMe1 who regularly parted still ' lttlCl'l of blamic fundamentalists.apparen CIA The mOll � negotiation was between the Unabolllber PtnlMlUt. the modem life. and the bomber's rruck. Unabomberagreeing to allow Fe'l manifesto to be publiJbed in itbUI reserving the right to lrilI anived within days. on 22 June 1993 at the Univemty of ODe Two new Unabombcr devices PtIlIMII..SC'I the continent two more tcehnocrat subsequently due to ''inferior quality". Unsurprisingly unhappy with seven:ly injuring a geneticist and on the other side of California',TIburon campus this deal, its editor Bob Guccione then offered the Unabomber a monthly column u au alternative, computer programmer David day. Yale University, cau.ring Jevett: injury to prominent latc:r at devices being used an o�er ulti�llely nol taken up because the Ntw York Times and Washington PO!' agreed join! The Unabombct had nol been idle in his 'retirement', the new . to Gelemter. nilIa1C:/aiuminium filings and pU�CIIllon To cover their aBC', they had anomey geucral aud FBI upgrading their explosive mix from runpowder to ammonium IMead. Jand Reno director first sprin..kle boly water on their decision, insislina they wen: publishin& for n::asons swapping elutic detonators (or electronic ones. Around this time, the Unabomber made his Louu Frceb of public safCl:y, not journalism. Each paper $30,000 but ror technical reasons the approach to the N� York Tim4J, briefly explaining the bombings were down to the Club sbouldered six Freedom bto�heet-sizcd pages of IndlUlrial SodtlJ III FutllFt were lim fUn as a supplement in the (FC),anti-tuh An« anarchist•. Washillgtoll POlt. The supplement. wu deliberately fUn mid-week to ensure les.! were produced, a rapidlyrc:consthuted FBI 'Unabom' task foree didnothing to save life of Thomas Mosser. The the feeble and gesture on the newlmens part. Wa.rner were good CllDu,h to post of Bunon-Marstener, the ad linn responsible ror 'greenwashing' the Valdez petulant Tune exl!C'Dlive &xon buJlUlTia/ SOCittyAlld lIS Fulurt on the lntcrNCI: and [Wo daYI Iller, on 21 September 1995, the environmental ealUtrophe. The 'seasonal surprise' was posted to his home at Spen Drive, N. OaJ:land Tribune also carried tile manifesto. nus wu supposed to be rcaden can identify Caldwell, New Jeney on 10 December 1994 and Mosser lost his head over It (Iittera1lyl) when 10 iu opened- that'll teach him nO( to wait until Christmas, eh? author from his writing and then gTU' DR him _ you wouldn't do Ihal, would you? _ but in raCl The FBI attribllle the Unabombct'. lISt attack to his reaction to militia stooge McVeigh's Indus/riat SOCitty And FUlure hu 'PiLJl:� majur dc:�c in the US, for all its reductionism and Tun /11 truck-bombing ofOkithoma's Building. certainly didn't his approval: "We SIJOngly machUmo. Fedenl h win We wish to know no more pcnonal details about Unabomber than are in the public deplore the kind of indiJcrimi.nate slaughta' tbt happened in O�oma City". Only days tile domain aJrudy and htive deliberately corrected (but dc-Americanised) spellings in Fe'. manifesto afterward., on 24 April 1995, a 10" square box heavily bound with tape arrivedat the headquaners DOl and communique the prospect of lbiJ publication being used to calch We also wish the of the CaliforniaForestry Association, scummy clearcutten and 'we use' lobbyists rightly despised. 10 reduce him. by Pirstlen Amusingly, staff jobld that it might be a bomb when the Unabomber the a success and anonymity in ncw'carce:r asccotellf, Earth everywhere. and biJ corporation'. presidenl'. couldn't open ii, she did the righl thing and passed it on to her Editor,Grttll IeCrCtfUy AIulrcAisr, bou,even though wu addressed to Gilbert Murray'. predeceuor, William Dennison. Many 5 November1995 iI sec this rnisaddrclsing as evidence this wu an express delivery by the Unabomber but Murray or Dennison, the rerult was tbe same whatever - the CPA'. president wu successfully usassinated .
Unabomhing to dale. Two days afterii, in a April 1995 This wu the las! FC set fonhlerm. IU 26 leaer to the New York Timtl, «her national publications and David the Yale US Geiemter, programmer the Unabombcr injured in 1993. Thinking it was another bomb, New York Tinul staff passed it on unopenedto the FBI - but it came back to them soon enough. Having made good with the times many yean, the UnabomberDOW pushedhis propaganda ''we feel just deed.lxtcen In as lIS now the lime ripe for pushing anti-industrial promised to tate no fW1her "terrorist" is ideu". He actions Fe's manllCllo IndlUlrial SodelJ Alld Its FlI.tllFe WIIS publlihed. their hang if For all wringing about ethical hsue,o; of 'blackmail' and 'giving terrorists the oxygen of publicity' supposedly involved in publishing the manifesto, the New York Timel was qmck enough to publuh the Unabomber's communique.
Perhaps0111 toprove the pen as mighty as the bomb. the Unabombcrthen .sent a .series of lenen to belp concentrate the of newspaper editor's IlIbjcd to offer. The firs! reached 1993 Nobel milKis hiJ laureatc.s for biology and genetic cnginecn Richard Robem of Boston Biotech and Philip Sharpe of Mass hu.se1t5 InstuituteofTcehnology on 8 May 1995, reminding them how much disapproved. � Fe ofthcir At the end of June 1995, Angeles airport n:cieved. a letter threatening to blow rc.search. Los up an tirl.Iner one day, provoking a massively expensivc and disruptive security operation, and another the next firs! u a hoax. Unlucky for the FBI, on 2 July 1995, tho 13th dismissiog the anniversary of the Unabombing of Berkeley, another package arrived there from Despite firs! FC. general FBI warnings to all staff, the package was opened by lOme rent-a-quote psychology
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INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE mE UNABOMBER
!.hey &It unknown,nO[ . put of accepted. �speacd disco\Ule.The cowardiceWId disbonesty[}'pica! WHOSE UNABOMBER? of professon and journalistscould ha.rdlybe more clearlyrepreserued. � easily prediCUlbIe has been the antipathy to UnabombcNype ideas from the liberal·left. Tcchnogogues and technopaths we have had with us for some time. The Artificial Intelligena: "Unabummet" wu Alexander near-hysterical denunciation Tilt NQliofl, August plonoctMarvin Minsky, for instance, was well-known in early 19805 for his de$Cription of the Cockburn', in !he 28lSepternbet4. ThiJ pseudo-critic of US capitalism rants about Unabomber's "homicidal political human brain u "a:3 pound computetmade of He was featured in lbe December 1983 issue nuttiness", the fruit of an "'imUional" tradition. say. that Unabomber meal". American anarchist Cockburn of PQc}zologyToday, occaJsioning the following letter: represents a "rotted-out romanticilm of the individual and of nature", that natureu gone f�VCfand we'd better 1ICCep' its extinction. In-reply to this to Wify and marginaliz.e both Unabvomber MarvinMinsky: cffmt and anarvhism, Bob Black poinIJ (unpublished letter to editor) the worldwide ruurgenoc of OUt lbc: With the wholly uncritical treeatment - nay, giddyembrace - of high technology, even to such anarchism andfinds Unabomber expressing: u:aescenCCllu machine"emotions" whicb you develop and-promote, Prychology Today has at the best and the predomioanlthinking colllcmporary Nonh Inarchbm, which least madeit publicly plainwhat's intended for social lifc. in American bas mostly gotten over the workcruffi and productivism which it too often used to Yourdehumanizing workis a prime contribution to high tecb's acceleratingmotion towards ,hate with an ever moreartificial, de-individuated, empty 1andscapc. Marxism
I believe am 001 alone in the opinion that vemUn such as you one day be considert:d In spring 1995, Earth First! spokespenon Judy Bad labeled Unabombet. ., sociopath", going on to 1 will among the worslcriminals this century produced. declare, definitively but mistakenly, that "thertis no one in the radical environmenLBl movement who hu revulsion, John calling for violence". ThU is the place 10 adcquetdy polliica of tadical In Zerzan 15 not di.w:uss thc environmentalism, bUI Bari's pontificating lOWlds the voice of the many anatcho-libelllls and A do=n yean laIer the number of those actively engaged in the desolation of the soul and the like anarcho-pacifists who wish to go DO funher in defense of the wild than tired, inclIecc:ive murder of nlttl:re probably risen; bUi support for the entire framework of such activity has dvil has disobedience, and who brandish sucb timid and compromiseds10aaDS as "no defoTCSWion undouttedlyeroded. withOut representation". Enter Unabomber(he J she I they) with a critique, in acU as wd.l as words, of our sad, perverse, The summer 1995 issue of Slillgshol,I&bloid of politically Berkeley militants, colllained a and increasingly bereft technological Unabombetcalh for a returnto "wild nature" the COIJUt existence. via brief editorial trashing UllIbombct for auting danger of govcmmc:D1reprenion" of "complete and pennanent destruction of modern industrial society every part of the world", and "'the rW t:be in radical milleau. feartlwmisplaces blame on Unabombctover looks the simple factthat any the replacement of tha! impersonal, unfree. andalienated 50Ciety by that of Imail, f&Cb-to-facc The rW 50Cial groupings.He killedtbre.e and wounded 23 in the of thisprofoundly radical vision. blows againsl the l.kgwnachinewill invite respoosesfrom enemies. our The JPCCt=" of �pression is has aerviec Thereare two somewhat obvious objections this theory and practice.For one thing, a retLllllto most effectivelybanished by doing nothing. 10 fvr theiJ' pan, the "anarchisLl" of a/ld Rag' (August/Seplember) have also joined the anti undomesticated amonomous ways of living would not be achieved by the removal of industrialism Loll' Unabomber leftisl chorus. Wayne the Unabomber Anarchist?" conocdc.s, with Bob alone. Such removal woLJid leave dominationof natLJrC, subjugation of women, war, religion, lhe Price'. "u an !till Black, tlw "mosl today not the current development of indu.nriallCCbnology state.,and division of laboLlf, to cite50me basic pathologies. It is civilization itself that must anarchisu do regard as social be 'progreui.vc' or even 'neutral', as do IJId But aftergiving guarded lip-scvicc W1done to go where Unabomber wants 10 go. In other word$, wrong tum for humanity was the Manisu JiberalJ". this lhe to the ascendancy of UD&bombet-likc virule Dlly Unabombcr as "a murderer AgriculturalRevolution, much more fundamentally thanthe IndumialRevolution. ideas, Price dea:ieJ terms of practice,the mailing of explosive devices intended fOT the agents who engineering dragging noble ideastlu:ou&h the mud" IJId withholds even luch political and legal lupporc he In arc that the present eallL'ltrophe is too random. Children, mail earners and could easaily be kil1ed. would accord authoritarilJl leftists targeted by the 5lItal:e. a/ld Rag' is defined by a heavy others Loll' Even one granted the legitimacy of striking at the high-tech horror show by terroriT.ing its banded, manipulative organize..the-� ideology, approaches that are more bonCl!I IJId more if indispensable hannis not justifiable. radJcal are eitherignored or condemned by thesepoliticians. arcrntcell, collatoral Meanwhgile, Unabomber operatesa in a context of massive psychic immistrll1ion and of failh But thi5 itlca.ive mini-sUJVey of opposition Unabomber doCl! oot by any means exhaust the loss 10 in all of the system's institutions. How many moviegoen, to be more specific, took issue range of responses. are other perspectives, which have mainly, for obvious reasons, been with There T,rmillalor and iLl equating of science and teclmology with death and destruction? Keay expressed only privately. Some of us, for one thing, have found a g1i.nl of bopc public 2 in the Examintr, a pearence, at last, of a challengeto the fundamenlab:of a depnved landsc:ape. distinclion to the Davidson's "A Rage Against Science" (San Francisco 30 April 1995) observed that � In Unabomber's "avowed hatred of scicnce and technological. trends mOcets growing popular Widespread feeling that everything outside of the is beyond our collU'Ol, the mooopoly of loiea self disilJusionmement science". has been broken. might be said that Unabomber's (media) impact is bere today, only to be with It A noteworthy example of the resoance that his l\Veeping critique of the modern world enjoys forgotten tomorrow. But a.t least afew will have been able to understand and remember. irony, is The Evolution of Despair" by Robert Wright, cover rtory of (or August 28. The long article of course, is tha.t lethal bombingl were necessary fot IJI alternative to planetary and individual ''The TIME discusses Unabomber's indictment soberlya.nd sympathetically, in a.n effortto plumb ''the so wee of deltruction to be allowed to be heard. our pervasive lense of discontent". The concept of justice sbauld be overlooked in considering the Unabomber phenomenon. DOt In AI the same time, oot sU1prisingly, other commentators have sought possible fact, acept for his targw, when halle many liUle EichmanD.J wbo arc preparing the Brave New 10 minimlze the tbe impact of such ideu, "Unabomber Manifesto Not Particularly Unique" is dismissive summary World ever been called to acoow1l1 � is any clemenwy pusonal responsitility when the the John Schwanzprovided for the August 20 Was/linglollPost. Schwartz found profeuors who would p!8/U1ersof our daily and global death marchact with completeimpunity? loftilyaneS! to the Wloriginality of fWldamenw questioning of society, as ifanytlting that gQC$ The roling order rewanhi IllCb destroyen and tries to polish their image. The May 21 N,w York like hat: Times s "Unabomberand David Gelcmter"hum the laner, injured bya UDilbomber on clu$t'OOms.Ellul, Juenger and OIhers with a negative of technology are far from old Magalw' aniu:4; in view bomb at Yale, as a likable computetvisionary preparing a "Renaissance of hUman spiriul". From tbe 6 7 -
INDUSTRlALSOCIETY AND rrsFl1T\JRE lHE UNABOMBER no other source than the article itself, howevCT, it is clear that Ge\emtCT helping to usher U in an authoritarian dystopia based on all the latesthigh-tech vittas. lik:e geneticengineering. INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY it unethical to try \0 stop tbose whose contributions are bringing an unprecedented waul! on Is life10r1sit unethicaJ.to just accepI our passive roles in the CUITenI zeitgeistof postrl1odemcynicism and know-nothingism?As a friend in California put recently, when justiceis aaa.i.nst the law, only il AND ITS FUTURE outlaws can effect justice. The lengthy Unabornber manuscript undiscusscd here; its slIengths and weaknesses wiU go deservesepanue scrutiny. INTRODUCTION These mainly shed light on lOme orlhe various,mGStly negativecommentary TlIlherthan mnarb 1. The Industria!Revolution and its consequences have been disaster for the buman race. 'They ditectly on their ObjecL It often the case that one can molt readily learn society by watching a i! aboul nave greaJ.ly increased the lifo-upectancy of those ot us who live in �advanced� countries, but they iu rcact:lOtll, acron the spectrum,to those who would challenge it have sociery, have made lite unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, de5tabUiu:.d Well, I believe FClUnahomber-- it's all overthe country ... his ideas m, a.o; the have led to widespreadpsycbological 5lllfering(in the Worldto pb)'iicalsuffering u well)and In situaIiuonisu Third said, 'in everyone's heads':it's just. mailer of llilening to yer own rage have inflicted severe damage on the natural wcn:ld. The continued development of technology will WOIKO the iituatiol1. Ii will oenainly subject buman beings to grealer indignities and greater • MidWesternerin the know. in!liCl: damage on the natural world, it will probllbly (cad 10 greater disruption and psycho!ogica1 socw Or as Eisenberg,from Polytechnic University in Brroldyn,admitted, "SCTlUch moa people suffering,and it may lead to increasedphy5ica1 suffering even in "advanced"countries. Anno and you'll get a Luddite". 2. The industrial-technological system may survive or it may down. it survives, MAY And fromthe Wu.tly, Perldnson',6 July 1995 column sagely concluded: break If it Boulder Robert eventually achievea low levd of physical psycholOgical suffering, but only after passing through and Amidst overwhelming madness of unbridled economic growth and postmodem disintegration, long and very painful pc:dod of adjustment only the cost of pennanenliy reducinghuman a and Ilt is such nostalgia, or even such overwhelming raIge, really crazy? For many, especially th05e beings and many other living organisms engineeredprodUClS merecogs in the socialmachine. 10 and who scrape by in unfulfilling jobs and peerklngingly towatds the stars obscured by beaming Funhermore, the syaem mrvivcs, the consequences will be 1bere is no way if ineviIable: of street lights, the answer probably no. And for thcm, the Unambombcr may a reforming or modifying the system so 10 prevent from deprivinl people of dignity and is not be as 11 psychopathicdemon. They may wish FC the of luck. autonomy. best Autonomous AnarchistsAn onymous , 3. the system breaks down the conscquence3 be verypainful. But the tigger the system Box 11331. Eugene. If will still PO grows the more disastrous the of its breakdown will be, it is break down it had Oregon97440, USA. results 50 if 10 besl breakdown sooner ratherlha.n later.
4. We therefore advocale I revolution against industrial system. This revolution may or may not !he make use of violence: may beIUcldeu or it may be a re1ativdygradu.aJ prooeu spanningIfew il decades. We can't predict any of thal BUI we do outline in a very general way the mea:surcl that . thosewho hatethe industrial .ystemshould take in the way for a revolution againsl Of'da 10 prepare that fonn of sociery. This is nol be I pounCAL revolulion. object will be to overthrow 10 115 DOl governments economicIlld teehnolopcal basis oflbe present society. bullbe 5. In this articlewe give attention only some of the negative devdopments that have ifOWIlOUI 10 of the industrial-techoological J)'stem. Other luch developmenu we mendon only brieny or ignon: altogether. does not mc.aD thllt we regan! these otber developmenu unimponanL 1bi.s !Ill PoT reasons we have to confine oW' discussion that have recci,ved insufficient practical to areas public in which we havesomething IlCW10 say. example, are well-developed IIIttntion or For since � environmental and wilderoeu movements, we have written very abouc environmental Iitlic degradatiODor the destJUctionof wild even though we considerthese to he highly lmportanl. nature, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MODERN LEFTISM
6. Almost everyone will Ihlltwe live in. deeply troubled socielY. of thc most widespread agree One manifestations of tbe auincu of our wcn:ld is (cftism,so • discussion ot the psychology of leftism canserve as an introducdon 10 the discussion ofthc problem.ot modem.aciety in general.
7. BUI what leftism? During the firsthalf ot the 20th century (cftismcould have beenpractically is identifiedwith Todaythe movemelll is fragmelllcd it is Il()( clear who properly be JOCiwsm. and caD called a leftist. When we speak ot lcftisu in thU article we have in mind mainly socia.Wts,
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INDUSTRIAL SOCIETYAND rrsFUTURE THEUNABOMBER coUoctivi,ns. "politicallycome t" types, feminist!, gay and disability activists, animal rigms activists and the likt. But everyonewho is associaledwith one of these movements ill a leftist What 14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as $U'ong as capable as men. Ceady 1101 we arc they arenagged by a fear women may NOT beas strong andas capable asmen. trying10 gelat in di�uuing leftism1101 is so moch I movementor anideology as a psychological. that type, or ralher a COllteMn of �lated types. Thus, what we mean by 1eftUm" emerge more will. 15. Lefti.mtend to hate anything thAI has an image of being strong. good and successful Theyhate clearlyin the COIll"5Cof ourdiscussion of leftistpsychology (Also,lee paragraphs 227.230.) America, they hate WC$lem dviliz.ation. they bate white males, they hate rationality. The reasons 8. Even so, our conception of leftism remain I good less clearthan we would wish, but that leftistsgive fOf hating the WCiI, etc. clearlydo not co�pond with They will deal their real moriyC$, there doesn't seem to be any remedy for this. we trying to do ill indicate in a rough and SAY they hate lhe West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric a.nd so forth, bUI All are approximate way tnc [wo psychological tendencies that we believe arc the main driving force of wherethe1e same faults appear in IOCialistcountriea Of in primitive cW.tW'CI,the leftistfinds.eJlcuscs modem leftUm. We by no means claim telling lhe ttuth about leftist psychology. for them, or at best Y admits lhat they wherell$ENI'HUSlASTICAU. he Y 10 be WHOLE be GRUOOINGL WSl; Abo our di�CtWion is �[ to apply 10 modern leftism only. We leave open lhe question of the points out (and often gteII1ly exaggerates) tbese faulu where they appear in Western civilization. , , , Thusit is clearthat thele arenot the leftiSl',motive real for hating America the We5l. He eJ;tent10 whichour diSCUSSIon could be appUed to the ICftillUof lne and early 20thcenllll'y. faulu: and 19th hates America and the West bccawe they an:Itronl successful. The psr:hoOgi ca1 tenden tS underlie modem leftism we call "feelings of inferiority" and and ?,' tv:'0 . ,� � �at . . are 16. Words "sclf-oonfideoce ,""�-reli.ance, "initiative", �ClIt.erpril;C,M "optimism." etc. play linle ovmoaa1i.zat:ion. Feelings of mfenonty cl\at1IC1eristic of modem lel'tism as • whole, whilc like M rolein the liberal and vocabulary. The is anti-individualistic,�vist. wants ovenocializAtion is characteristic only of a certain segment of modem leftism; but this segment Ieftisc Ieftisc He is $OCiety solve everyone" nccda for them, � cate of them. He is not the lott of person who has highly influential. 10 an inner of confidencein own ability50lve 10 own problems &tid aarisfy own needs 5CnJe his his his . FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY Theleftist IUllagonisticto tbe concepe:of competitionbcc&use, deep inside, he feelsal like ORl". it fOI1ll$ that appcallO modem leftist tend lO focus on sordidness, defeat and 10. By �fcellngs ofinfcriority"we mean only inferiority feelings the strictest sensebut a whole 17. Art intellectuals 00( In despair, or they � anorgiastic tone, throwing rationaloontrol asiItbc1e wereno bopc sp m of reillfed low self-esteem, feelings of powerlenncu, depressive tendencies, cbe o1f of � traiu: in defeawm, guilt,. self·hatred.etc. We argue that modc:m leftists tend to have such feelings(possibly accomplliihing anything through rational calculationand all thatwas leftwas to Uomene oocsc1! tbe sensaLiOIUof the molllCl l. more or less repressed)and that these feelings� decisivein determining tbe direction of modem \ leftism. 18. Modem leftist philosoplten tend to dismiss IU.$on, science, objectivetealiIy and to insist lhal everythingis culturtllyrelative. It onecan aU 1Cri0WlqlleJltions about the foundations of When som�e I�erpttts as derogatory almost anything lhat is said abouthim (or about groups i.s true that 1�. scientific knowledge about how, ifat all, theconc::epl of objectiveJUlity can be Butdefined. is Wlth whom be Identifies) we concludc [hat he has inferiority fcclings or low self-estccm. This and if obvious that modem leftist philosophen are not simply cool-headed logicians syltCmatically tendency is pro�unccd among minorityrighu advocaJes,whether Of not they belongto minority !he lIlIlyzing the foundations of knowledge. Theyare deeply iIlvolved emotionally anack on groups woose nghts they defend. They are hypcncMrivC about tbe words used to designate ill their truth and reality. They attaclt[hese conceptibecause of own psychological ODC �orities. The terms "negro," � oriental," "handicapped" or "chick" for an African, an Asian, a their occds. For . . thing, their mackis an outlet for hostility,a.nd, to the extclllthat is successful, it satisfie.t the drive disabledperson or a woman onginally had no derogatory connol:allon. HBroad� "chick" wen: if and for power. More imponanliy, theleftist hilesscience rationality because they classify oenaia merely the feminineequivalents of "guy," "dude" Of ·fellow.� The negativecoonot_dono; have been beliefs (i.e., luccellful, superior) andother beliefs andas fa15e(i.e. falled, inferior). The ).eftist·, anached to tbese termsby the acti�stllhemsclvC3. Some animal rights advOCates have gone so far a.o; true . feelings of inferiority IUn so deep that be cannot tolera1e any classifiCllion of lOme things as I.'l to rq� the word "pet" and insist on ill replacement by "animal companion.·· anthropologuts go to great lengths to avoid saying anything about primitive peoples that I...eftjSlcould successful or superiorand other things as failed or inferior. ThiJwo undedics the rejection by many leftists of the oonccptof mental illncss ofthc utility of IQ tesa. LeftistsantqonisCic are to conccivably beinterpreted as negative.. They want to rnplacethe word "primitive" by "nonlitcral:e." and Theyseem almost paR.Doid,bout anything that mighl: sngge$llh81any primitive geneticexplanations of human abilitiesor behaviour because luch CJtplanations tend to make some to our own. ARE cuJrure is inferior personsappear superioror inferiorto othc:n. Leftistsprefer to givelOciety the acdU blameor for an . CNe do not mean to imply that primitive cultum inferiorto ours. We merely pomtout the hypersensitivity of leftishanthropologists.) individual's ability or lack of iL Thus a person is "infcrio(' it is not fault, bw 1OClety'•• because be nOl beenbrougbl up properly.if his 12. Those who are �o� scn�tiveabout ·politically incorrect" terminology are not the avr:mge black Iw gbetto-dweller, ASlan abused woman or disabled person. but a minority of activists, 19. The leftist is not typieally lcind of JlClSon whose feelings of inferioritymake him a braggan, 1lIlrrugrant, thc from an egotist, a bully, • self-promOlCr, a compctilOr. ThiJ lcind of perIOn not wholly lost m�y of wh�� do not belong 10 any group but come privileged nrala of ruthleSi bas 5OCJ.ety. Pouuca1 coTnlctnesseven has . stronghold"oppressed" among university professors who have seeure faith in hinueU. He hu a delicit sense of power self-worth,bill be canaiU conceive It.! in his and of himself as having the capacity to be strong. his dfons lO make iIrOng produce his employmentwith comfortablesalarieJ, and the majorlly of whom are beterosex . while males from and himsctf � unpleasant behaviourI. But the leftist is far gone for that. feelings of inferiority are so middle--class (amiliel. too His ingrained that he cannot conceive of himself as individU&lJy strong valuable.. Hence the Ma.nyleftists have an intense identificationwith the problems of groups that have an image of and 13 collectivism of the leftist He can fee l strong only as II. member of II. large organUation or • mas. being: � (women). defwed (AmericanIndians), repellent(homosexuals), or OI:herwise inferior. movement with whicb be ideruifiu himself. The leftiststhemselves fccl that these groups are inferior. 11Jey woold never admit it to themselyes 20. Notice tbe masochistic tendency of leftist tactic,. Leftists protest by lying down in of thal thcy have luch fedings, but it is precisely because they do seethese groups II.ll inferiortha.t they front Thc5c be .• ARE arc vehicles, they intentionallyprovoke police or racistllO lOOse them, etc. may often identify �thth� problems. (We do not suggest that women, Indians, etc inferior; wc taaiCi only makinga pomt about leftistpsychology). eflective, but many leftisu� tbem nol:lIS meansI to an end but because they PREFERmasochUtic Self-hatred is II. leftist.trait. JaCtics. 10 11 -
INDUST'RlALSOCIETY AND rrs FUTURE THEUNABOMBER
by moral prlnciP1c. 27. We argue lhat a veryimponaru and influential segment of the oversocializ.tdand their activism motivllted by compassion Of . modem left is 21 . LeMsu rna,' claim that is an �� Ihat their ov cnocllilizatiQn of g:real impoftance deLCnnining lhe hction of modem leftism 'alized 1\lnC. But oompMSlon d mo,w is in . does play a role for the Ie.u:. , Ih e oversoa moral prlnciple �- 0r Jr . a oompo nl of the avcrsocia1iw;l type tend 10 be or members of the uppef-midd1c clus. activism.. Hostility pro�nt � Lefli$1$ of intcllcclual� cannot be the main motives for leftist iJtoO . principle not ra.D.ona11r Nolice that universily intellcaualJ J constitute the most highly socializM segmenI of ow- lOcitJ:y and power. MImOVc:r, much leftist ,bchaVlOur 11 leftist behaviour; so the drive for the most left-wing segment. is leftists claimto betrj'lng help. example, also ca1cula!ed to be ofbenefit to the people whom the to For if make sense 10 demand ve action good for black people. does it 28. The of the ovcrsocia1iw;l type tries to get off his psychological leash and one believtll that tffirmati is , leftist a.uert his Obviously it would be more �UctlVC to take I autonomy by rebelling. But uswUIy not strong enough to rebel againsl the mOR buicvalue. of vc action in hostile or dogmatic: lenns? , be is &ffirmati. and sy mbolic to diplomllic and conciliatory approach that would make at least verba.! �:lIlce�OIlS society. Generally speaking, tbe goals oftoday'. leftisu are NOT in conflict with the w::eptcd ve action discriminaIes agai!l!lt them. BUI actlV1SU do morality. On contrary, the left an ptedacce moralprinciple, adoPII it as ill own, and then while people who think that affirmati 1�ft:i5t lhe take� needs HeJpmg black people not take J1ICh an appro-=h because would nol satlJfy their emotional . IICGWles mainstream society of violating that principle. E.umples: racial equality, eqll4lity of the it own problems serve as an excuse for them to express their sexes, helping JIOOl"people, peace u opposedto generally,freedom tJlpra:sion. of DOl their goal. Instead, J3.te Wit, nDlIviolcacc is real. because the need (or power. doing 50 they ICtually harm blac!.: people. kindness to animals. More fundamenl3lly, the duty of the individual to serve society andthe duty hostility and frustrated In of the white majority tends to intensify race hatred society to take C8l'eof tho individual these !lave been deeply lOOted values of our society (orat activists' hostile attitude loward All least of its middle and upper classes for a long time. These val\loU lilt explicilly or implicitly our society had no social problems at the leftists would have to INVENT problems order • 22. If all, in expressed OJpresupposed in mon of the material presented 10 us by the mAinslIumcommunicadons to provide themselves v.i1h an excuse for making a fuSl. media and the educational system. Leftists, e&pecially those of the ovc:rsocWizcd type, usually do We emphasize that the foregoing DOt pretend to be an description of everyone who POI 23. data aceurate rebel against the5e principles bUI justify their hostility to wciety by claiming (with lOme degree might be considert:d a leftist. II only a rough indication of a genenl tendency of leftism. of truth) socidy not living up to theseprinciples. is that u 29. Here an illustration of the way in whicb the ovenocializcdleftist shows realanachmenl to OVERSOCIALIZA TION is his the conventional attitudes of our society wlUle pretending to be rebellion agains Many leftists In t iL 24. Psychologists usc the term "socialiurion" to designate the processby which children aretrained pusb fOJaffirmative action, for moving black people ilIlo bigh-prestige jobs, for improved education to think and as society demands. A person said to be well socialized he believes in and in black schoob and more money fOJ such schoob; the way of life of they act is if Lbo btack "\lQdcn:1aSI" regard a social disgrace. They want 10 integrate lhe black man into tbe system, milk!: a obeys the moral code ofhia soeiccy and fits in well u a functioning part of that socie[}'. It may seem a.s him to that many leftists lilt over-socialized, dnce the leftist perceived as a rebel. business executive, a lawyer, a just upper- middle-cla.ss white people. The leftisu KnseleSJ say is scil: :nlist lie will reply ,hac the lUi thing they wanl is 10 themate black man into . copy of the white wtead Neverthcleal, the position can bedefended. Many leftists lIe not 5uch rebels asIhey 5OCm. ID.Ilfl; , they wan! to prestIVe Amc:rican But in what does of African 25. The moral code of our society demanding that no one can think, fee! and in a African culture. thiJ preservaliOD is 10 act American consUt? b can hardly consist in anylhin& more than ealiDg bhck-style fo od. completely moral. way. example. we arenot supposed hate anyone, )'dalmost everyone �I!es culture For to listening to black-style music. wearing black.style clotbing and going to • blacl:-Itylc churdl or IOmebodyat lOme time Of other, whether he admilJ it co himself Of not. Some people are so highly mosque. otheJ words. it can exprus itsclfonly superficial maners. a1I ESSENTIALruperu soclalizodthat the anempt to think, fed. and acl morally imposea a severe burden on them. order In in In In more leftists of the oversocializcd type want to make (he black man conform wbiee, middlo-clus to avoid rcc.lings of guilt, they continually have to docrive themselve.s about their own motive.s and to ideals. They want to make him Iludy subjecu:, become ILII executive or a �cntist, ip CIld find monl explanations for feelings and actiOIl!l thai in reality have a non-moral origin. We use technical the his life c1imting tbe SlahlS ladder to prove Ihal blaclr: peoplean: IS good IS white. 1bey want to term "oversocialited" to describe weh people 1. make black fathers "responsible." they want black gangs to become oonviolent, BUI these are de. 26. Ovenocialiution can lead to low self-esteem, • sense of powerlessness, derealism, guilt, etc. exaaly the values of the industrial.tcchnoloeical system. The system couldn't C8l'eleu what kind of One of lhe most importllU means by which our sociccy socializes chiI�n by making them music a man whal kind of clOl.he5 he wears or what religion be believes in IS long IS he is feel listens 10. ashamedof behaviOIlJ or speech thaI contraI)' to society's tJlpectaIions. lfthis overdone, or a studies in schoo� holds a resp«table job, climbs the suuus ladder, a "responsible" parent, is IJ if is is particular child especially IUSCl:ptible to luch feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of HIMSELF. nonviolent and iO fO l1h. effect, howeveJ much he may deny ii, the ovenocializcd leftist wants to is In Moreover thougbt and the behaviour of ovenocia1iw;l penon lilt more restriCltd by soci�'1 lhe tile integrate the black man inlo the system and make himadopt its values. expecWions than are those of Ihe lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage Ul a We certainly do noz claimleftists, that even of the ove:nocializedtype, rebel against the significant amount ofnaugh[}' behaviour. They lie, they commit petty thefts, they breaktraffic laws, 30. NEVER fundamental values of our society. Clearly they sometimes do. Some ovcrsocializcd leftistJ !lave they goofoff at work, they hale someone. they say spiteful things or they use some underhanded gone 50 far IS to rebel againJt of modern society'. most impol1anl principlea by engaging in trick to get ahead of the OIher guy. The oversoda1izedperson cannot do tbtsc things, 01 if bedocs ODe physical By thcirown account, violellCC fOJ them . fonn of ''liberation.'' lDother wolds, do them he in himself a sense of shame and self-hatred The oversocializcd person cannot violence. is geneJelu by committing violence they break through the psychological restraints tha: have bteD intonaiDcd even cx-pcrience, without guilt, thoughts or fetlings that arc contrary to the accepted moraJity; he them. Because they are oversocl.alizcd these restraints have been more confining for them than for cannottrunk �llDclean" thought&. And socialization not jWiI a matter of morality; we are II socialized hence their need to break freeof them. BUI they usually justify their rebellion in temu of to confirm to many norms ofbehaviour that do not faU under lhe heading of monility. Thus the OIben; mainstream values. they enga&e in violence they claim to be fighting against racismor the like. oversocia1iw;l person is kept on a psychological leash and spends his life running on rails that If society hu laid down for him. In many oversocializcd people this result' in a sense of constraint and 31. We realize thl! many Qbjeetions could be raised to the foregoing thumb-nail .wch of leftist: powerlC3SIlCSSthat can be a severe hardship. We JIlggest tbat ovenocialization among the molt! psychology. The complex, and anything a complete description ofi! would take is real DtuatiOD is like serious cruelties thl human lx:ings inflict on one anOlher. ievc:ral volumes eveD if the ntee$sary datawere available. We claim only to have indicated vfZ)'
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INDUS'T1IIALSOCIETY AND ITS Fl1Tl.lRE mE UNABOMBER . satisfyinghi.J in Ihe psychology of modem le m. biologicalnu.ds, andif Lhateffort required him to usehis physical and faciliIies roughly the two most importanttendencies � in a varied and mental u self- interestingway, would he feel X? are . ' 110, seriouslydeprived because he did not 32. �VC our SOClety a whole. Low altaiDgoal If The problems of the �!tist indl f the blem, of the answer is then the penon's purJuit X u 0 are of agoal a surrogate a.ctivity. Hirohito', sNdies � ddeaW,m:: CJ{ ;cted10 the Ie!\.. Though !hey especially marinebiology clearly certain hadin esteem.deptusive tendenaes socialize I�• had his constituteda surrogateactivity, since itis pretty � WldeJp,rcad today'ssoddy tries to us tub that if Hirohito noticeablein the left,they 1� :ocie . And exerctSe, to spend timeworting aI inleresting non-scientific are tv because in orderto obtain the neoes.sitiesof thanany pteVlDUS SOCIety. e � told by experu how to eat, how to life, he would not havefelt deprived life-qcles greater extent raise On he didn�blow all abouttbe anatomyand kids marine animals. of how to makelove, how to our andso forth. the other hand the: punuitof sex andJove (for example) not a activity,because most people,even iftheir existence were is lurrogale THE POWER PROCESS if they passed otherwuesatU:factory, would feel deprived their lives without everhaving a elationship sex. sex. r with a memberof the opposite (But 33. . punuit of anexcessive &mount of more than one really needs, Human beings have need bahl based in biology) for something thal we \Vill � the can be a sUII'Ogateactivity,) � . (pro ted � wet u 40. related � n (which u widely rw:Ignized)bu t not In modernindustrial society only minimal "powerprocess," is closely to three elTon is nCCC$saryto satisfy one',physiea1 oecds. Il IIIlTIC enough to go througb petty s.kill. is quite the thing. �c POWCfr SSIhu four:::ents. The most clear-cUt of these we a training programto acquire some tcd!nical OIl � (E time and a job. then come to WOtk callgoal, effortand atW �t O veryone need! to have goals whose attainment �uires excn very modest elTon needed to hold The only requirements an: a needs � UI hi amountof intelligence, a1l, OBEDIENCE, If modera1C effort, and to IU �g at leur. somt of s goals.) The founh element is mo� and moS! of simple one hu those, society taUs care of difficultto defineand may not benecessary 'or r:Y_,_,""""""".... We call itautonomy andwill discllS! II one from eradle to grave. (yes, there iii an later (paragraphs 42-44). are � underelass that cannot take physical necessities granted, but we speaking TIua it surprising for . of mainstreamso ciclY.) is not that modem , un . ' . socicly i5 full of surrogate activities. h 'cal of. man who have anything he wants Justby wuhing for It. These include scicnti6e wort. athletic achievement. � humanitarian wort, artisticand literary acquisition �:�hc::��:e= :t h�� develop riO e e creation,elimbilll the corporate ladder, of mODeY � �!?::�!:o! and material goods far beyond the aI additional physical lot of fun, butby and b he t r atr;! ��en��h� m� I=�: wci.al point which they cease giveto any � WI�_��� �:� ra � satisfaction, and activism when it are clinically depreued History In"WS aristoc ciestend to becomedecadent. This is not addreJses iuues that not important for trUe B I'� secure personally, as in the the activist of lighting ari�OCtlIciea thai have 10 struggle10 maintain Lheir powe t caseof white activists who workfor the rightl are of non-white minorities. Theie . . rbo�, ID IIOt alwaysp� surrogate activities, since for have no need to exct! Lhemsclves usuNly become ::sa.tic· and needs other than goal many peoplethey may bemotivated in partby the needto have pursue. inpart ::= . :�:: though Lhey have power. This sbows that power is not enough. One must have some to Scientifiework may bemotivatcd by goalstoward which to exerciseone's power. a drive for prestige, artistic creationby a need toexpress feelings, militanl social aaivism . . . hostility.But for most peoplewho pursue tbem, these part by 35. Everyone hasgoals; if nothing else, to Oblain l� � n :e � : For example, the activities arcin large surrogalt activities. are � :: t �: :�O:::�� :� majority of scientistswill probably agree that the "fulfilment" wha1eVC1'clothing and shelter made necessary by : e ei t earn they get from their things . ' . work is more importantthan the money andprestige they . Lhese wiLhout effort. Hence hisboredom and dernoraliUDOn. 41, For manyif not mostpeople, are 1es5 • are . surrogate 36, . lmponant...... In. (thalis, activities sa.tisfyingthan the pursuit of real Nonanalnmentof IS��lS __ •telulu in death if the goals physical necesS1I1es,and goals thaipeople attain proceu were goals . would want u fulliJIed). to even if theirneed fot the power frustration if nonanainment of the gu
47 Amona the abDonnal oonditions present in modem industri� society are e;tcessive density of 55. On the growing edge of the American frQntier during the 19th a:ntury, the mobiliry of the pojlUllliOn, isotadon of man from nlll�, e;tcessive rapidity of social change an? the break-down of population probably trokc down elUendod familiesand lllIall-sca1c social group! to II leastthe same by I\Atunl lmall-acale oommunitiel luch as the e;ttendcd family, the village or the tnbc. CJUent u theseare broken down today. In fact, many nuclear familiel lived cboia: in sucb 48. isoladoD., having DO neighboUIS within severalmiles. that they belonged to DO commwtity at all. )'Col It is well known that aowding incruses stress and aggressiolL The degree of crowding t� . seem as I frQm art. they do not to have developed problems result. exists today and the isolation of man n&lure oonsequences of technololP� progress. . indusllial locietie. were predominantly rural. The industrial Revolution vaslly lJIerea.sed the sue 56. Fwthermore, change in AmeriCIJI frontier sociely was very rapid and deep. A man migbl: be . �ties and the proportion of the population that lives in them, �d mode� agnc�tural. technology born and raised in a log cabin, outside the reach of taw and order and fed largely 00 wild meat;and . by has made it possible for the Earth to .upport a far denser �pulalJ.o� than lt eve: did .before (AIs?, the time he arrived at old age he mi&hl be working at a regular job and living in an o� II lJI deepCf technolo exacerbates the effects of aowding because puts lJIcreased disrupave powers community with effective law enforcemenL 'I'hU wu a change thll that which typically noise-making people . �d.!. Forexample, a variety of devices: power mow :" radIO , motorcycles, OCCIl1S in the lifc of a modem individual, yet does OOt scem to have led to p�ychological problems. ' e S it etc. lithe usc of these devices is uraestrietcod, people who want peace and qwet are frustrated by t� Infact, 19th century American socic:y had an optimistic and sc1f -confident tone, quite unlikethat of . noise. Iftheir use is teltrieted, people who use the: devices are frustrated by t� teguladons .. But if todaY'li socic:y. I . these machines had never been invented there would have been no conflict and no fnlSl:rallon 57, The difference. we lLf!;ue, thal modem man has the sense (largely justified) thll change generated by them.) it is IMPOSEDon him, whcrew; the 19Lh century frontienman had the: sense (also largely justified) that I he creaIcd change himsel!, by his own choia:. Thus I pi oneer settled on piece of land of his own 16 !7 -
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FVT\JRE lliE UNABOMBER choosing and made itinto a through his own effort. lOOse days an entire county might have suggest that the so.called "identity criw" is IICtually a search for a sense of purpose, often for (ann In only a couple of hundred inhabitanu and W&.'II a.far more iroialcd and autonomous entity than a commitment to a suitable surrogate activi!J' 11:may be that existentiallim u in large pan a response modem county is. Hencethe pioneer fannerparticipated as a memberof a relatively small group in to the pwpose1euness of modem life. Very widespread in modem society is the Jearch for " ." But we thai for the majority of people adivity whose main goal U fulfilmeDI the creation of a new, ordem1 community. One may well question whether the creation of this fulfdmelll lhink an community was animprovement, but any rate it satisfied the pioneer's need for the power process. (that is, a surrogate activity) not bring completely satisfactory fulfilment. other words, &1 does In it does not fully satisfy the need for the power proce,&. (Seeparagraph 41.) That need can be fully 58. It would be possible to give other examples of societiC':J in which there bu rapid change been satisfied only through activities that have lOme external goal, such as physical neoessities, sex,love. and/or of close community tics without the kind of massive behavioura1 aberration thaI seen lack: U status. R:venge. etc. in loday's industrial society. We contend Ihal the mOA importanl cause of social and psychological problems in modem society is the ract thaI people have insufficient o�portunity to go I�ugh �he 65. Moreover. where goals are pUfliued through earning money, climbing the swus ladder or . power process in a nonnal way. We don't mean to s y that mo � the onl onc which functioning as part of the .ystem in some Olher way, most people are nve a position to PW'Juc � . � BoeH:t�� � In in their the power process been disrupted. Probably most If not socll::l1es have , goals AlJfONOMOUSLY. Most wOrXerl are someone else's employee, as we pointed out in has aU Civilized mlerfeftld With lessct paragraph must spend their days doing whlll: they arctold to do in the way they are told do the power prooe&S to a greater or e.x�L But in m� indusrrial society the Pf.O�lem has 61, 10 it. particularly Leftism, at least in11$ reoelll(rrud.to-lale cennny) fonn. part a Even most people who are in buRness for have only �ooomy. become acute. .2Oth is In themselves !imilcd II u a chronic symptom of deprivation with respeCl to the power proceu. compillin! of Im.u·busincss pencns and entIepreocW'J that their hands are tied by excessive government regulation. Some of these regulations are doubLIen unncceuary. bU! for the most part DISRUPTION OF THE POWER government regulations are essential and inevitable pans of ourextremely complex society. A large portioo of small busines.s today operates on the system. 11: Willreported in the Wall Streel fran.chUe PROCESS IN MODERN SOCIETY Journal a few years ago QWly of the fran.cftise...grantiDg companies require applicaW: I.hal for franchises to take personality de.sianed to EXa.UDE those who have aeazi.vityand 59. We divide human drives into three groups: (I) those drives that can be satisfied with minimal a lelll that u initiative, because such persOiU arenot luificien1ly docile to go along obediently with the fnlnchise effort; (2) those that can be satisfied but only at the cost of seriOIlS effort; (3) tho� that cannot be system. This excludes from small business many of the people who mosl need amonomy. adequately satisfied no matter how much effort one makes. The power proom is the PfOCCSlI of satisfying thedrives of tbe second group. The mCR drives there are in the third grou , the more Today people more by virtue of what the system them or them than by virtue P 66. live doaFOR TO there frust:ration, anger, evenIually defcarism, depreuion, etc. of what they do for themselves. And whal they do for themselv� is done more aDd more along is channels laid down by the system. Opportunities tend to be those that the I)'stem provides. the In modem industrial $Oddy natunU human drives lend to be pushed into the first and third 60. opportunities must be exploited in accord with the niles and regulations Il, and techniques groups. and the IllCOnd group tends to consist increasingly of artificially created drives. prescribed by elperu must befollowed ifthe� is to bea chance of success. 61. primitive societies, physical generally into group They can be oblllined. but In necessities fall 2;. 67. Thus the power process dimJpted our society througb a deficiency goals and a only at the cost of serious effon. But modem socie(y tends to guaranty the physical neoe.ssities to u in of real deficiency of autonomy in purluit of goals. But is disrupted because of tbose humandrives everyone exchange for only minimaleff ort, hence physical needs arc pushed into group (There it .!so t in 1. thal f.u into group 3: the ddvCJ thai one cannot adequately satisfy no manc:r how much one may be disagreemenI about whether the effort needed to hold I job is "minimal"; but usually, effort in makes. One of these ddves is the need for 5CCUIity. Our lives depend on decisions by other lower- to middl&level jobs. whatever effort required mcrc1y that of obedience. You sit or stand made it is people; we have no control. over !bese decisions and usually we do not even know the people who where you are told 10 sit or stand and do whit you are lold to do inthe way you � told to do iL make \We live in a world which rdarivdy few people.maybe _ make the Seldom do you have to exert youndf seriously. &lid in any you have hardly any autonomy in lhem. in SOl) or1,00 ease importanl: decisions" - Philip B. Heymann of Law School, quoted by Amhony Lewis, New work, so that the need for the power process is not well served.) Harvard York. Tu nes, April 21, 199!5.) Our lives depend on whether wety standards nuclear power III: II. 62. Social needs, such u sex, love &lid st&tus. often remain in group 2 in modem society, depending plant are properly tained; on how much pesticide allowed to get into our food how much main u or on the situation of the individual. III But. except for people who have a panicuJarly strong drive for pollution into our air;OD bow skilful(or incompet Cllt) our doctor whetherwe lose get ajob may is; or status, the effort required the social drives insufficient 10 satisfy adequately the need for dependon decisions by gov mislSor corporalion executives: and forth. Mosl 10 fulfil 1$ made emmenl ccono so the power process. individuals nOI in a position to secure theauclvel agaiiUt these threats 10 more a very arc (than} limited CJ(tenL The individual', search for ICCUlity is therefOR: frustrated, which leads to a sense of So certain artificial needs have been created that fall into group 2, hence serve the need for the 63. powerlessness. power proceu Advertising and mancting techniques have been developed thai make many people fceJ they need things that their grandpa.rcnlS never or even dreamed of. requires serious It may be objected thatprimitive manis physically secu.rc than modem man, shown by desiJc:I It 68. leu u is effort to earn enough money to satisfy these artificial needs. hence they in to group 2. (Bul sec his shorter life expectancy: hence modem man suffers from not more the amount fall 1m, than of p.&l1lgraphs 81)..82.) Modern man muSI satisfy Iris need for the power process largely through pW'Juit insecurity thai U normal for humanbeings. psychological security � bm of the artificial needs by the advertising and marketing industry u, and through surrogate not closely correspond with physical security. What makes \IS secure not so much objective created FEEL it activities. security as sense of confidence in our ability to of ourselves. Primitive man, threatened a take care by a animal or by hunger. can fight or travd in seuch offood. He no It seems that for many people. maybe majority, these artificial fonns of the power process are fierce in sclf..&:fense has 64. the threaten insufficienL A theme thlll repeal:edly in the writings of Ihe socialcritics of the second half of certainly of success in these efforts, but he by no means helplu$ against the things appcan u !hal the 20th century is the sense of purposelessness Ihal afflicts many people modern society. (Thi5 him. The modem individual on the other hand is threa1ened by many things against which he in it purposelessness is often caJled by other names luch as "anomlc" or "middle..class vacuity.") We helpless; nuclear accidents, carcinogens in fo od, environmental pollution, war, inc:rea.sing lMes, 19 18 INOUSTHlALSOCIETY ANDITS FllTURE mE UNABOMBER
Of invasion of his privacy by larg�organi 'l..!.liOOJ, nation-wid� social economic ph�nomena thal may through the powerprocess by becoming a hunter, hUnting not for sport or for fulfillment but to gel dUrupthis way of life. meal thal is ncce$� for food. (In young women the prooes.s is more COIllPlex, with greater 69. cmphasis on socialpower: we won't disclW that here.)phase nus having been $Uccessfully passed It istrue that primitiveman ispowerJeu against some of the things that threaten him; disease for cxample. But he can accept the risk of disease stoica\.ly. It part of Ihe nature of things, it !J no through, the young man has no reluctance about senling down to the �nsibilitiel of raising a iI fllJll.i.ly.(In contrast, som�modem people indefinitely postpone having children th�y are tOO one's fault, unless is lhe fault of some imaginary, impcnonal demon. But thruts to the modem bec4uso lend results busy 5CCking som� kind of We sugge&t that the fulfilment they need adcqU&le individual to beMAN-MADE. They areno! the of chucebut are IMPOSED on him by "fulfi1lmenl." iI u expericnce of the power proceSli - with n:aI l:o,,1s instead of the artifkial goals of ,urrogale other persOnl who.!C decisions be, an individuaJ.. is unable to influence. Consequently he feels frustrated, humiliated and angry. IlCtiv\tics.) Again, having successfully raised his children, going through the power process by providing them with the physical necessitieS, the primitive man fcels that his work is he is hands (either done and 70. Thusprimitive man for the most part hu his JCCurityin his own u an individual or prepared to aceept old age (if he swvives that long) and dcaIh. Many modem people, on the ot�er u man dealh, a memberof a SMAll..group) whcreu lhe securityof modem 15in the hands of persons or are disturbed by the proipca of u ,hewn by the amountof effortthey ex�nd tr)'Ul&: 10 10 hand, iJ organi'l..!.lions that are too remote or too larg� for him be able personally innuence them. So to maintain their phyliical condition, appcannce and health. We quc that Ihl. IS due to modem man'. drive for securilY tends to fall into groups 1 and 3; in IOm� areas (food, shelter, etc.) unfulfillmcIU resulting from the raa thll they have never put their physical powers to any usc, have usurcd at are.as POWcf hiJ seewity is the cost ofonly trivW effort, whcrcu in other he CANNOT attain never gone through the process using their bodiesin a serious way. 11 u not the primitive mao, it does practical PWPOSCJ, security. (The foregoing grearlysimplifies the real situation, but indicate in a rough, general who bas used his body daily for who feus the deterioration of "c. but 1M IlCYCf had way hew the condition of modem man diffcn from that of primitive man.) modem man, whohu a practicalU5C for his body beyond walking from hiJ:car to his It proceuhas been satisfied life 71. People have many transitory drive.! or impulses that are necessary frustrated in modem liI�, house. is the manwhose need for the power durina his who is best hence preparedto accept the end of thaIlife. fa ll into group 3. Onemay becomeangry, but modem mety cannot permit 6ghting. In many will way to give situationsit docs oot even pennit verbal aggression. When going somewhere one may bein a hurry, 76. In n:sponse 10 the arguments oflhls section someone say, "Societyust Ill linda proccn." or one may bein a mood 10 myel slowly, but one gencra\ly hu no choice hutto move with the flow people the opportunity to go through the power For sucb people the valuc of lbe 10 WlY, it occd of traffic and obey the traffic signals. On� may want do one's work in a different but usually opportunity iJ destroyed by the veryfact that society gives to them. What they U tolind or can their u opporrumtica it one workonly according to the rules laid down by one's employer. In many other ways u well, make own opportunities. rulong the system GIVES them their ItilI hasthelll must. modem man is strapped down by a network of rules and regulations (explicit or impllcit) thai on • leash. To alliinaulonomy they get offthaI leash. frustralemany of hiJ impulses and thus interfere with the powerprocess. MdSi of these regu!atiolU cannot bedisposed 'Nith, becauseIh� arcnecessary for the functioning ofindustrial society. HOW SOME PEOPLE ADJUST
72. Modern society I! In certain respects tJelmneJy pcnn!Js:ive. In maners that are lnelevan! 10 the 77. Not everyone in industrial-technological socielY suffers from psychological problems. Some functioning of the system we can genCBllydo what we pleue. We can believe in any religion we satisfied like(u people even profess to bequite with society u itis. We now discus. soilleof the rc&SODS long as it does not encourage behaviour that !J dangerous to the system). We can go to bed (u u like why peoplc differ so greatlyin theirresponse to modem wciety. 'Nith anyone we like long we prlCti.� "saf� sex"). We can do anything we as long asit is 10 UNIMPORTANJ'. But in all IMPORTANT maners the system lends increasingly regulatc ow 78. Am, there doubtless are differences in the lucngth of the drive for power. Individuals with a need 10 behaviour. weak drive for power may havere\a.tively little go througb the powerproceu , or It least fdativelyIlttle nted for autonomy in the powerprocess. 1beseare dociletypes who would have Bcbaviow- is regulated not only through explicit rules and not only by the govtmmeot Control been 73. happy asplantation darlcies in the Old South, (,Wedon't mean to sneer al "planIationdarldcs" of the is often exen:iscdthrough indirect coercionthrough or psychological prelSme or manipulation, and crniil, $Crv meet Old South. To their most of the slaves were NOT cont�IU withtheir itude. We do at by organizations otherthan the fvemmcnt. orby thesystem u a whole. MoS! l.a.rgeorganizations people who AREcontenl with servitude.) usc some (onn of propaganda � to manipulate public attitude5 or behaviour. Propaganda is flOt limited to "commercials" andadvertisem�nlS, and somctim�s it is not even consciously intended as 79. Some people may have someexccpli oll3l driv�,in pUl'iuing which LIley saliify their need fot the propag anda.by the people wbo make it. instance,For the coru�n1of entertainmentprognunrrting is a POWCl' process. For cxample, those who have an unusually st.rong drive for social StalUS Illay spend no we 10 powedulform of propaganda. Aneumple of indirect coercion: ThereU law that says have their wbol� livCJ climbing the $laiUS ladderwithow evergetting boredwith that game. gO. go to won: everyday and fo llow our �mplo)'Cf's orden. Legally there iJ nothing 10 prevent us from People vary in their .u�tibility 10 advcrtU;ing and marketing t«:hniqucs. Somepeople are 50 going to live in the wild like primitive peoplc or from going into business for ourselves. But in susceptible that, even th�y a greaI of money, they cannot 5Ilisfy their constant cn.ving thc:m if make deal practice there is very littl� wild country leI\. and is room in the economy for only a limited for the lihiny new toys thal the Illarketing industry danglca before their eyCi. So they alway. feel small hard-pressed numberof businessowners. Hcncemost of us can .$UIViveonly u ,omeone else', employee.. financiallyeven ifthcirincome is large. and their Q'IIvings arcfrustrated. 74, We suggest thlll modem man's obsession with longcvity, and with maintaining physical vigour 81. Some people have low susceptibility to advcrtiliing and marketing techniques. These arc the from need and sexual attractiveness to an advanced age, is a symptom of unrulfillment resulting people who aren't interested in mon�y. Material acquisition doCi not �e their for the power deprivation with rt:SpOCIIOlhe powerproceSi. The "mkl-life crisis" alsois such a symptom. So is the proces.s. lack of intCTeSl in having children that is fai rly commonin modem society but .almost unheard-ofin primitivesocieties. g2. Ptople who have medium susceptibililYto advertising andmarketing techniquesare able to earn enough money to satisfy their Claving for goods and services, but only atthe costof serious effon 75, In primitive societl�slife iJ a successionof sUlges. The ncW5 and purposes of one stage having (putting in overtime, takinga second job, earning promotions, etc.) Thus material acquisitioo serves been fulfilled. there is no particularrel uctancelbolll passing on to the next stage. A young man g0C5 20 21 -
INOUS'TRlALSOCIETY AND ITS FlITURE THE UNABOMBER their needfor the powerprocess. But it does no! necessarily follow that their need is fully &atidied. regulation or through socialization, which results a deficiency of autonomy, and in fnutIatioll due They may have insufficient autonomy in the power process (th:u work. m�y consist of following in LO the impossibility of an.aininggoals cenain the necessity of I't.Straininl too many impulses. orders) and some of their ves may be Jiustratc:d (e.g., seeunty. ag,gre.mon). (We are guilty, of lSId dri oversimplification in p phs 80-82 because we have assumed that for m81crial 86. But even ifmost people in industrial-technological society were weU satisfied, we (FC) would aragra the dem acquisition is entirely a creation of the advertising and mm:eting industry. Of it's not that be opposed thai fonn of society. because (among alha reasons) we consid itdemeaning to oou:rse still to er fulfil need for the power process through surrogate activities through identification with an simple. one's or organization, then through pllnluit of goaJ..s. 83. Some people panly satisfy their need for power by identifying themselves I powerful rather I'CIIl with organization or mw movement. individual ladring goab or power joins . movement or an An THE MOTIVES OF SCIENTISTS organizAtion, adopts iu goals as hi. own, then works toward these goals. When some ofthe goals are anained. the Individual, even though per!ional efforts have 87. Science and tcclmology provide the most importanl: example.! of surrogate activities. Some hi.! played only an insignificant pan in the attainment of the goall. feell (through identification with scientists that ey motiv by "curiosity," that nOtion is simply absurd. Moa scientists � claim th are ated the movement or orglnization) as he had gone through the power phenomenon was wort: on highly specialized problem thlll are not the object of any euriosiIy. ple, is if procc.u. This nomllU For exam aploitcd by fucists, communiSis. society uses it, though less audely. an astronomer, a mathematician an enlomologist cw:ious lbout the propenies of the n.uis and Our too, 01' �ample: Noriega was an irritant to the (goal: punish Noriega). The US in vaded Pan&m. isopropyllrimethylroethane'1 Of course Only a chemist is ewious thiDa, and be is Manuel US DOt. about lucb I (efIan) and punbhed Nodega (analrunent of goal). The went through the power procus Ilnd US CuriOWI aoout only becau.se chemimy is hi.I surrogate activity. the chemist curious aoout the because il Is many Americans, of their identification with the US, experienced the power process approprilllc classification of new species of beetle? No. That qUCition is of inlerest only the .. to vic.riously. Hence the widespread pu c ofthc Panama invasion; itgave people a sense of ologist, and be int�ed in it only entomology is surrogate activity. If the bli approval entom il; because his po�. IS We see the same phenomenon in armies, corporations, political parties, humanitarian chemist and the entomologi$t badto exert seriously toobtain physical necessities, them$clves the and organi.:wions, ICligious or ideologleal IDOvemenr:a.. In partieular, leftist movements tend attract that effort in an inleresting way but in some nonscientificpursuit, then !hey to if exereUcdatililiCi their people who are seeking to satisfy their need for power. But for most people identification with a couldn't giver a damn about isopropyltri.-methylmethane or the classification of beetles. Suppose thaI lArge organization Ot mass movement does not fully satisfy the need forpower. lack of funds for POitgradUalC education had the chemist become an insurance broker instead a led to Another way in which people satisfy their need the power process is through surrogate of a ehemist. In thal ease he wou.ld have very intcre5ted in insW'llnce mllUcn but wou.ld have 84. for been activities. As we explained in paragraphs a wrroglte activity that is toward an about isoprop)'ltrimethylmethane. an)' cue il is not nonnal put into 38-40, dm.cted cared nothing In to the satisf tion of mere curiooity the amount of time and effort that scientists put into work. artificial goal that the individual pursues for the sue of the Mfulfilment" that he gets from pursuing ac their The the goal, not because he attain the goal Itself. For instance, there is no practical motive for "curiosity" expl ation for the scientists' motivejWlt doesn't standup. needs to an building enonnous muscles, hitting a little into a hole a.cquiling a complete series of postage baJJ or 88. The "benefit of humanity" explanation doesn't wolk any Some scientific wodi: has no stamps. Yet many people in our society devOle themselve5 with pusion bodybuilding, golf or better. 10 conceivable relation the welfare of the human ra.ce • mOlt of archaeology Of comparative stamp collecting. Some people are more MoI:her-dim:ted'· than othen, and therefore .".;n more readily to linguistics for example. Some other atUl of present obviously dangerous possitilitiu. Yet importance to a IUII'Ogate activity toimply because the people around them treat it as important science snack scientists in these areas are JUSt as enthusiastic looUt their work as those who develop vacc:inH or or society tells them it imponant. That is why some people get very serious about because u study pollution. Consider the case of Edward Teller, who had an o ious emotional essentially activities sueh as orbridge, chess, or scholarly pursuits, whereas air Dr. bv trivial sports, or arcane involvement in promoting nucleat power planll. Did this involvemenl stem from a desire benefit who man:clear-sighted neversee these things asanything but the surrogate activitiesthat to Olhen arc humanity? so, thcn wh)' didn't get emotional about otha' �humanitarian" causes? If be they and consequently never attach enough importance to sarisfy need for the If Dr. Teller arc, !bern to their was such a bumanitarian thell why did belp to develop the H-bomb? with many other way. It t eases be As powerprocess in that only remains to poin out that in many a person's way o{ earning scientific achievements. is very mach open to question whether nuclear powerplants acrua\ly abo the i1 do a living is .. surrogate activity. Not a PURE surrogate activity, Mce pan of the motive for humanity. Docs tbe cheap electricity outweigh the accumulating wute and rislr.of accidents? activity is to galn the pbysical necessities and (for lOme people) stalUS and the luxuries that beoorll lOCial TeUer SIW only one side of the question. Clearly emotional involvement with nucleat power peopleput wOIt far Dr. hia advertising mua them want But many into their man:effort than is necessary arose not from humanityM bur from a pt.ISOnal fulfilment be got from won: a desire to Mbeoc:fil his earn whatever money and staIUS they require, and tbis Q:.tra constiMes a JUITOgate activity. and from seeina put ptaetiea1 use 10 efl'an it to . extra effort, together the emotional in vestment that accompanies one of the Thi..! with It, is most of is neith potent forces acting towlll1l the continual development and perfeeting of the system, with negative 89. The same is true scientisll generally. With possible rare exceptions, their motive er curio�ty DOr benefit humanity but the ne.odgo to through the power process: to have a consequences for individual. frr:edom (see parasraph 131). Espec:i.uy, for the most C!Ulive scientists a desire to and engineers, work tends be largely a surrogate is so important that is goal (a scientifieproblem IOlve), to malr.ean (research) attain tbe goal (solution of the to activity. This poi N to effort and to problem.) Science is a surrogate activity scientists wolt mainly {or the fulJiJJnent they get deserves a separate diseussion, whieh we shall gtve in a moment (pamgraphs 87·92). because out of work itself. 85. 'In this section we !\ave explained how many people in mooern society do &atisfy need the their ror the power process to a greater or lesser extent But we think that for the majority of people the Of course, U's not that simple. Other motives play a role for many iCientisu. Money and need 90. do for the power is not fully In the pl , those who an insatiablc drive for status for example. Some scientists may be or the type who have an insliliable drive for process sawrJed first ace havc persons status. or who get finn]y Mhooked" or a swrogate activity. or who identify strOngly enough with II status (see p�ph 79) and this may provide much ohhe motivation for their work. No doubt the movement or organization to satisfy their need {or power thaI way, areexceptional pcnonalitics. majority of scientists, the majoriIy of the geocral population, are rn INDUS'TRlALAND SOCIETY ITS FVT\JRE THE UNABOMBER withoutchange the othc.r partJ well. all u these principl� not as inviolable Jaws but as rules of thlUllb, or guides to thinlcing, that may provide 103. nmmPRlNCIPLE. ll& change ismade that large enough alter permanently • long-ter a partial to naive ideas about the futureof society. The principles sbou.ld be constantly is 10 m antidote borne trend, then the oollllequences for the society u a whole C&lInot be predicted in advance. (Unless mind, IJId whenever onc reaches conclusion that oon1licu with lhcm onc sbould cardiillyn:. in I other IOCicties have passed through the same c:bMge llId have all eJ\perienced WIle examine onc', thinkingand the conclusion only if one hu good, solid Te&Sons for doing so. various lhe retain consequences, in which cue one can po:dIct on empirical grounds that anolher society thaI puses through the same change will beliU to experiencesimilar consequences.) INDUSTRIAL·TECHNOLOGICAL 104. PRINCIPLE. A new kind of society cannot bedesigned on paper. That is, you cannot FOURTIl SOCIETY CANNOT BE REFORMED plan out a new form of society in advlJ!CC. then sct it up and expect illO function as it was designed <0. 111. The foregoing principles help 10 show how hopelessly difficult would be �fonn the it 10 indusoial 'y,tcm in such a way u CO it fiom progre.uively narrowing oursphere of freedom. prcvenl lOS. The third and fourth principles reslllt from the complexity of human societies. A change in There has been aconsistelll tendency, going al least to the IndusCriIl1 Revolution for technology back: human behaviour will affed the economy of" society and itsphysical environment; tnc economy 10strengthen the system a high cost individual fn::edomand local autonomy. HeoceaDy change wiD at in affcct the environment and vice vena.. and the changes in the ooonomy and the environment designed protect frocdom from technology would be conlI'lll)' to a fundamental trend in the v.ilJ 10 human behaviour in complex, Wlpred:ictable ways; and so fo rth. The nelwoD: of causes and development of our society. Consequently, such change would be " transitory one lOOn affect II either - e!fcclllis far complex to be untangled and understood. swamped by the tide of hUtory - or, large enougb to bepennanent would alter the nature of our 100 iI 106. FIFrnPRlNCIPI£. People do not consciously and l1Il:ionally choose the form of their society. whole society. This by the timand second principles. MortlOver, lIinco society would be altered in II way could bepredicted in (!tUrdprinciple) then: would bepeal rUk:. Changel large Societies develop through processes of social. evolution that alen ot rational human control. thai. not advance Wider enough to make a lasting diffe�nce in favour of freedom would not beinitialed would because it 107. The fifth principle is a consequence of theother four. they would gravely disnlpt lhe system. So any attempU at refonn would be timid to rcaliud IIw too 108. To illustrate: By the principle, generally speaking an allempt at socialreform either acts in beeffective. Even changCll large enough tomake" lasting initillCd, they would be tim if diITemx:e were the direction in whieh the society developing anyway (10that it memy accelerates " change that retracted wben their dimlptive effects beGame apparent. Thus, pennanent changes in favour of is fu:cdom could be brought about only by persons prepared 10 accept: radical dangerous and would have occurredin any talJe) or we it only has a ttanlitory effect, so that the society soon Jlips , backinto its old groove. To make a lasting change in the direction of development of any important unpredictable alteration of the entire system. In other words, by rcvolutiolWiel, not refol1lletS. Mpect of society, reform and revolution required. (A revolution does not • is denc iruuffi is 112. People anxious 10rescue freedom wilhoUi sacriiidng the supposed benefits of tochnology will neceuarllyinvolve an armed uprising or the ovtnhrow of a government.) By the second principle. a suggen naive schemel for lOme new form of society that would reconcile freedom with technoloj;y. revolution never changCllonly one aspocCof a soddy; by the third principlechanges occurthai. Apartfrom lhc (act people who makesllggea;tions seldom propose any practicalmeans by which and that w� never expected or desiredby the revolutionaries. By the fourth principle, when revolutionaries the new Conn of society could beSCI up in the IirsI: pla.ce. follows from the founh principle it thal or mopiaru sel up a new kind of SOcielY, il nevCT works out asplanned. even the new fonn of societycould be once established, it either would collapse or would give if 109. The American Revolution does not provide a coWiterexample. The American MRevolutionM was results verydiff erentfrom thoseexpecled. a revolution in our sense of the word, but a war of independence fo Dowed by a rather far 1)0( 113. So even on very gel\Qlll grounds it seems highly improbably thal any way of chaniing society reaching political reform. The Founding Fathert did change the direction of development of could befound that would reconcile freedomwith modem teduJoiogy. few sections we IlOl In tbe nr.xJ American society, nordid they aspire to do so. They only freed the development of American society will give morc specific reasons for concluding that freedom and technological progress are from the retarding effect of British rule. Theirpolitical refonndid not change any basic trend, but incompatible. only pushed American political culture along its natural direction ofdevelopment British society, of which American society was an O{f-sbool, moving for a tong time in the direction of had been RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IS representative democmcy. And prior the War of Independence the Amerieans were already 10 practising a significant degree of representative democracy in the colonial. assemblies. The political UNAVOIDABLE IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY system Cltablished by the Constitution was modelled on the Briti5h system and on the colonial 114. � tJlplained in pata£I1Iph 65-67, 70-73, modem man 5tr1ppeddowQ by a networJr,: of assemblies. With major alteration, be Jure - there no doubt that the Founding Fathers took a is rules 10 is and �gulation., and fate depends on the actions of persons remote from him wbo$C decisions veryimponanl lIep. But was a step along the road the English-speaking world was already his hr it cannotinfluence. This is 00facQdencal or a result of the arbltnriness of moganl burcauc:rats. It travelling. The proof that Britain and all of its colonies that were populated predominantly by is iJ necessary and inevitable in any technologically advanced society. The Iystem regulate people of British descent ended up with systems of rept"Clentalive democracy essentially similar to HAS ro human behaviour closely ordC:l 10 functiOIL At work, people have to do whal they are told to do, that of the United Slates. the FOWlding Fathers had lost their nerve and declined sign the in lf 10 odlClWise vroduaion would be tbrowo into chaos Bu.reaucracies HAVB ro be run according 10 Declaration of Independence, our way of liCe today would not have beeng si nificantly different. . rigid rules. To allow any substantial personal discretion 10lower-level bureaucrats would disrupt the Maybe we would have had somewhat closer ties 10Britain, and would have had a Parliament and unlairm:u way Prime in stead of a Congress and President. No big deal Thus the American Revolution system and lead to chllJ'gel of due to diff�nces in the individual burcauaau Minister . provides not a countertltample our principles but a good illustration of them. exercised their discretion. It is true thalsome restrictions on our freedom could be eliminated, but 10 GENERAU.Y SPEAKING the regulation of our lives by large organizatiOiiS necessary fOf the i.J 10. Still, onehas to use common sense in app\yinl the principles. 1lley areexpressed in imprecise functioning of industrial.technological society. Theresult iJ a sense powedes51lCU the part of t of 00 langlUlge Iha! allows latitude for interpretation, and exceptions to them can befound. So we present the average person. It may be, however, thal Cormal regulations will tend increasingly 10be replaced 26 27 - INDUSTRIALSO�ETY ANDrrs F\1TURE TI-lE UNABOMBER by psychological cools tbat make us wanl \0 do what the system requires of us. (Propaganda M, science. No one stops 10 askwhether is in huma.ne to forceadolescents toIpClId bulk educational techniques, "mental health" programs, etc.) study i1 lhe of thcir time lIudying liubjccts most of them hate When dilled woIters put OUI of a job by . are The system fcm::e people to behave in ways that are �gly remot� � the technical advances and have undergo "retraining," one asks whether it is humiliating for thelll II�. HAS TO � to IlO natural pattern of humM behaviour. For example, the system needs �entiru. marhernWCl.M3 and to be pushed around in this way. It is simply lilin for grlllted Ihal everyone must bow , to technical engineers.II can't fllllction without them. So heavy prel!lSImI put on eJ.ill�� �o excel In these fields. necessity and for good reason: human needs were put before technical necessity � would be iI If Itisn't natural for an adolescent human being tpend the bulk of II.ttLng at desk absorbed The 10 hb I1me I economie problems, unemployment, shonagel or worse. concept of "mental health" in our in study. A Donna! adolescent wanUIO .spend his �me in ve (Xl�tAct with the wor!d Among societyis defmed 1atgtly by the extent10 whieh individual behaves in with thenecda of the acti real an accord primitive peoples things thllt children tralncd to do m natural ny �th natural �y5tem do� so showing sigilli of Slfe". the are are �� and without human impulses. Among the American Indians, (or eJl:ampl� boys ,were tralned In �vc OUI� 120. EfrON to make room for a sense of purposl: and for aUlonomy within the: systcm are no better pursuiu _ just the sort ofthings that boys But in our SOC1ety children are pushed InlO srudymg !itt. than a joke. example, one company, instead of havini each of its employeell assemble only one tcchnical subjecu, which most do grudgingly. For of a ca.iaIogue, had each assemble a whole catalogue, and lhis wu supposed to give them a St:CtiOIl 116. Because of tbe constant pressure that the system exerts to modify human behaviour, there is a sense p� and achievement. Some eompani� have tried 10 give their empJo)'CCI more of gradual increasein the number of people who cannot or will not adjust to �etY'1 uirt:men�: autonomy in their work, but for practical reasons UliuaUy can be done only to a vr::ry limited � this wdfllJ'C lr:oches, youth.gang members, cultists, anti·government rebels, mdlca1 envlronmcnlah m extent, and in any case employees ate never given autonomy as to ulti.malc ioala ... their Mboteun, dro uts resiSlers of various kinds. po and "autonomous" eiTortJ cannever bedirected towltd goals that they idect personally, but only toward their employer's goalJ. such u the JUrViva} arowth of the CClmpany. Any company would 117. any technologically advanced society the individual's ST depend on decisions th� he and SOOD In fate � go Olll of busin�s it permined its employees to IoCto herwise, Similarly, in any enterprise within a personally to any greatex tenL A technological SOCIetycannot be ken down mto if t cannotinDuence � socialist I} Jtem, wotken mustdired their toward the goala of the entctprise., othetwise the small autonomous communities, because production depends on the co-operauon of very large ' efforts enteTprise nO serve its purposeas part oflbe aystem, Once again, purelytedmieal reasons number. of people and machine•. Such a society MUST be ltighly organized and decisiom will C for it HAVE not possible for mOll individuals or small groups to havemuch autonomy in industrial lOciety. be made &cfeel very large nomben ofpeopJe. When .. decision affects, say, a million people, is TO thai: si then of the affccted individuals hu, on the average. only a one·millionth share in making the Even the small·busineu owner commonly only limited autonomy. Apart from the DC(U ty each hu of govemmenl regulation. be is restricted by the fld: thal: must fil inlo the ecoDOmiC and decision. What usually happens in practice is that decilionll lIJ'C made by public officials or be I}'JlCm confonn to its requirements. For instance, when somcone develops a new technology, the small corporation execurivel, or by technical rpeciafuu, bot even when the public votes on .. decision the buiinesi person often has to use that technology whether he wants 10 or IlOt, in order to twl&in Dumber of voeen ordinarily is too large for the vote of any one individual to be significant n Thus compelitive. most: individuals ate unable to influence measurably the major decisions that affcct their lives. Their is no conoeivable way to remedy this in a u:.ehnologleally advanced society. The system tries to THE 'BAD' PARTS OF TECHNOLOGY CANNOT problem byusing propaganda to make peopleW� the �s ionll thathave n made "solve" this � for them, but even if "solution" were completely successful In making people feel It would this bener, BE SEPARATED FROM THE 'GOOD' PARTS be demeaning. 121. A funher reason why industrial societycannot bereformed in favour of freedom is thal: modem COll5ervarives and some CKhen advOC&le more '1ocal autonomy. � communitit5 once did 11S. Local technology is a unified system in which all parts aredependent on one You can't get of have autonomy, but such autonomy becomes less and less possible as local communities become another. rid the "bad" parts of teehnology and retain only the �good" parts. Take modern medicine, for e:wnple. more enmeshed with and dependent on large-scale systems pubUc utilities. computer networks, like Progress in medical depends on progre" in chemiscry, physics, biology, oomputer Jeience highway systems, the mus CClmmunieationll media, health care ,ystem. operating ac:ience the modem Abo and other fields. Advanced medical t:Jealmenu expensive, high4cch equipment be againllt IUItonomy the fad that technology applied in one location often �fe cts people at other require thal c:.n is made available only by a u:.ehnologically progrClsive, economieally rieh society. Clearly you can't locations far away. Thul pesticide or chemical usc near a creekmay CClntanunate the water supply have mueh progre" in medicine without whole technological ayllcm and everything goes hundreds of miles downrtream, and Ihe greenhouse effed affects the whole world. tbe that with it 119. The 5ystem does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, it is human behaviour 122. Even medical progreSi could be maintained without the of the technological ,ystem, it that hu to be modified to fit the needs of the system. has nolhing to do with the political or If rest This would by ilSelf bring cellain evils. Suppose for eumpJe that a ewe for diabetes is discovered. rocial ideology Ihat may pn:tend 10 guide the technological system. It is the fault of tccltnology, People with a genetic tcadency to diabetes will then be able 10 survive &tid reproduce u well u beea\L'le the system is Suided nOl by ideology but by techniea1 necenity. 11 Of OOIlfSC the system does anyone Natwal selection agaill5C genes for diabetes will cease and luch genes will spread aatisfy many human needs but generally speaking it doc:l this only 10 the extent that it is to the else. , tbroughoUllhc popu111tion. (Thismay be occurring to some extent already, since diabetes, while not advantage of the system to do it. It is the needs of the system thatare paramount. not those of the curable, can be controlled through the use of insulin.) thing will happen with manyolber human being. For example, the system providcs people with food because the system couldn't The same diseases susceptibility to which is affecced by genetic degradation of the population. The only function everyone starved; il attends to people', psychological needs whenever it ean if solution will be some 1011 of eugenic. program orextensive genetic engineering of human bein&s, CONVENffiNn..Y do so. because it eouldn't fUl'ICtion if too many people became depressed or so that man thein futureno will Jonger be a cn:ationof of cbance,or of on �belliOIlS. BUl the system, for good, soUd, practical must exert COnltant pressure on people nalure, or God (depending reasOTU, yoW" religious or philosophical opinions), billa manuractuml ptodUd. mold theirbehaviour to the needs of the system. Too much waste accumulating? The government, 10 the media, the cdueat:ional system, environmentalists, eve:ryone inundllles us with a mass of you chink that big government interfe:rn in your life 100 much NOW, just wail till the 123. If propaganda. about recycling. Need more technical personnel? A ch orm of ahons kids to VoiCC5 government starts n:gulating the genetie constitution of your clilldren. Such n:gulation willinevitably 28 29 INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS Fl1T\JRE TIlE UNABOM8ER follow the introduction of genetic engineering of human beings, beeau� the consequences of place of employment, shopping areas and runational opporttutities, J() that they depend ul\Iegulated genetic engineering would bedisamous. l' HA VB TO on the automobile for transportation. they must use public tranS]Xll1ation, in which case they Or c1se 124. The Usual response to such ooncems is to talk about "medical ethiC.!." But a code of ethics · have even less control over their own movement thaD when driving a Even the freedom car. walker'. would not serve to protect frw:Iom in the face of medical it would only make matten is now greatly resaicted. the cityhe continually has to stop and wait for traffic lights thai: progress; In are worse. A code of ethics applicable to genetic engineering would bein effect a means of regulating the demgned mainly to serve auto traffic. the country, motor traffic makes it dangerous and In genetic consrltudon of hUman beings. Somebody (probably the upper-middle class, mostly) would unpleasant to walk along the highway. (Note the important point we have illustrated with the case of decide that such and such applications of genetio engineering Well!l"ethical" and others were not, so l motorized transport: When a new item of !CChnology is introduced u an option that an individual that in effect they would be imposing their own values on the genetic constitution of thc population can accept or not he chooses, it not neceswily optional many cues the new III doe5 REMAIN In aI largo. Even a code of ethics were chosen on a completely democrade basis, the majority would teChnology changes sociery in soch a way people eventually find themselves FORCED 10use ill If that be imposing their own values on any rninoritiu who might have a different Idea of what constituted 128. While teChnological progress AS A continually narrows our Jphere of each an use of genetic engineering. The only code of ethics thl[ would truly protect freedom WHOLE freedom, "clhica1" new technical advance CONSIDERED BY ITSElF appears to be demable. Electticity, would be one thatprohibited ANYgenetic engineering of human beings, and youcan be sure that 1\0 indoor pillmbing, �Id long-distance communications ...bow could one cgue against any oCthese things, such code ever beapplied in a technological .ociety. No code that reduced genetic engineering to will or against any other ortbe Innumeable technical advances that have made modern 1Odcty? wonld a millOr role could stand up for long, because the tcmptalion pttsented by the immensc power of It have absurd to resist the introduction oftbe telephone, for example. It offered many advantages biotechnology would be irremstible, espcci811y since to the majority of people many of il5 been and no disadvantages. Yel as we explained pantgraphs 59-76, all these technical advances lIktn applications will .seem obviously and unequivocally good (ellminaling physical and mental di seases, in together have created world in which the average man', fate is no longa in his own hands or in the giving people the abilities they need to get along in today'l world). Inevitably, genetic engineering hands of neighboun and friends., but in those of politicians, corporation c::Il:ccutives and remote, be used extensively, but only in ways consistent with the of the industrial-technological his ....;u needs anonymous technicians and bureaucrats whom he as an individual no powerto lnfluencc. 11 Thll !i)'stcm. ZI has same will continue in the fUlute. Take genetic engineering, for example. Pew people will proceu resin the introduction of a genetic technique thl[ eliminates a hereditary disea.se It no apparent TECHNOLOGY IS A MORE doe. barm and prevents much suffering. Yd alalJe number of genetic improvernent.J taken together will POWERFUL SOCIAL FORCE THAN make tbe human being into an engineered product rather than a free creation of chance (or of God, THE ASPIRATION FOR FREEDOM or whatever, depending on your religiousbeliers). 129 Another n why technology such a powerful socW force is thaI, within the context of a reaso iJ 125. It is oot poS51ble to make a lASTING compromise between technology and freedom, because given society, techlIOlogical progress marcbes in only one direction: it cannever be a reversed Once technology is by far the more powerful socialforce and continually encroachCl on Dudom through technical innovation has been introduced, people usually become dependent OD it, unlen it is compromises. Imagine the easeof two neighboun, each of wbom the outset owns the replaced by some more advanced innovation. only people become dependent as REPEATED I[ still Not do same amount of land, but one of wbom is more powerful. than the 30 31 INDUSTRIAL sOCIETY AND ITS FUTlJRE THEUNABOMBER by the constitutional rights of suspects and often of innocent persons, they completely and do whatever they can do legally (orsomeWne£ illegally) to restrictor cin':umveu! those rights. Moa of SIMPLER SOCIAL PROBLEMS these educaton:, government officials and law officers believe freedom, privacy and constitutional in nghlS, bUl when these confi.iCl with their work, they usually feel that their work is mORl important. HAVE PROVED INTRACTABLE 132 well known that people generally work bencr and more persistently when striving for iI. 136. If anyone titill lmagines that il woald bepossible to refonn lhe system such a way as to II U: in reward Ih&ll wbell pting to avoid a punishmellt or negative OUicomc. Scientists and other from anem protect freedom technology, let him consider bow clumsily and for the most part W1suce:e.ssfully tcclmi motivaLCd mainly by the rewards they gel through their work. BUI those who oppose cians arc our society has deall with OIher social problema that are fc mCR simple and rtnightforwml. technologicalinvasions of freedom are working to avoid a negalive oUlcome, consequently Ihere are Among other things, the system has failed to stop environmenlal degradation, political corruption, a few who wort persistently and wellat this discoUIllging task. n:fonnen ever achieved a dgnal If drug tralficking or domestic abuse. viClOt)' to lei up a solid banier against further erosi on of freedom through I.e<:hnoIogical that ICCIllcd proP", most would tcnc;l to relax and tum their ancntion to more agreeablc pursuits. BUI the 137. Take our environmental problems, for example. Here the conflict ofvalllC$ is stndglllJorward: scientilts would Rlmain busy in their laboratories, and technology as it progressCl would find ways, economic cxpedicnec now versus 51ving some of our nllurai reSO\meS for ourgrandchildren n Bnl spite of any to Cl(ert more and more control over individuals and make them always mORl on this subject we gel only a lot of blather and obfuscation from lhe people who have power, and in barriers, dependenl on system. nothing like a clear. consistent line of action, and wekeep on piling up environmental probleml that the our grandchildren ",;n have to live with. A"empU to rcIOlve the environmental issue eonsiJt of 133. No social. arrangements, whether lawI, ins titutiollli, customs or ethical codes, can provide struggles and compromises between diff=t factions, some of which areuccndanl one momellt, at pennaoeDl protection against technology. HUlory ahows thal allsocial arrangements are transitory; others at another moment. The line of stroggle changca with the shifting currentl ofpnbllc opinion. they all change or break down eveOlual.ly. But technological advaocel are permanent within the not a flI.tionai proce.ss, or is it one thai likely to lead to a timely and IUcceuful solution to This U: U: conwa ofa given Suppose example were possible to amve some sodal or civilization. for thai it at Ihe problem. Majorsocial problems, if they get "solved" al all, arera.rel.y never solved througb any would pRlveOl genetic engineering from beingapplied hwnan beings, prevent Monal, comprehensive plan. 'They jusl lhemselvCl through a whieh amngemenu tbal to or out from being applied in sucb a ways u totbrealen freedom and dignity. Still, the technology would wort: ptOQ:SS in VarlOUI U competing groups pursing their own lUually short-tam) self-Intcrcat » arrive (mainly by luck) at wait:iog. or the ananaemel1l would break down. Probably lOaner, given remain Sooner later IOcial some more or less stable modus vivendi.. In fact, Ibe princ:lplcs we fo nnulal:cd in paragraph.! 100-106 thatpace change of our 5OCiety. genetic ensineerin&would bePD to invade our sphere of ill Then it seem doubtful lhat rational, long-tenn socialplanning canEVER be succc.slful. freedom,and lhis invasion would belmvm;ible (shan of a breakdown of technologic.a.l civiliUl.tion make 138. Thus it is clear thai the human has al a very limited capacity for solving even relatively i.uelf). Any illusions about achieving anylhing pennanenl through social arrangements should be race best straighlforward problem.. How then is it going to solve the far mCR difficult and IUbtle dispelled by whal is happening with covil'onmelllAl legislation. A few years il seemed social cw:re11ll)' 180 problem of reconciling freedom wilh technology? Technology �senu clear-cut then: were JCCUI'C legal barriers preventingleast aI SOME of the worst fomlS or environmel1lal mllCriai thll advantages. whctus freedom is anabstraaion meansdiffm::nt thingsto people, &lid its degradation. A changein lhe political wind. and lhose barriers begin CTUUlble. that diffemr, 10 loss is easily obseured by propaganda. and fancy talk. 134. Forall of the foregOing reasons, technology a more powerful socialforce thun the aspiration U: for medom. But statemeOl an importanl qualification. II appears thll during ne;>;t 139. And note this importanl difference: It is conceivable Ihat our environmental problema (for this requites the e;o;ample) may some day beset1led through a rational, comprUlensive plan, but happens it lCYenU decades the induslrial-tecbnological system be o wllJerg ing scveJe streues due to if this will v.i.l..l beonly iI il in the long-lamintc:nst oCtile system solvetbese problema. BIIt NOT economic and environmental problems, and �ecially due to problems of human behaviour because 10 it 11 in the intm::st of the Iystem to preserve frtcdom or small-group amonomy. the contrary, is inthe (alien.a1ion, rebellion, hos1iliIY, a variety of social and psychological difficulties). We hope that lhe On it interest of the Iystem to bring behaviour under control to the grealest possible e;o;tent. Slreues through which the �ystem islikely to pass break down, or al leilSl weaken il human :M will cause it 10 Thus, while practical considet1ltions may eventually force system to take a rational, pnxient sufficienlly so thai a revolution 0CCUlS and is suoccssful. then II Ihll panicular momeN the the aspiration for freedom have praved more powerfulthan technology. approach to environmenlal problems, equally practical considerations will foree the tystem to will regulate buman behaviour ever more clo5Cly (preferably by indirect means that disguise the 135. In paragraph 125 we analogy of a weak neighbour wbo is leC! deititU!e by a strong wiD used an encroachmenl on freedom.) bn� jusl our opinion. Eminenl scientists (e.g. James Q. DCipbourwbo hi.Jland by forcing on him a u:riCl of compromises. But suppose now TItis socW JakcJ all that Wilson) have stl'e.uedIhe Imponance of "socializing" people more effectively. Itlong neiahboW'gelS sick, 50 thatis he Wlable to defend himself. The weak. nei ghbour canforee tho the 5trOng one to give him his land back, or he can kill him. If he leIS lhe strong mWl survive and REVOLUTION IS EASIER THAN REFORM oaly forcel to give land back, a fool. wben the �ng man gelS well he hI.m biJ be U: because will again take all theland for hi.msc:lf. The only sensible alternative for the weaker man to kill the 140. We hope we havc convinced lhe reader thaI system cannOI bereformed a luch a way as U: lhe In strong one while the chance. In the arne way, while lhe induslrial sySlem is sick we must to reconcile frtcdom with technology. The only way out is to dispense with the industrial· be has destroy Uwe compramise withil and lei =ver from sickness, it will eventua1ly wipe out all technological system allogether. implies revolution, not necessarily an armed uprising, iI. it lIS This bUi of our freedom. certainly a flI.dieaI and fundamental change in the nalureof society. 141. People tend 10 IIlIsume Ihll because a revolution Involves a much greater change Ihan reform it is more difficult 10 bring aboul than AClually, under certain circumstance,,; does, reform Is. revolution much than refonn. The reaJon thai a revolutionary movemenl canInspire an u easier b in tensity of commitment that a reform movement cannot Inspire. A refonn movement merelyoffers solve a particular problem A revolutionary movement offers solve all problems al one 10 social 10 32 33 -- , INDUSTRIALSOCIETY AND ITS Fl1T\JRE . . II proY} �h e kind of ideal for which people willlake great UNABOMBER stro� and create a whole new world; 'deJ communication malia 1HE an saaifices.reasOIU Forthis easier to overthroW the whole d m� • U wo uld be much provide effective vehicle.!. been I�" .c. _t.._ ...... 11<"-...1 ll'f Efficient technique.! have system \han rcstraillU development of app canon 0 winning elections. selling products, developed for 1CChDological to put eff ve. I on lhc influencing publie oplnlon. The ec:: large the 'flttm. entertainment In 178. Wlwever elsemay be the it certain thal technology is �ng (or hUman begins a that the scars can begin \0 heal. 1\ will remove the capacity o( organized society keepincreasina case, is IlCW 10 physical and environment radically from the spectrum at enYironmenl.! which its control over nature (including human nature). Whatever kind at society may after IOcial different 10 eDsI: the natuxal selection has adapted the human physi�y and psychological. mall not adjust to demise of the rySl.em, it certain that mo.st people will live close to because in the race If is IndWltrial is flillure, thisDeW eoYirorunent bybcina artificial.Jyre-en gintC'Cd,then he will beadapted through a long of advancod technology there not other w.y that people CAN live. To themselves 10 it Absence is feed an painfulproc::ess o( selection. former more likdy thai LIIe laner. they must be p tS smen or fis e hunteY", etc., And, gener1ll..ly speaking, local natural The is tar eaUfl Of herd herm n Of AutOnomy should tend to inen:a.se, because lack of advanced 179. would bebener to dump the wbole stinking 'yltem and take the consequcnces. It technology and rapid communications will limit the capacity of governments or other 1&1'8e STRATEGY Organi7.ations toconuol localcommunities. 185. As fOf the negative consequences ot min g society _ well, you can't your The teclmophiles aretaking us all an utterly rccklc:ss ride into the unknown. Many people eli atin industrial eat ISO. aI.J cake and have it too. To gain one thing you have to sacrificeanother. understand somethitaa ot what technological progrcu doing us take . pauiye Wtude u 10 yet toward it beca.usc:they think t inevitabl.e. But we (FC) don't think it is inevitable. We think can 186. Mo.st people hate psychological oonflict Forthis teUcn they avoid doing any serious thinkina i is it benapped. and we give some lndicatiOtU of bow go .bout SlOpping it. about difficult social issues, and they to haveIUch presented to them in simple. will here 10 like iuues black and-white terms: all good and T bad. The revolutionary ideology should LIIeno.fore 181. � we swed in paragrapb 166, the two main tub (or the present to promote TIllS u TIIA is all are social slRSS bedeveloped on two kvcls. and instability in industrial society and develop and propagale an ideology that opposes 10 techIloiogy and the industrial system. When the system becomes sufficiently slJeSsed and unstable, 187. On the more sophisticar.ed level the ideology should address itself to people who are intelligent, thoughtful and TlItional. The object lhanld be tocreate a of people who will beopposed a revolution against technology may bepossible. Thepattern would be similar to that of the French core 10 the lUId Russian Reyolutions. society and Russian society, for several decades prior to their industrial system on a ratinnal, hought-oUf wiLlI apprecialinn ot the problems and French t basis, full resped:ivercvolutions,showed inaeasing signsot and Meanwhile, ideologies were Ilmbiguities involved, and of the price thal has to be paid for getting rid of the sYItem. It !J nrcn weakness. being developed that offered a new world view wu quite different from the old one. In Ihe particularly people of lhis type, as they are capable people and wi.1l be thai important 10 attract Russian revolw.ionariel were actively working the old order. Then, when the old instromental in influencing «hen. These people .hould be addressed on u rational a level as cue, 10 undemlinc system wu put additionaistreJs (by in France.by miJiIary defeat possible. Facts should never intentional.Jy bedistorted and intemperate language should be avoided. WIder JUlficiClll financial crisis in Russia) wu swepl away by revolution. we in som�hin& along the S&lIle lines. not mean that 1\0 appeal can be made to the emotions. bot in makin& luch appeal care it WhaI. prap4»e This does should be taken to avoid mi.5rejlresenting the truth or doing anything eue that would destroy 182. It will beobjected that the French and RussianRevolutions Wclcfailures. But most revolutio[U tbe intellectual respectability of the ideology. !lave two aoals. One �y an of socieIy and the other is to up the: new fOITllat is 10 oJd form set 50cicty envisioned by the revolutionaries. The French and Rustian revolutionaries On a second level, the lo y should be:propagated in a simplified form enable the tailed 188. ideo g thal will (fortunalClyl) to create the new kind of society ot which they they were quite unthinldng majority to see the confliet ot technology VI. in unambiguous tCllllll. But even on dreamed,. but nature cIe.Rro)in& thee.xistiDa form society. this second level the ideology should not be exprened in language that u so cheap, intemperate or iUCCCUful in of irrational that it alienales people of the lhouahtful and rational lype. OIeap, intetnpelll1Cpropaganda 183. But an id eology, in aain enthusiastic support, must have a positive well as a order 10 ideal..! sometimes achieves impressive short-term gains, bUI it will bemore advantageous in the long run to ocg.zive one; it must be FOR something u well 1.$ AGAINST somethin&. The �tive thai we keep t e loyalty ot a small number of intelligently committed people than to arouse the passions of ideal h propose is Narure. , nature; those otlhe tuncli.onina ot lbe Earth and il.! living an unthinking, mob who will change their attitude as soon someone comes along wiLlI ThaI: is WD..D aspeclJ fick1e as • things thatare independent of human management and ot hUman interference and control And propaganda gimmick. However, propBganda of the TlIbble-rousing type may be nea:5Sazy free better with wild nature we include buman lWure, by which we mean lhose I.$peds of the functiolling of the system is nearing the point of collapse and isa final struggle between rival Ideologies the human that not Jubjca 10 regulation by O'iani� society but products o( when there individual are are to delermine which will become dominant when the old world-view goes chance, or freewill, or God (dependin& on yourre1igious or philosophical opinions). under. 189. Priorto that final struggle. the reyolutionariea should not expect have a majority of people 184. Nalure makes a perfca collll1C:J-idca1 to technology tor ns. Nature (thal whicb 10 several. reaso is on their side. History is made: by active, detc:nnined minorities, not by the majority, which seldom the power ot system) is the: opposite o( technology (which 10 expand indefinitely outside lhc seeks a clear and consisle idea of whal it really wants Until the time comes tor the push toward LIIe powerof the system). Most people will qree that certainly it has tremendous has nl . final nature isbeautiful; reyolution 31, the task of revolutionaries less to the shallow sUPPO" ot the majority than ALREADY will be: win popular appeal.. radieal environmenl4lists bold an ideology that nature and to build a small core of deeply committed people. AI tor the majority, it enough to mm them The exalts will be opprues technology. 30 II is OOt necessary (or lhe: of nature up some chimerical utopia or aware of the existence of the new ideology and them of it frequently; though of courseit will sake 10 set remind any new kind ot order. Nature care of was a spontaneous creation that existed social t&kes iUc:lt: It be desirable to get majority suppo" to the extent that thls can be done without w ning the core of oaa before: any humlUl society, andfor countleu cen1uries many different kinds ot homan eake L societies commined people. without doing an excessive amount damage. Only with Indusoial seriou.lly coexisted wiLlInature if at the: Any kind of h lps to destabilize the system, one should be what Revolution did the effect ot human society on nalUre become really devastating. To relieve the 190. social confliet e but careful abollt 42 43 INDUSTRIALSOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE THE UNABOMBER kind of conflict0110 CDCOurages. The liDe of conflict sbould be dnawn between the mass of peoplc 1M the Japanese ever more can than we dol (NatiOnalism is a grca%promoter oftcchnology.) More and the power-balding elite industrial JOCicty (politicians, sc.icnlists, upper-Ievd sell of business it is argued thlll ifthe relatively democratic nations ofthcworld behind in tocbnology , NOT JUSonably, fall executives, govcnuncnt officials, ) should be drawn between thc tevolutionarics II1ld the nasty, dictatorial nations like Vietnam and North Koru coruinue to propss, etc .. 11; while China, of the people. For ex&Dlple. it would be SU1Ilegy for the tevolutionaries to condemn tbe dictators may come to dominate world.. That why the industrlal .ystcm .hould mass bad eventually tbe is Americans for their hlLbiu of consumption. Instead, the average American should beporuayed as a IIItacked in all nations simu1tancously, to the extenl that thi. may be pos.sible. True,� DO be is of the advertising and mlIIketing industry, which has suckered into buying a lot of junk that the industrial syeem can be dc3troyedately atapproxim the same time all over victim him usUJ1ll}CC the: that he doesn't need and that Is very poor compensation for his lost freedom. approach is world, and it is even conceivable that the artempt to overthrow the syltCm could the Ether lead instead10 consistelllwith It is merely a of altitudewhether you blame the advertising industry domination of the .ystem by dicwOD. a risk that has be taken. And it is worth taking, Lhcfacu. matter That iI 10 for manipullling the public or blame the public for allowing to be manipulated As a of since the a -democradc· indumiaIl)'IIClI1 ODC by diclaloIlis mall itself maner difference bcl:wcen and conbVl.l.c:d stralCgy onc should generally avoid blaming the puhlic. compared with the difference between an Industriall)'stemIUld •non-industrial 01lC' JI It miglu even be MgUed Ihat an Industrial lyaem controlled by diclalOD would be preferable. because dictator 191. 5bould twice before encouraging any Olber social conflict than that between the One think: controlled SYIIeIlU usually have proved inefficient, hence they plUumably more likely to power-bolding elite (which tccluloIogy) and the genenl publie (over which technology exctU are break wields Look at its power). onc thing, other conllicu tend to distracl attctUi.on from lhe important conflicts down. Cuba. For (between power-elitc andordinaIypeople, between technology and nature); (Ot another thing, other 196. Revolutionarica migbt consider favouring mcasurea that tend to bind the world economy inlo a conflicts may actua1.Iy tend 10 cnco tcchnolo&iza!:iOI1, side in lucb a conflicl wants unified whole. agruments NAFTA and GAlT probably to the ura.gc because each Free trade 1ih ate harmful to technological power gain advantqcs over its adversary. is clearly seen in riva1ri� environment in the lbon but in the long they may pctbapl be MlvantagcoWi use 10 This nlD, run bceauJc they betweea nadons. also appears in ethnic conllicll within nations. For example, in America many It lr foster economic inlerdependence between nations. will be euier to de£troy industrial l)'stcm leaden; areanxious to gain power (or African Amcricaru by placing back individllais in the Ihc black on a worldwide if he world coonomy is 10 Illlified that its breakdown in any on major nation technological power-clitt. They want � to be many black govemmcnl officials, basis scienlisLS, 10 breakdown in al industrialized nations. the }ong run they may perhap. be African A erican will lead iu In corporation cxccutives and 50 fo rth. this way they arc helping to absorb lhe m advantageous they foster economic interdependence between natl.ons. It will be cuier In because 10 subculture ioto the technoloejcal systcm. Generallyspca.king, one should encourage oniy those social destroy the industrial 'ystem on a worldwide if the world economy is unified that Its basil 50 coo.1lic:u that can be liltedintO the framewort o( the conOicts of power-e1ite vs. Ofdinary people, breakdownin lUly one major nation willlead to its breakdownIn industrializ.cd nations. technology aU VI nature. 197. Some p«lple the line that modem man hu too mucb power, too much control over takc nature; 192. BUI tbe way to discourage ethnic conflict NOT tlu'ough advOCllCy ofminority rights At iJ militant they argue for a more passive attitude on tbe part of the human race. be$t tbest people ate (5CCparagraphs 21, 29). Instud, the �volutiotlllJ'iu sbauld cmph.asize although minorities do expressing themselves unc1carly, they fail to distinguish betwClCn power (or lha.t beeanse lARGE suffer more orleu disadvantage, disadvantage is of peripberal significance. enemy is ORGANIZATIONS and powertor INDfVlDUAlS and SMAIL GROUPS. It is a to this Our real mistake argue the industrial-technological system, and in the struggl� agalnst the sYltem, ethnic distinctions powerlessness and pa_ui.vi.ty, because people NEEDpower. Modem mlUl as a coUcc:tive cntily arc of for DOimportance. Ihal is, the lndustrial lystcm--has immense power over nature, and we (FC) �gard But this lUI evil INDfVlDUAlS and SMAIL GROUPS OF INDIVIDUAlS have far leu power than 193. The kind of ItIvolution we have in mind will neceswily involve an armed uprising against modern not primitive man ever did. Gcncnilly speaking, the power of "modem man- over nllure is any gOVcrnmc.nL may or may DOl involve physical violence, but nol be a VIUII 11 it will POunCAL excrcised not by individuals or small groups but by large organizadons. To the exlent that the �volUJion. focus will beon tt:chnoI.oar economics, not politic•. la Its and avcrage modem INDIVIDUAL can wield the power of technology, he pcnnined to do 10 only it 194. Probably the �volutionaricl sbould even A VOID assuming political powcr, whether by legal or within narrow limiu and only underthe lupervision and control of the I)'SIem. (y011 need ticense• ill�gal means, untilthe industrial 5yacm is 5trcUed to the danger poilll and bas proved itself to be a for everything and with the license comc rulcs and �gulationl). The individual hu only those in the of moll. people. Suppose for ICX&lllpl� that &alOe pany should win control technologiClllpowers witb which the system chooses to provide PERSONAL power over fail\lle cye. MP=I" him. His oftbc United in an avoid bctrayina; orwatering down own SWu Coopu elcaion. In 0Tdc:r 10 their natureis wghL ideoloi)' they would have vi&oroWi measurea to economic growth inlo ecooomic 10 taktI tum 198. Primitivc INDIVIDUAlS and SMAlL GROUPS actually had considerable power over 'hrinka.ae. To the avcmge man the would appear disastrous: would be mauive nanue; reaulu: Thc:rc or maybe it would be better to say power nature. When primitive man needed food he uncmploymc.nl, shortages of Even if the ill could be avoided W11lIIN t:OIMlOditics. CLC. gro:nCl' efJcc:u knew how to find and ediblc how to and talr::cit with homemade 'WCIpOns. througb .upcrbumanly skilful management, still people would have to begin giving up the luxuries to prepare JOOta, track. game lie how 10 from cold, dangeroIU elC. But primitive did which they have become addicted. Diualiifaction would grow, the "green" pany would bevoted OUI knew prolCCl hlnuc1t heat, rain, animals, man relatively liule damage to nature: because tbe power of primitive society was of offioc and the ItIvolutionariu would have suffered a severe setback.. For this reason lhe COlLEC1TVB negligible compared to the powerofindustrial lOcicty. �volUJionaric.s should not to acquire politicalpower until the system gallcn it self into such a COLLECTIVE Ir)' has mess that any hardships will be seen as ItIsulting from the failures of the inchllltrlal system itself and 199. Instead of arguing (or powcrlellsoeSli and passivity, one lbauld argue that power of the the not from the poUciell of revolutionaries. The revolution against IC<:hnology will problibly have to SYSTEM the INDUS11UAL 5bould be brokcn, and that lhis will greatly INCREASE lhe power and be.ItIvolution by outsiders, a revolution below and not fromabove. �edom of INDIVIDUAlS SMAlL GROUPS. from and 195. The ItIvolution must be intematiooai and worldwide. It cannot becarried out on a nation-by Until thc indu:strial system has been thoroughly the deslnlCtiOIl of that I)'stcm mwot be 200. wrecked, nation basis. Whenev�r it is suggeliled thc United Stales, for example, should cut back on the ONt. Y lha.t revolutionarics' goal Other goals would distract attention and energy from the main goal tcclInologica1 progn:.u or economic s;rowlh. people gel byacrica1 and start screaming thru if we fllll More importantly, if the ItIvolutionaries themsclvCl to havc any other ,00 than the behind in tcclmology the Japanese will gel ot Holy robou The world will By off its orbil permit ahead WI. if 4l 44 INDUSTRIALSOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE deslfUcO.on of �hnology, they will tempted to use technology u a tool for reaching thai othcr be niE UNABOMBER goal. they give to temptation. they fall right back into the tc.chnological trap, because If in thai will modem techoology a unified, tighdy OJganized sySlCm, order to retain SOME is ao that, in TWO KINDS OF TECHNOLOGY tecMology, ooe finds oneself obliged to retain MOST technology, hence one ends up sacrificing only token amounts oftccMology. , 207 An argument likely to be raised agaiNt our proposed revolution is thllt it is bound to fail. 201. Suppose for e.umple that the revolutionarie.t took � ju.stice� as a goal Human nalurc because (it u claimed) throughout history technology always progressed, never regresscd, hence social bu being whll it justice would nol come about spontaneously. would have be enCorced. In technological regrcarion is impossible. But this claim is fwe. a, lOCiai it 10 order to itthe Ievolutionaries would have to retain centtal. organiution and control thai enforce For 208. We distinguilh between [WO kinds oftecbnology, which we call small-scale technoloiY and they would rapid longoiiutance transportation and communiClllion, and tbc:reCOIe the will need all organiz.ation-dependelll technology. Small-scale technology is technology that can be bysmall· techoology to luppon the transportation and communiealion syllcnU. To feed and clothe used oecdtd scalecommunities without out5lde as , Organization-dcpcndcnt technology Is lecbnolog,y that people they would have agricultural manuClICtW'ing leChnoJogy. CoM. So that sistance poor to use and And so depends on 1arge.seale socia1organizatioIL We are aware of no IIIgnificanl cues of tegre.uton in the attempt to ins� lOCial jlllitice would foroe them to retain most parts of the technological sy$!em. . ,mall-sca1e technology, But OJianizationoiiepcndenl technology DOES regress when the Not tha.t we have anything against social justice, but It must not be allowed to interfere with the aoaal organization on which depends down, Example: When ,the Roman Empire fcD apan the effon 10 aet oftbe ogical S)'S1C11l. it breaks rid technol Romans' small.scaIe technology survived because &IIy clevct village an could build, for crafum 202. It would be bopclw; Cor Jevolurionarie.l to try to attack the 5Ystem using SOME instance. wheel, any sldlledsmith could make Ited by Romanmethods, 10 f�rt . �ut the , wilham I water and b modem technology nothing they must use the communications media to spread their Romans' org anh:.llionoiicpcndcnt technology DID regreas. Iquedocts fcD into dineplU' &lid If else 1beir were ncver rebuilt. techniqucs of road construction were lost. The Roman I)'iilem of urban me.uqe. But they should use modem technology for only ONE purpose: to attack the w;:hnologica1 Their system, sanitation was forgotten, so that until rather recent time. did the u.nitation of European cities that of Ancient Rome. 203. Imagine an alcoholic sitting a of wine in frolll of him. Suppose he stans saying to with band ''W'meisn't for you in modCIali.oIL Why, they sllY small amounts of wine 209. Thc ('CUon why technology has seemed always to progress that, until perhaps a centuty or hinuelf, bad If used are iJ [WO heron: the lndusuial Revolution, moiil technology was small-scale technology. But most of the even good for youl ll won't do me any take just one little ..M Well you know what bum if I drink. is lechnology developed since the InduslriaI Revolution organiz.atio��cpendent �ology, T&k:c the going to happen. Neverforget that the human race with technology is just like an alcoholic with a iJ . of wine. rdrigerator for example. Without factory-made pa.tU or the facilioes of a po5t'lPdu�al machine baIreI. shop it would be vinually impossible for a handful of local craftsmen to b� a refrig lor. by � If 204. Revolutionarit.l should have many children they can. is strong scicntific evidence &5 &5 There some miracle they did succeed in building one it would be useless to them wl lhoUl a Rllia.ble aoUICe tha.ttudes socWllli are to a significant No oae thal asocial attitude: a of c1c:ctrlc power. So they would have to dam a stre&m and b�d generator, GcneratOtl CXteDl inherited. wggesu is � tequire outcome of a penon's genetic constitution, but a lha.t penonality traits lend, within \aJic amounts of copper Imagine ttying to maC that WllhellI n:aodem machinery. And ditea it ppean wire. WU'C the con of our lociety, to makea morelikely to hold thisor that social attitude. Objections where would they gel a gas suitable for refrigeration? It wo�d be CIJ1er an text person �uch � build icehouse to these findingshave been raised, but objccdons are feeble and ICCll\ to be ideologically motivated. preserve food by drying or picking, wu done berORl the Invention ofthc refrigerator. OJ &.S any evelll, no one that cItildren the average tohold a.ttitudei similar to , In denies tend on social those were once thoroughly broken down, Rlfrigcralion of their parents. our point of doesn't mana all thal much whether the altitudes 210 So it is clear that the indusuial system Prom view it are if ARE technology would quickly be lost. The same isof true other passedon geneticaUy or through Ilaining. Ineither cue the on. OTganiWion-d�dent �l?�. And clIildhood p:usc:d or so it would take centunes to Rlbuild as once thi. w;:hnoIogy had been lost for a generation u,Jus t The trouble is that many of the people who are inclined to rebel against industrial system time &round. Surviving technical would f w and lOS. the: it took centuries to build it the boola be � a1Jo co about the population problems, hence they are .pl to have few or no children. In first . arc: ncerned indWilrial society, ifbuilt from scraIcb without outddc help, can only be buill m a scattered An this way they may behanding the world overto the COf1 of people who support or at acceptthe: least series of stages: You tools to make tools to mm tools to make ... , A long process of industrial system. To ins� the strength of the next generation of revoJutionane. the prescnt need tools economic development and progn:ss in social OTganization iJ And, even in the absence ?f genen.tl.on must reproduce abundantly. doing so they be worsening the popullllion requUed. itsclf In will an ideology opposed technology, there no reason believe that anytloc would be lntcreiiled m problem only sligh!!y. And the most importanl problem is to get or the in dWitrial syslcm, because 10 iJ 10 rid rebuilding indusnial society. The enthusiasm for "progres.s" is a phenomenon particular to the once the industrial system gone the population y (sec pamgraph is world'. neccu.ru will decrease modern of society, it seems not to have existed prior tothe 17th cellluty or theJelbouts, 167); whereas, the industrial .yiilem survives, it continue developing new techniqut.l of food form and if will production may enable the world's population to keep increasing almo$! indcrmitely. 211. the late Middle Ages th� were {OUf main civilizations that were about cqu.ally that In Mact:��": Europe, the Islamic world, India, and the Par Ea.!;t (China, Japan, Korea), of those civilizations 206. With regard to revolutionary straIe!y, the only points on which we absolutely are that the Three insist remained mote Of iilable, and only EUlOpe became dynamic. No one knows why Europe �e single O'Iemding goal must be the eliminllionof modem technology, and thl! no othCT goal can be less dynamie at that time; historians have their theories bUl tncse are only speculation. At any It,l.t allow� to compete with thisone. For the rest, revolutionaries should take an empirical approa.ch. TI1C, U clear that rapid development toward a technological ronn of society only ,under �e:nenec: indicatt.l that some of the rcc:ommendations made in the foregoing p phs not . �urs special aragra arc: conditions. So there: is no reason assume that long-lasting technologtca1 regtCSSlon cannot be bediscarded. 10 gOtng to pve good results, then those recommendations should broughl about. 212. Would society EVENTIJAU. develop again toward an induslIial-technological fonn? May�, Y bul there is no U$C in worrying aboul iI, since we can't predict or canlrOi events or 1,000 yeus In 500 Ihe future. Those problcms must dealt with by the peoplc who wUl live time. be: aI that INDUSTRlAL SOCIETY ANDrrs FUTURE THE UNABOMBER THE DANGER OF LEFTISM feminist, gay rights. political coneaness, etc.. movements, and because these movements have .. 213. Because of their need fot rebellion and for membership in a movement, leftists or persons of strong affinity with the old left.See paragraphs 227-230.) similarpsychological are often to a �belliOllS movement ....hose goals rypc llnaurac:ted or aaivUI amJ 219. Leftism totalitarian force. Whereverleftism in a posidon of powerit tends toinvade is is every membcnhip are not initiall leftisly The resulting of leftish types can easily tWll a non-lefti:il private comer and fOItt every thought into .lefWtmold. pan is because o(lhe quasi-religious inflwt In this movemen/. into a leftist one, iO thalleftistgoW replace or duton the original goals of the movement. character ofleftism; everything contrary to leftists beliefs represents Sin. More imponantly, leftism Is I totalitarian force because of the leftists' drivefor power_ The leftist to satiJfy his for 214. To avoid this, • movement thal exalts nature and opposes IechnolO&y must take a resolUlely seeD need anti-leftist and must avoid collaborationwith leftists. Lefti�m is in the tong run in consistent power throughidentification wit h • social movement and he tries togo through the power process by SIIUlCe all with wild nllure, with human freedomand with the elimination of modem technology. u helping to pursue and attain the goals of the movement (see paragraph But no matter how far Leftism 83). collectivist; iliUb togetbcr theenm world (both and the h race)into a unified the movement hlU gone in attaining its goahtbe leftist never satiJfi.ed, 10 tind nature uman is because his activism Is • whole. But implies managementof nature of hlllllanlife by society, and it requires surrogate activity (see paragraph41). That ii, theleftbt's motive not to attain tbe ostensible this and organized real is advanced tcclmoloay. YOII can't bave • united world rapi d transportation and goals of leftism; in he motivaIed by the ICnlC o£power he gets from struggling for andthen withoLlt realitt is communication, you can't make all people love one another aophisticaled psychoiogiCll! reaching a goal Consequently leftist is never satiJfied with the goalJ has already without social. lhe he technique&. you can't have . "planned lOciety" without the ICchnologicrJ base. Above all, attained; his needfor thepower processlead. always to pursue lome new goal. The leftist wants neceuary him driven by the for power, and the leftist power on collective throllgh equal opportunities for minorities. When that is attained he on rtatiltical equality of lcftiJm is need seeks I basis, insists identification ItWJ LQ orpnizarion. UDlikcly ever to give up achievement by minorities. And long IU lIl'I)'One harboun some corner of his negative with • movemenI or ut'timi'is u In mlnd • technology, becausetechnology valuable .10=of collectivepower. attitude toward some minority, the leftist hlU to re-educated him. And ethnic minorities is100 C'C DOt enough; no one can be owed all to have a negadve attitude toward homosexuall, disabled people, fll 21S. The anarchist power, but he it on an individual small-group he J4 too 5eeks socks or basis; people. old people, ugly people, and on on and on. not enough that pu�e lhould be and It'l the WLQU individuals and aroups beable collttOlthe cin:umstance3 of their own lives. infonnedabout the hazards of smoking; a warning to bestamped on eVerypackage of dguettts. unal1 10 10 He has opposu Icchoolo&), becausemakes it groupl dependent on largeorganiz.aJions. Then cigarette advertising to be rcstriaed if not banned. The activist. willnever belltisfied &mall has until Some leftUu mlY seem to oppose technology, tobacco is outlawed, and alterthat il bealcohol then junk. food, etc. Activists have fo nght gross 216. but they will oppose it only so long IU they are wi.ll outsiden the technological Iyitem U controlled by non-leftists. leftism ever become5 dominant child abuse, which reasonable. But DOW they want to stop spanking. When have donethat and If i! aU they society, the technological syitem becomea I tool in hands of lefti5tS, they they want to &omething eise they consider unwholesome, then another thing and then i.o ao mal tb:: will wi.ll ban enthU5iasdcally promote doing they will be �peating a another. They never besatisfied unti1 they have complete control over all ehi.ld rearing practices. use iJ: and its growth. In this will hlUshown again again in the past. Wben the Bolsheviks pancrn thal And then they move on to another cause. leltism and in Russia were outsiden, they will vigorously opposed censorship and the police, they acivocaled seaeI self-determination for ethnic 220. Suppose you asked leftists to make a list of the things that ....ere wrong with society, and ALL so fonh; as 1000 as they came into power minoritie:' and bw themselves, they imposed I tighler Olen suppose you instituted EVERY lOCiai change that they demanded. It to "-y that within . b: we censonbip and I more nuhless police than any that had Cl'.Uted crealCd 5CCteI under the tsars, and couple of the majority of lefti.sts would find &omething new to oomplain .bout, lOme new they oppres� ethnic minoritics as much as the had done. In the United a years III least tsan Slates, social to correct because, once again, the leftist motivated less by distrus at society'_ lIb couple of ago when Wc:nl a minorily our universities, leftist profcuon "evil" b: decades Ieftisu In were Olan bythe to "-tislyhis drive for power by imposing his solutions on society. vigorous proponents of acaOcmic freedom, but today, in those universities where leftists have need 221. Becalllie of the �$Irictions placed on their thoughts and behaviour by their high of become dominant, they have shown themselves ready take .....Iy from everyone else's academic level 10 socialization, many leftists of the over-socialized type cannot pursue power in the ways that other (This is �political conectne.ss.�) 5Iroe happen with leftists and technology: They freedom. The wi.ll it to oppresl evct}'One else ifthey ever gel it under their own control. people do. For them the drive for power has only one mOl1ll.lyable accepI outlet, and that is in the willuse struggle to impose their morality on everyone. earlier revolutions, lettistsof most power-hungry type, 2�7. In the repeatedly, have fitstco-op eroiled non-leftist revolutionariC5, as wdJ as wilh leftists or I more libertarian inclinatiOll. and especially tbose of the ovcnoclal.iud type, are True Believers in the selUe of Eric wuh laiet 222. Leftisu, have double-crossed them power for themselves. Hoffer's book, True 8eliever.M But not all True Believers C'C or the same psychological type as 10 seize Robespierre did this in the French 'ibe Revolution, the Bolsheviks did it in Russian Revolution, the leftists. Presumably a truebelieving for instance very different psychologically from a the communists did it in Spain in 1938 nazi, is and Castro his followctl did the past history truebelieving lefWl Becauseof their capacity for single-minded devotion to a cause, True Believers . and iI in Cuba. Given of leftism, it would be utterly foolish for non-leftistrevolutionaries todu.y to collaborate with are • useful, perhaps a nCCC$saty, ingredient of revolutionary movement. pIUelll! a leftists. any This problem with which we must admit we don't know howto deal. We aren't sure how to harness the have poioled OUllhat leftbm a kind of Jel.igion. 218. ":a.riOIlJ thinken: is LeItism is not a religion energies oftbe True Believer to . revolution against technology. At present all we can tay that no the sense leftistdoctrine not ponul&le the in is ItnCl .� does eoce of any supernalural being. True make • we RaUlt to the revolntion his commitment exclusively the But for the le lefti exisc Believer wi.ll unleu b: 10 � &m plaYI a psychological role much Ihat which religion plays for some destruction of teehnology. he is oommincd also to another idea.!, he maywant to use technology ple. The leftistNEED S to believe \ike l! IU � in leftUm;it play, I vital in his psychological economy. His a 1001 for pursuing that other ideal (scc paragraph5 220, 221). �fJ � not ily hy logic or role � modified has I deep conviction leftism morally Rigbl wa h f&Cu. He thai is 223. Some readers may Sly, ·"Thisstuff about leftism a lot of cntp. I knowJohn Jane who are I R, and thal he has only . right but . duty to impose morality on b: and everyone. caPllal 001 leftist leftish types and they don't have all these totalitarillll tendencies." It'l quite true thal many leftists, (However, many of the people we are refCIring to as "Ieftisu" do not or themselves as think . leftists and ....ould not their system of as leftism. We "leftism" because possibly even . numerical majority, are decent people ...ho sin�y believe in tolersting describe belids use the term othc:n. we don't know or any bener wordll to desigIlalC the IpCWum of related that includes values (up 10 a point) and wouldn't want to use high-handed methods to reach Oleic social goals. creed!l the Our 4' 49 INDUS'TRlALSOCIETY AND ITS FunJRE THE UNABOMBER about are not meanl apply to cvery individual leftisl but to desctibe the general 230. The more dangerous Ieftisu, thlt is" those who are most power-hungry, are of\en mnarb leftism to chanct.erl.ud charw::ter of leftism as a movemem. And the genen&i cha.nu:ter of a movement is not necessarily by arrogance or bya dogmatic approach 10 ideology. However. the most dangerous leftists of allmay determined by the numerical proportions of the various kinds of people involved in the movcment. certain oversodalizc:d types who avoid irritating displays of aggressivenesl and refrain from be 224. The people who rise positions of power leftist movements lend to be leftists of the most advertising their leftism. but work quietly and WlObtnuively to promote collectivist ValUC5, to in "cnlightened" psychological techniqucs for socialil:ing dependenceof the individual the power-hullgry type becausepower-hUl1gry people aretOOle who striveha:rdest to gel into positions of children, OD. system. and so fo rth. Thl:le crypto-Ieftists (as we may them) Ipproximate boDIKCOis power. Once the power-hungry Iypes have captured control ohhe movemem, there are many leftists call certain of a gentler who inwardly disapprove of many of the actions of the leaden. bUI cannot bring types as far as practical. action concerned, but differ from them in psychology, Ideology and breed ill themselves tooppose them. They faith in the movemeN, And they cannol give motivalion. The bourgeois trics 10 bring people under control of l)'5tem in order to NEED lbeit because ordinlU)' the up faith they go along with the leaden. True, SOME leftists do have the guts to oppose thc p1"otect his way ofhle, or hc does so simply because his attimdea are conventional The crypto-leftist thiJ bring people under control of the sy5tem because he is a True Believer in a collectivistic totalitarian tendencies thai emergc, but thcy gcm:nuly lose. because the power-hungry types are tries to deology. The trypto-leftist is differentiated from the Iverage leftist of the oversoclaliztd type by the bencr ore�are mOle ruthlcss and Machiavellian and have takencare to build themselvci a i fOel thal:rebelli his ous impLilse weakerand he is secutdy socialized. He differentiatedfrom mona power is more is base. the ordinary well-socialized boW'geois by the fact that them is some deep lack within him that makes 225. These phenomena appeared clearly in Russia and other COWltries thai were taken over by it necessary for him to devotc himsclf to a cause and immene himself In I collectivity. And maybe Similady, before the of communi.Jmin the USSR. lcllisb in the West would left:isu. inakdoWli types (wcU-sLlbl.imated) drive for power is stronger than that of the avtfllie bourgcois. liCldom thai countt)'. prodded thcy would admit did many wrong things, his criticiu If thai the USSR but then they would tryto finde.xCUSts for the oommunilts and begin talking about thofault$ of the FINAL NOTE Welt. TheyalwaY' opposed Western mililaJy to oonununisl aggression. LellishIypes all reaiJtarlce viaorou.dyprolC$tcd milituyaclion bUI whcn the USSR invaded 231. Throughout lhia article im precisestatements and statements thal: ought to havehad over the world lho US in Vietnam, we'velluuic Afghanistan they did nothina. Noc thai they approved of the Soviet actions; but because of their sorts of qaalifications and reSCIVations attached to them; and some of our StalemellU may be all lellistfaith, thcy just couldn't to pue thcmselvCl opposition to commwUstn. Today, in of Da.J.ly false. of sufficient information and the fot brevity made it impossible for \U to bear in those Lac.k need w� Kpolilical correanessM become dominanr., are probably many leftish fonnulate our assertions more precisely or add allthe necessary qualificarions. And of coune in a our uuivenities bu there rypcs who privudy disapprove of thelupPression of ac.adc:mic freedom, but they go along it discusrion of one must rely heavilyon judgement, that can sometimes be with this kind inluilive and anyway wrong. So we don't claim that articleexpresses morethan a crude approximationto the truth. . thia ThUl (be fact thai manyindividual leftists are personallymild and fairly tolerant people by no 232. AU the same we are reasonably confident that the general outli� of the plctum have 226. we preventlleftism whole fo nn havina totalitarian tendency. painted here are roughly comet We have portrayed leftism in modem form as a phenomenon means u & & it.!: peculiar our time and as asymptom of the disruption of the power procelL But wemight possibly 227. OW' discussion of has a serious weakness. far from clear what we mean by the 10 1eftUm It. is still wrong about this. Ovenocialized types who try to satisfy their drive for power by imposing their won! deem't seem to bemuch we cando about Today leftismis fragmcnted into be "leftUt." Thetc this. morality on everyone have certainly around for a long time. But we the dcdsi.ve a wbole specttumof activinmovements. Yet not allactivist movemellU arelelWt, some activist been nnNK that and role played by feelings of inrcriority, low !df-esteem. powerlc$SntU, identification with victims by rnovemenu (e.g.. , radical environmentalism) to include bothpenonalities of tbe leftist type and sum people who arenot themselves victims, is a pecu1illrity of modem leftism. Identificarlon with victims pcnonalltiu of thoroughly u.n-leItist types who ought to know better to coUabora1e with lelllil5. th&n by people not themselves victinu can be seen to some extent in 19th century leftism and early out gradually varietiCI of non-leftists oUfldves wouldoften be VarieliCiof leftisu fade into and we Christianity but as far as we can make out, symptolIU of low self-esteem, w� not nearly hard-pressed decide whether a given individual iJor is not aleftisl To the extent that itis defined etc., 50 10 evident in these movements, or in any ocher move menU, they arein modem leftism. But we are at all,oW' conception of is defined by the di.scussioo of it that we have given in article. u lefIi5m ttW not in a position to assert confidently that no such movements have existed prior to modem leftism. we canonly advise the to use own judgemeru in ded.ding wbo is a leftist. IUd reader his a significant question to which historians ought to give their anention. This is 228. Bue behelpful to list some criteriafOf diagnosing leftism. Thesecriteri& cannot applied it will be in a cut and dried manuet. Some individu.al.J may lOme of the criteria being leftists. meet without iOmeleftists may anyof the Aglin.you just have to yoW'judgemeru. IlOC meet criteria. use 229. The leftist is oriented toward lugC£Cale collectivUm. emphasizes the duey of the indiyidual He to serve lOciety and the duty of 50Ciety to take e&nI of the individual. has a negative attitude He toward individuali.Jm. � a mora1iJtic tone. tends to be for IWl control. for He 0&0 He sex education ocher�ycbologicaUy MenlighlCOCd" educadonal methods, for planning.for affll1llll..ive and for multicultural..i5m. He tends to identify with victims. tends to be against competition action, He and againstviolence, bue ofteo finds e.xc\lSCl for those leftists wbo do commitviolence. fond be .. He is of usina theconunon cuc.h.� oftbe " "5C:Xism. Mhomopoobia, " "capitalism," Idt lib MJacism, "imperialism," M loDialism M "genocide," MIOcial change.," " justice," " responsibility." neoco social social Maybe the best diagnostic trail of the leftisl is his tendency to sympathize with the following movemellU: feminism, gay rl&hts, ethnic rlghtl, diAbiJity rights, animal righu political conectncss. Anyone who Ittoogly Iympalhizea ofthescmovements is almost cenain\y aleftisL with ALL J(j 50 51 INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITSFlITURE '!HE UNABOMBER NOTES hand-to-mouth existence (men:ly providing oneself and one', family with food from day to day) have � (Paragraph 19) We arc asserting that All..ot even most, bullies and ruthless competitors suffer �n quite sufficient. fromfeelinp of inferiority. 7. (paragraph 52) A partialexception may bemade fot . fewpassive. inward looking groups, such as :I. (Paragraph 25) During the Victorian period many oversocialize.d people suffered from serious the Amish, which have liule effect on the wider 5Ociety. Apart from thest, some genuine small-scale communities do exist in America today. For instance, youth gangl and Everyone regards psycbological problems as a result of �reuing ot Irying to repress. their sexual fee lings. Freud "cu115". because one Apparently based his theories on people of this type. Today the focus of socialization has shifled them as dangerous, and so they are, the memben oftllesc groups are loyal primarily to canno from sex aggression. another rather than to the system, hence [he system t control them. take the gyprics. The 10 Or gypsies commonly get away with theft and fraud because their loyaldes are luch that they can sciences s.(paragraph Il) NOI neccuarily in cluding SpccialislSengi in neeringHhard" alwaYI get O[her gypsies togive testimony thai theirin nocence. Obviouslythe .ystem would . "provea'" be in serious !rouble IOU many people belonged such groups. Some of the early-20th century 4. (Paragrapb 2S) arc many individuals of the middle and upper cluse.I who resist some of Thett. if 10 thesevllucs, but UJuaUy their resistance is more orleu coven. Such resistance appears in the man Chinese thinkers who wm coneemed with modemi.zing China recognizedthe necessity of breaking down small-scale groups such IS the family: "(Acocmting to Sun Vat-sen) The ChInese people media only to a very limiledexlenL The main thrust of propaganda in our 5OCicl:y is in favour of the IOCi.al from statedvllues. needed a new surge of patriotism, wroth would lead to a ttansfer of loyalty the family to the thele state... (According to Huang) tmditional art&chmen1J, particularly to the family bad to be The main reasons why values have become, 50 10 speak, official values of our 50Ciety U the is were they an: useful the industrial I)'stem. Violence dUcouraged disrupLs the abandoned nationa1.ism to dcvdop ChinL" (Chester C. Tan, Chinese Polirical Thought in that [Q is because it if to functioning of the .ystem. Racism is discouraged because Clhoic conflicts also disrupt the system, the Twentielh Century," page 125, page 297.) and discriminatiou wastca the weill of DIinorily-group memben: who could be uscful lO the system. L (Paragraph 56) Yes. we know that 19th cenlury America had its problems, and serious ones, but Povertymust the underclasscauses problems the system aud with the be�ewW"' because fur COnllCl the sake of brevity we have to ex� ourselves In simplified telml. lOT undcrcla.,. lowen the moral of the other clusel. Women arc encouraged to have careen because their are useful to the system and. men importAntly bceausc by baving regular jobs women '. (paragraph 61) We leave aside the underclass. We arcspeaking of tHe mainstream. talellll become beUc:r inte&nted into the syuem aud tied dim::dy to raLher thau families. This iI 10 !heir 10. (paragraph 62) Some social scientist&. educa[OI1, professionals and the belpllO weaken family solidarity. (Theleaden; of the 'yJtem oy they want to Itreogthen the family, "mental heIlthH like 1ft doing !heir best to push the social drives into group 1 by trying to see to it that everyone hu a bill they really meau they want the fam.ily to stlVe as au effective tool for socializing children is tJw satisfactory socla.llife. iII with the needs olthc system. We in paragraph. 51,52 that lhe system cannot afford accord 1lI11C to let the family or other small-scale socialirtlups be mong or autonomous.) 11. (P phs 63, S2) the drive for endleSll material acquisition really an creationthe of aragra Is a:rtificial advertising and maIketing industry? Certainly lhere is no inn81e human drive {or m81erlal " (Pangrapb 42) may be majority of people don't want to own 11 argued that the make: lheir acquisition. There have been many cultures in which people have desired liule mll1enal wealth dcci..siDIIS but want leaden10 do their thinking fot them. Thereis auelement of truth in this. People beyond what was necesury to salilfy thetr Wic physical needs (Australian aborigines, I.i.kcto make their own decisions in small manen, but making decisions on difficult, fundamental traditional Mexican peuant cultu1C, some African cultures). On the other hand there have also been many questioDS require flciug up 10 psycbological bate psychological conllieL � conflict, and most people cultures in which material acquisition played an important role.So we can't claim that they tend to lcau on others in making difficult decU:ions. The majority of people an: naIurIl industrial baa Hence today's acquisition-oriented culture exclusively • creation of the advertising and marketing fo llowers, not but they to have �ctpenonal access 10 their leaders and participate to i5 leaden, like industry. But it is clear thaI the advertising and marketing indultry hI! had. an important put in some making diffieult decisions.Al least degree they need aUlOOOmy. c.x!enlin 10 that creating thatculture. The big corporations thal spend millions on advertising wouldn't be rpcnding that kind of money without solid proofthat they wm getting back in increased salClil. " (paraguph 44) Some of the symptonu listed are similar to those lhewn by caged animals. To II Onemember of met a salel manager a couple of ago who was frank enough to job to explain how these symptonu arise from deprivation wilh rtliped. to the power process: FC yean tell him, "Our b make people buy things they don� want anddon't need.� He theo described how an untrained novice Common-sense: understandinShuman of naturetells ODC of goals whose anainmelll requires thatlack could present people wi!h the factl about a prodllCl, and mili no &ales at aU, while . trained and leadl effort to boredom and Ihal boredom, long continued, often lead.!; evelllua1Jy 10 depression. experienced professional salesman would make lots of sales to the same people. shows that Failure 10 obtain gGab leads to fIusuatioo aud lowenD&: of self�celtL Frustration leads to anger, This people 1ftmanipulated into buying things they don't reallywant auser to aggreuion, often in the fonn of ot child abuse. been shown that long. 5p01lSC It has con1i..oucd frustration commonly leads 10 depreuion and rnat dcpre.uion tends 10 cause: guill, sleep 12. (paragraph 64) The problem of pmposelessntu leems to have become leu serious during the last disorden, eating diIordcD and bad feelings about oneself. Those who are tending toward depression 15 years or so, because people now fcel less secure phyriea.lly and economically than they did seek pleasure as au antidote; hence hedonism and excessive sex, with perversions as a earlier, and the needfor security provides them wi!h a goal. BUI purposelessness ha.t beenreplaced iruadable mCaJlll jetting new kicks. Boredom too tenet. cause excessive pleasure-secl:i.ng since, lacking We cmphasiu the pmblem of purposelessness 01 10 by frustration over the difficulty of attaining security. other gow. people often use pleasure as a goal. See IICCOmpanying diagram. The foregoing the liberals and leftist& would wish to solve our social problems byhaving society guarantee is • bet:ause Iimpli6cation. R.eal.ily more complex, and coursedeprivation wi!h respect to tile power proceu everyone's sec:urity; hUI if that could be done would only bring hack of is 01 it the problem is oot the ONLY cause of tile symptoms described By the way, when we mention depression we do purposelessness. The real issue is not whether society provides wcu or poody for people'. aeeurity, oeccSllrilymeau depression thai: is sev� enough to betrea1ed hy. psychiatrist. Often only mild the trouble is are depend�nt on the system for their security rather than having in their DOt: that people it foons of depreuiOA areinvolved. when we JPC&kof goals we do not oeoessarily mean long own hands. This, by way, pan of the Tea$On why some people get worlced about the dght to And the b up thought out goals. For many or most people through much of human history, the goals of a bear &nns: possession of a gun puts that aspect of their security their own hands. term, in 52 53 INDUS'TRlALSOCIETY ANDITS FUTlJRE lHE UNABOMBER Il. (paragrapb 66) Consc:rvlllives' efforts; to decruse the amount of government regulation are of Jit1.le benefit to the aven.ge man. thing, only a fraction of the regulations can be elimin&led For one the Jt:Sult of a common technology... " '- Sprague Camp, Ancient Engineers," Ballentine most regulations are necessary. ForlOother thina, moS!: of the deregulationaffecu business de 'Ihe because edition, page 17. talher than the average individual, sothat its main effea Istake 10 power from the government &Ild The lives of the three clerks IU'C not IDENI1CAL. Ideology does have SOMBeffect. But Is that banlc all give to prlVIle oorporatioOl. What thism=ans for the average man government interference societit.!;, order to survive. must �olve along APPROXIMA1EL Y the same it technological in in his life"placed is by interferencefrom big corporations, which may bepenniUed, for CJ.ample, to trajectory. dump more:chemicals thaI get into his watersupply and give him cancer. The conservatives arc just 11. para taking avemae man for a slICker, exploitina his resentment of Big Government to promote the ( graph 123) Just think Il!I irre sponsible genetic engineer might create a lot of terrorists. !be power of Big BIlSiness. 111. (paragraph 124) a fW1her CJ.ampleof undesirable oonJOquencea of medical rogress, 'uppose Nr p (paragruph 73) When someQne .pproVeli of the pUJPOse for which propaganda being used a reliable cure for cancerIs disoovett.d. Even if the treatment experuive be available any tol.. is in 11 ill too to to given genenilly it "education" orapplies to some similar euphemism. But propaganda but the elite, it greatly reduce their incentive to Slop the C11C8pe of cam.nogens into the case. be calb it will proplgandaregardleu oflbe purposefor wbieb it environment . .is is tued. (Paragraph 83) We are not expressing appro or disapproval of the Panama invasion. We only ll. (Paragnph 128) Since many people may lindparadoxical tbe notion that a lataenumber of good 15. ....l things can add up a bad thing, we ',vlll.illwlJate with an analogy, Suppose A playinl ebess use i.Ito iUU3ln\1e a point. 10 Mr. ill with B. C, a Grand Mast«, looking over A', shoulder. A of course Mr. Mr. Is Mr. Mr. wanu to 'Hin 16. (Paragraph 95) When tile American colonies were under British rule there wen: fewer and less his so if C a good move for make. doing A a But game, Mr. poi nu OIlt him to be is Mr. favour. effective legal guarantees of freedom than there Wenl &her the American Constitution went into suppose now thai C tells A bow make of hi. moves. In each particular be Mr. Mr. to AU.. instance yet was more personal freedom in pre-indU5trlai America., both before and after War does A a favour by shOwing him hi. besl move, but by making AU.of his move.!; for he erfea. there the Mr. him of Independence, was afler the RtvoIurion country. We quote than then: industrial took bold inthiJ; spoilsthe game, since there point A's playing the game at all if someone makes all from "Violenc:e in America: Historical and Comparative perspectives." by Hugh OaviJ is DO( inMr. else edited his moves. GrahAm and Robert Gwr, Chapter 12 by Roger pages 47&478: The situBlion of modem man analogoua to tbat of A. The system make! an individual'. life Ted Lane, is Mr. easier for in in numerable ways, bUl in doing so it deprlVCl him of control over his own fate. progressive bcigbtening of SlAndudsof property, on official him '"The and withincreasing it� reliance law (in 19th oentury America) ... Wenl oommon to dloCwbole lOCie ty. , .[T]1lechange in CIl!orcemcDl n (Paragnph 137) Here we are considering only tbe oon1liet ofvaloe. within the behaviour so long term and so widespread as to sugae51 a oonneaion with most mainstrwn. For social u � the sake of simplicity we leave out oCtile picture Komsider" values the ideathat wild nature m funda mental of OOOIemporuy procesRl; of indw;mal urbani:z.ation its.clf. like is IOCial thal . ore imponant than human cronomic welfare. 1835 had populaJiooa of lOme660,940. 81 percentrural, overwhelmingly ."MassachUKttJ in pre and native cidi..ens were to oofl5iderable personalm. freedo Whether 11 (paragraph 137) Self.interest is not neccuaruy sdf-interest. It can oonsist in industrial born. It', used MA1EUAL teaDUlCrS, or artisans, they Wenl accustomed to setting their own achedules, and the fulfilment of some psychological need, for example. by promoting one'. own ideology Ofreligion. Carmen all natwe won:of lbcit them pbysically dependelll other... Individual problems. sins or made OD each M. (Paragraph 139) A qualification: It Is in the intenlJl of the system to permit a �bed even aime., Wenl not generally cause for social .."But the Impact of the twin certain wider ooocem. of freedom In some example, mic freedom (with suitable limitations and lDovements to the city and to the factory, just gathcdng force in 1835, had a progtC5sive effect degree areas. r'Ol' econo both restraints) has proved effective in promoting economic growth. But only planned, circumscribed. pcnonal behaviour throughout the 19th oenlury and into the The factory demanded 00. 20th. limited freedom in the interest of the system. Theindividual must always bekepI on a leash, even R'gula.dty of behaviour. a governed by obedieooe the rbythms calendar. the iJ life to of cloc.t and iflhe leash is sometimes long (seeparagraphs 94, 97). demandJ offoreman and supervisor. In the city Of town, the need5 of living in closely packed neigbbourltoods inhibited many action. previously unobjectionable. (paragraph 143) We don't mean to suggest thal the or the potential for survival of a a efficiency Both bluo- ud wbito-cou..r emplo) CC5 in lat&er establishmenIJ w� mUlUAlly dependent on their society has always been inversely proportional to the amount of or discomfort to which the ' ptenUJ'e fellow., as one man's won: tit inlo another'" one man's was longer his own. socicty lubjeeu people. Thal certainly not the case. good reason to that many so busine.u no ''The ill 1bere is believe reliultsof the new organizationoflifc and work wae app�OI by 1900,when .ome 76 peroent ofthe primitive societies sUbjected people to less Ihan tbe European society did, but European preu� 2.&05,346 inhabil&DU of society proved far more efficient than any primitive and always won out confficts with Massacbusetts Wenl classified as urban.ite5. Much violenl or egularirr society in beb&viourwhich had been tolerable a casual, indepelldeUlsociety wasno longer acceptable in the such societies because orthe Ildvantages conferredby technology. in mOl'e fo rmalized,co-opemlive atmosphere of the later period. move to the cities had. in 5bon, ..The (Paragraph 147) If you think that more effective law enforoement unequivocally good it produced a more tractable, more socialized.more 'civilizod' generationthan pJWecesson." l!. ill became iu suppresses crime, then remember that crime defined by the system not necessarily what YOU as is (P&nIgI1lph 117) Apologists for the .yilCm are fond of citing in 'whieh have would Today, smoking marijuana "aime," and, in some places in US., so 11. eases elcaions been call crime. is • the is possession of ANY regiS!:ered may bemade a crime, and the JanIething may bappen decided by one or two VOIU, but Jueh casesarc rare. fuurm. or not, with disapproved methodJ of child-rearing, sucb as spanking. In some countries. e:xprelSion of (Paragraph 119) ''Today, in technologically advanced men live very similar lives in spite of 11. lamb. dissident politicalopinions is a crime, and there no certainty that this never happeo in the geographical.religious and political The daily lives of a clerk illChicago, iJ will US, di1J�. Christian bank since no constitution orpolitical system lasts forever. a Buddhist bank clerk in Tokyo. a Commwilil: bank clerk in Moscow � far more than the lite alike a society needs a large, powerful law enforcement establiJihrnent, then there something gravely lOy one of them is thal of any single man wbo lived a thousand ago. These similarities are If is like years wrong with that it must besubjecting people toseve ll::pressures if so many refuse to follow society; the rules, or follow them only because forced. Many societies in the put have gotten by with linte or UNABOMBER INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE THE . our particular of anarchism A wide variety of 00 fonnal law-enfora:ment. 215) 51alement refcrs to brand )4. (Parag ra p h Thb . themselves .. ...••_...... hi5l. ,.. and it may be that many who consider "A ve _. -- 'l cu-'> 21. 151) 5w-e, but tudes '"_ ...... way, th 81 (Paragraph To be past societieI have had means of influencing behaviour, these social atti statement of paragraph 215. It should be DOted. by the anarchisl5 would not acc:cpt our . have primitive and of klw cffcctivelleSJ compared with the technological means that arcnow ;,hoIGmembcr1 probably would not acceptFC as IlI\llI"Chist been ereis a nonviolent anarcltistmovement being developed. th of VIolent methods. and cenainly would notapprove FC', (paragrapb 152) in 211. However, some psychologists have pub cly expressed opinionJ indiealing their motivated also by hostility, but the hostilityprobably rcsulls li IS. (Paragraph 219) Many lcftisu arc coDlempl for bumao freedom.the And illIIhemlllidanShannon Oaudc was ql10lcd in Omni (AugUSt power. 1981) uyin&. a time paIt from a fTUSlnlled needfor as '1 visualim wben we will be to robots what dogs arc to humans, and fm we meansomeone who rymPIllhi.zes with these rooring for abemacbinu. � y.. (parag11lph229) It iJ important to undentand lhat thaI ete., society. who be\ievu womeD, bomosexnall, MO asthey cxlt1 loday in out One li.(pang:rapb 154) �eflCe 154 VEMENTS n;ovtme� thaI This is no fictionl After writing paragraph we carne across an article necessarily a leftist. The feminist, gay. righ:" etc., should have equal rights i.E noI in Scicncitic American according to which scienliru arc actively developing 1CChniques for that charactc:nzcs leftiJrn, and one believca, xist in our society have the partiCulllf ideological tone if ttuting y follow thAI one musl identifying pouible fwl.lle aiminab and fOI them by a combination of biological and should have eq ua1 righlJ not oece.uaril �or example, that women . it does psychological means. Some IciClitists advocate compulsory application of the trulmelll, which may cxistl loday. sympathize with the femini51. movement I!II be available in the fw l.lle. (Sec " Seeking the ElemcntM, by W. Wayt Gibbs, Scientific near Criminal quot&tion to be printed, then please change American, 1995.) Maybe you think this is OK the treatmenl: would be applied 10 problems mw it impossible fOf this long Marc.h bccau.sc Ifcopyright those migbJ: too), 16 ows: who become drun.k driven (they endanger human life tbcn perhaPI to peel who Nole to:read asfoll Ipank their chil�n, then to environmenUlists who sabol:age logging cqwpment, C'Ientually 10 fewer and �ess colonies wm under British rule there w� 16. (Paragraph 95) When the American anyone whose behavioW"i. inconvenient for the system. we �to of freedom than tllcn: wm after the American ::! effective legal guarantees Conslituti� ar America, bothbef an� er t lC. {Parqrapb 184} A further advantage nature as a coWllcI-ideal to technology that, in many effect, thm was more pcnonal freedom Inpre-lndustrial � of is et m t�s country. people. so muurc the Industrial Revolution took hold In nalLIfO illlpircl the kind of �ven:nce thal is &ssocillled with rcligion, thllt CQuld f Ind�endcnce, than there wu after � by gh Da s an� as Ii Perspectiv es," H� � Grah� perhaps be idealized 011 a Icligioul basis. It b true thllt in many wcicLie� n:.Jlgion hlU served Violcnce in America: Historical and Comparative edi l� ,uPJIOrt often provided a Lane, how to pre-tndusttial Ammca Ih jllSlifica.tion for the established bill it allo that religion has Chapter 12 by Roger it ia explained and order, is t.rue Ted Robert QUIT ss of for rebellion. Thus may be useful to inlroduce a religious element into the rebellion against autonomy thanhe does today, and how theproce buiJ it average person h�d gruterindependence ':1l� the freedom. 1CChnology, mo� so becauseWestern society loday has no litrong rcligiolLl fo undation. Industrializarion necessarily led 10 the restnCtlon of pcnonal narTDW, &lipan, nowadays either is used as cheap and traJuparcnt liUpport for shorHighted u16shnc:u (some COt1SCJVaUvu use i! tbis way), or even is cynically exploited to make cuy money (by many evangelists), or has degenerated into aude irrarlonallSm (fundamcntal.ist Protestant sects, �culU"), is or limply ItagnaDl (Catbolidsm. main-linc ProleSlaJUism). The nearest thing to a SUOng. widespread. dynamic religion tha! the WC5t has = in reoeOl dmu has been the quasi-religion of liagm DOclear, unified leftiJm, blll lOdaylcftism is roted and has; inspiring goal. VlCUwn in rdigion ThUJ tbcrc religiousis a our IOCitlythat could pctbaps be filledby a fo cused on nature a in opposition to gy.1CChnolo But i! would be a mistaketo try to 00ll00Cly artificiall religion to fill this role. Such an invented religion would probably be a failure.. Take the �Qaia" rel.igion for c:um.ple. 00 its &dherenll; REAllY believe in it or arc they just play-acting1lf they are just play a flop acIinatheir religion willbe in the cod. probAbly try II b beatoot to to introduce religioninto the conflict of nature VI. tcclloology unless REAU... Y thAI you believe in religion younelf and find thaI i! &roU$C.I a deep, strong, genwne response in mllly Dlhet peopLe. lL (Puqraph 189) Assuming thalluch & fina1push OCCIIU. Conceivably the industrial system might be 4, 167 4). cUmin.ted in a IOIDCWiw gradual or picc.cmeal fashion. (see paragraphs and NOie 193) l2. (Parag.raph It ia even conceivable (remotely) thal: the revolution might consist: only of a ma..uive change of attitude. 10wIlId technology �sulting in a relatively gradual and painless disintegration ofthc indlUtrial lYltem. BillifthiJ happens we1l bevery lucky. II', far more probably the uansition to & non-l.echnological will be that lOciety very difficult and full of conflicts and diuslQ'l. )1. {P&J8&lIph 19S} The economic and tcclmological structure of a society are far more important (see 95. 119 tha.nill; political ltructure in determining the way the average man lives paragrltphs and No(U 16, 18). INDUSTRIAL ANDSOCIETY ITS FUT\JRE lHE UNABOMBER (pasaage deleted in originAl pub1icadon the requestof tile FBI: II UNABOMBER'S presumably design details of dcviCCl for corroberalivepurpoSCl] Since no longer have toconfine explosive in a pipe, we now oflimilationl On the we the are free size and shape of our bombs. We arc preny lure we know inaea5e the powerof our explosivu how to and reduce the number of bancries needed toset them off. And. as we've justindica[cd, we think. we now have morn effective fragmentation material. So we exped able to pack. dea.dly bombsinto 10 be COMMUNIQUE ever. smaller. lighter and more looting pacbgell. other hand. we we willbe harmlCJS On lhe believe able make bombs much bigger than anywe've made before. With a briefcase-full or a suitcase-full 10 FromNfI't' Wedoesdllly, April 16,1995 of explosives we lhould be able toblow out the walll of Iiubstantial buildings. York llmes. nus ISA MESSAGE from th� tell'orist group Clearly we in a position to a great of damage. And it docsn' appear thal: the FBI is going Fe. are do deal us any time soon. The FBI is a joke. W� blew omasMosser last December becauJe bewu a Bunlon·Marsteller executive. Among 10 caleh up Th other mhdeeds, Bunton-Marsteller helped Exxon clean up i15 public imag� afterthe Exxon Valdez The people who pllllhing this sro,wth and progress garbage lbave 10 ly punished. are all he sevae But w� Bun:too-ManteUcr for i15 specific misdeeds than on gencrn.l But our goal u less topunish them than 10 propagate Ideas. Anyhow we getting of making incident. mackcd le.u art: tired princip1el. Bunton·MalSlclleris about the bidesl OlJaniurion tb� public bombs. It's no fun having spend your evenings and weekends preparing dangerous in relations field. to ill mixtmu, fi.ling trigger mechanisms out of IcrapS of metal Ofsearching tnc: siems a place isoilled enough means (hal: its bwines. is tbe development of I&hniqucs for m&ni.pulating people's aniludC$. II for This lest a bomb. So we offer a bargain. mocc tbaJiits for actioOl inspecific we lcut a bomb 10 an eMlCutiv� of lhis 10 wu for lhiI casea thu company. We have a long between 29,000 and 37,000 words. that wanl lO have publiJhed. you article, we If can get it publiJhed accotding to our requirements we permanently desirt from Some newl reports have tbe misleading Italement that we have been attacking universitieli or will lmorul made activities. II must be published in the New York Times, TIme or Newsweek , or some OIher scholars. We have nothinj: against univemtiu as such. AJllbeuniversity people whom in orscholltl widely rend. nationally distributed periodical. ikcaWle of length we will have 10 be we have have been Ipecialistl technical fields. (JIe co der IlUS oC applied iu IUPPOse il anacked in nsi c;c::rtain Alternatively. it can published as I smail book., bUllhe bookmust be welJ publidw:l psychology, luch u behaviour modification, to he tuhnical fields.) We would oot wanl anyone sc.rialb.cd be to and made avail able at a modcmtc price bookslores narlonwidc and in at some places abroad. have any deIire to hun profeuon who study 1Ud!aeo1ogy. history, or in least think tha!we Iilenuure Whoever agrees publish the mllerial v.iU have exclusive righU to reproduce It for a period of The people we art: oue to gea art: the scientists and engineers, especially 10 sI.x harmless Ruff limthu. in months and wclcome to any profits they may make from After months from tbe first field. compu1erJ IlId genetici. for the bombplanted in the Business School lU the will he it. six critical like A.J U. appearance of the article or book. il must become public property, so that anyone tq)roduce or of Utah, thll was a botched openlliOIL We say bow or wby was botched we don\ can WOQ� it because publish it. (If material serialized, instalment become public propcrt)' months after want togive the FBI any clues. No one was hun: by that u first six bomb. appe of fin-t instalmenl, second instalment etc.) We must have tnc:right publilh the New arance to in previous lener you we oursclVCl hists. Since "an.arclUst" is a vague word York Times. Time or Newswcek , each year for thrt:c after the appearance of our article or In our to called I.II4IC Ihat yean toa varidy of explanllionis needed We oursclves anarchists Ihree thousand words expanding or clarifying our material rebutting criticisms of it. has been applied attitudes, funha- call book., Of we would li.k.e.ideally, to break down all socicIy into very small. completely aulonomous becauJe The article will oot explicitly advoeal:e violence. be an unavoidable implication tbat we Regrettably. we don't anyclear road to thisgoal, we leave to the indeftnile fmure. Our There will uciu. iCC 10 il favour violence the extent thaI it mly since we advocate eliminating industrial more immediale goal, whieh we may attainabie some during several to be neceuary, think be III lime !he IlQl sociCly andwe ourselves have been using violence that end. is the destructioo or the worldwide industrial IYltem. Through our bombings we hope 10 10 dccadC.l, promote instatility industrial society, propagale anti-industrial ideus and give But the article will not advocate violence explicitly. norwill It propose the ovctthrow oC the United iOcial. lD who the industri&l IYilem. Statu Gov t, nor it contain obscenity or anything else that you would helikely 10 regard encouragement tothoac hale c:rnmen will as unaccepcabl.e forpublication. The FBI h.u uied 10 po\tJll.y the&e bombingl lSthe work oC an out. We won'! waste our time iJolalcd 1IlIui.nsabout wbethct we are nw, but we oertainly art: DOt isolated. security reuons we won� How do you know that we keep our promise to desist from tertorum ifour conditions mea? For will are number of membcn oC our anyone who !he J.lWIfehisl and our advantage ke.cp our promise. We want acceptance for ideas. reveal the aroup. but will read f1Idieal It will be to to 10 win certain If we environmentalist journals &CC opposition to the industrial-lechnologic.al syslem our promise people lose respedus for and lesslikely aoccpllhc ideas. will thlll is break will 50 will be 10 widespread and growing. Our offcr desist from �rrorism is subject to three quali.fica.r:lons. First: Our promise to desist will to Why do we announce our goalii only now, though we made our bomb some seventeen years not take effect until para of article or book have appeamtin print. authorities first aJ.J our S,cond: H the ago? Our early bombl were toIlttact much public mention or give eocouragement 10 should succeed in tracking us down and an attempt madll to any of us, or even 10 question too ineffoduai is arRlI those who hate the lyittQl. We found by expedeoce gunpowder bombs, enough us connc.etion with the oombingJ, we the righl 10 lISe violence. We diJtinguish thal if small to be in rt.IiCIVII Third: ean1cdinconspicuously, were feeble do muclt damage, $0 we a couple of years off 10 belwccn terrorism and sabotage. By lerrorismwe mean actions motivated by . desiJe to the too to tool: do inllueoce some perimenting. We learned bow to matepipe bombs lhal: werepowerful enough, and we used development of a .society in tended to cause injury or dwh to human beings. By 51bo1age � and ...-e a couple of succcuCui bommnas well WlS fui these Ul 8.1 IS insome ucccu enu. mean similarly motivated actions intended 10 destroy property without injuring human beings. The promise we offeriJ todesist from lenuri.sm. We reserve the right toengage in sabotage. 58 59 INDUSTRlAl SOCIETYAND ITS FUTURE may be just as well thaL fa ilure of early bombs discouraged us from makinll Wly public !J: OUI sUJem.enlS a1\.hat time. We w� very yOWlg then our thinking was crude. and Over the yean we have given much attention to the development of our ideas as the U$EFUL u ADDRESSES to development of bombs, and we now have $Omelhing serious say. we that just now the w And reel time ripe for the presenwion of anti-industrial ideas. is Cd lhat lbt IUUwerto OUI olfc:t pubUciz.ed the media we won� miss it. Please see 10 it is well in soIhal Be wbett bow our malcrialwill publUhedbe and how long take 10 appear 1Ui"C 10 tdI us and it will in print we have sent the manuscripL the satil:factory, we finish typing the 01lCe in If amwer is 'Nill manuscript and .end it Ulhe answer unsadsfaaory, we building our IICXI bomb. 10 you. is will .5lUl. We eocounge you prilu lenc:r. 10 this R: