Mack

Kansas Treatment Centers

The thing that got me about Kaczynski was not his stunningly-accurate characterizations of many parts of society, but the conclusions he drew from them together with his extreme Ludditism; namely that people had to die before it changed.

As I said, I reject his fundamental principle that technology and freedom are mutually exclusive, so he and I part ways at the beginning. But he crosses paths with a lot of people along the way.

The difference between Thoreau and Kaczynski is, Thoreau didn’t blow people up. Otherwise, though, those two are not at all far apart in terms of their thinking–yet Thoreau strikes me as being frighteningly sane at his very best moments.

Somewhat related: In class today we discussed the film version of Fight Club–specifically, how the film would have been different if Tyler Durden were “just another guy” rather than the protagonist’s literal alter ego. Answer: it’d be easier to argue against Durden’s central thesis about human nature if he were another person, easier to presume he was insane. We’d make him a cell-mate with Kaczynski. But Durden’s being inside the protagonist makes his arguments much harder to answer, just as you note regarding Kaczynski, once we’re honest with ourselves and admit we’ve often said or thought much the same thing.

Sorry for cluttering up your comments–but it’s your fault for posting something so resonant.