Kaczynski's 'Industrial Society and Its Future': Wilderness Front Book Review
A new edition of Ted Kaczynski's manifesto, reviewed
Industrial Society and its Future is an important work by Ted Kaczynski critiquing all of modern society. Its thesis is that because of the deterministic nature of technological growth, nature and ourselves have become hopelessly subjugated by technology and the only way to return to an acceptable way of life is to bring down technological civilization.
I first read Ted K's manifesto years ago and it had a profound impact on me for two reasons. First, it is a well-reasoned and logical analysis of modern society that resonated with me, especially because technology is the prime force in the destruction of nature. (Of course, people destroy nature, but they are essentially addicted to technology whose fundamental nature encourages people to advance it under the right circumstances.)
And second, it’s one of the few works where the author is free from being attached to civilization in some way. So many environmentalists, anarchists, and others who care about nature make concessions and refuse to part with some aspect of civilization of which they are fond, and this creates a narrative where people refuse to acknowledge that technology is itself a problem.
Or, if they do acknowledge the problem of technology, they cling to the idea that we can still save a lot of modern society, if only we could use technology for could with a little wisdom...yeah right. Instead, Kaczynski is uncompromising: technology is a problem and it’s not going to go away with societal reform, solar panels, or becoming vegan. Let’s just bring it down, he says. The straightforwardness is refreshing.
The first mostly error-free copy of ISAIF appeared in the book Technological Slavery, which contains ISAIF and other works by Ted, including some of the letters he wrote to David Skrbina. Recently, Wilderness Front (an anti-tech organization) contacted me and offered to send me a new book, “Industrial Society and Its Future And Other Works” for review. Eager to have a paper copy of Ted’s manifesto, I accepted.
Both Technological Slavery and this version by Wilderness Front have the same copy of Ted's manifesto. But the newer WF copy has some updated 2016 endnotes by Ted, as well as eight additional short works such as letters and two short stories.
The cool thing about the Wilderness Front copy is that it contains some works by Ted that I’ve never read before, including his humorous Halloween short story and three letters. In all his writing, he never waivers from his basic stance against technology, and his reasoning is always clear and incisive. After reading them all and the manifesto again, I think that this newer edition of ISAIF by Wilderness Front is a great “essential Ted Kaczynski” and a nice copy of Ted's manifesto that should be essential reading for any technology critic.
I’ll also point out that the typesetting of this Wilderness Front copy looks very nice, and it’s a slim volume perfect to throw in a backpack as one of the few books you take through the collapse of modern civilization. The cover looks cool, too!
If you’re looking for a paper copy of Ted’s manifesto, I recommend buying this copy of Ted’s manifesto at Wilderness Front:
Purchase on the Wilderness Front Website (Within the United States)
Purchase on Amazon (Other locations)
I’m not doing this for profit, as I don’t get any kickbacks or any other benefit from any sales of the book, although I did get a free book. My only motivation is to help get as many copies of Ted’s essay out to as many people as possible, in the hope that it will provide a new perspective on our intrinsically destructive technological society.
While Ted was not flawless, his argument in ISAIF is sound. However, the question is, what actually motivates people to insurgent action? Is it a sound logic and persuasive argument grounded in rationality? Or is it belief which really drives people, feelings of resentment for what is, a belief that things can be improved through action, a willingness to abandon any available comforts and security to strike out for a significant change?
I think this question can be answered by a clear-eyed assessment of which risk-taking groups people join up with and sacrifice their time for, even risking their freedom or lives.
"[The industrial revolution has] greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but ... [has] destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering ... and [has] inflicted severe damage on the natural world."
OK. It seems that this invites us to ask whether life was more or less 'fulfilling' before or after the industrial revolution.
It certainly wasn't before the Black Death (ok - that didn't happen in America). Life for the survivors markedly improved after that because the balance between the owners and the workers changed. But would one wish the Black Death on anybody?
So, do we take our 'before and after' as c1350 or c1750? Or 1650, as that was pre-enclosures (in England).
Or do we need to take it before c12,000 BCE, the agricultural revolution? After all, current thinking is that that happened because hunter-gatherers had already (without the industrial revolution) made extinct those animals that provided very profitable protein such that farmed protein became worthwhile (on a protein cost-benefit basis). And that revolution made many in humanity 'subject to indiginities'.
We might also note that the English and Spanish invasions of the Americans were pre-industrial revolution and they pretty much extinguished native American life. Rather worse than 'indignities'.
I'm no technophile, but we might note that the Trump tariffs are not being welcomed by, say, the Vietnamese or Bangladeshis, who risk severe job losses as a result - jobs that are 'post-industrial revolution'. Their previous existences, say 50-100 years ago, do not appear to be preferable to them, otherwise they would be less concerned by Trump's actions. Less than 100 years ago, millions were starving in Bengal and China.
I am not suggesting that we are in a good place. But Trumps and their ilk (and worse) have existing throughout human time - including pre-industrial revolution. We cannot blame the existence of toxic leaders - that some of 'us' put there - on technology.
I'd take ridding us of toxic leaders over ridding us of technology.