"The industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster
for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those
of us who live in "advanced" countries, but they have destabilized
society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to
indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering….and have
inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of
technology will worsen the situation
The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never occurs to them that you can’t make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well.
(Modern man has the sense (largely justified) that change is IMPOSED on him, whereas the 19th century frontiersman had the sense (also largely justified) that he created change himself, by his own choice.
There has been a consistent tendency….for technology to strengthen the system at a high cost in individual freedom….Permanent changes in favor of freedom could be brought about only by person prepared to accept radical, dangerous and unpredictable alteration of the entire system.
When motor vehicles were introduced they appeared to increase man’s freedom. They took no freedom away from the walking man, no one had to have an automobile if he didn’t want one, and anyone who did choose to buy an automobile could travel faster and farther than a walking man. But when automobiles became numerous, it became necessary to regulate their use extensively. In a car, especially in densely populated areas, one cannot just go where one likes at one’s own pace; one’s movement is governed by the flow of traffic and by various traffic laws. One is tied down by various obligations: license requirements, driver test, renewing registration, insurance, maintenance required for safety, monthly payments on purchase price. Moreover….the arrangement of our cities has changed in such a way that the majority of people no longer live within walking distance of their place of employment, shopping areas and recreational opportunities, so that the HAVE TO depend on the automobile for transportation. Or else they must use public transportation, in which case they have even less control over their own movement….
The positive ideal that we propose is Nature. That is, WILD nature: those aspects of the functioning of the Earth and its living things that are independent of human management and free of human interference and control….As for the negative consequences of eliminating industrial society-well, you can’t eat your cake and have it too. To gain one thing you have to sacrifice another.
With regard to revolutionary strategy, the only points on which we absolutely insist are that the single overriding goal must be the elimination of modern technology."
The Unabomber’s worldview
The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never occurs to them that you can’t make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well.
(Modern man has the sense (largely justified) that change is IMPOSED on him, whereas the 19th century frontiersman had the sense (also largely justified) that he created change himself, by his own choice.
There has been a consistent tendency….for technology to strengthen the system at a high cost in individual freedom….Permanent changes in favor of freedom could be brought about only by person prepared to accept radical, dangerous and unpredictable alteration of the entire system.
When motor vehicles were introduced they appeared to increase man’s freedom. They took no freedom away from the walking man, no one had to have an automobile if he didn’t want one, and anyone who did choose to buy an automobile could travel faster and farther than a walking man. But when automobiles became numerous, it became necessary to regulate their use extensively. In a car, especially in densely populated areas, one cannot just go where one likes at one’s own pace; one’s movement is governed by the flow of traffic and by various traffic laws. One is tied down by various obligations: license requirements, driver test, renewing registration, insurance, maintenance required for safety, monthly payments on purchase price. Moreover….the arrangement of our cities has changed in such a way that the majority of people no longer live within walking distance of their place of employment, shopping areas and recreational opportunities, so that the HAVE TO depend on the automobile for transportation. Or else they must use public transportation, in which case they have even less control over their own movement….
The positive ideal that we propose is Nature. That is, WILD nature: those aspects of the functioning of the Earth and its living things that are independent of human management and free of human interference and control….As for the negative consequences of eliminating industrial society-well, you can’t eat your cake and have it too. To gain one thing you have to sacrifice another.
With regard to revolutionary strategy, the only points on which we absolutely insist are that the single overriding goal must be the elimination of modern technology."
The Unabomber’s worldview
posted by Going Kilo at 11:44 AM
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