Evil, but a fascinating person. Not read his manifesto but appearently it straddles the line between genius and utterly mad from what people say (like he did I suppose)
Evil, but a fascinating person. Not read his manifesto but appearently it straddles the line between genius and utterly mad from what people say (like he did I suppose)
Kaczynski has many points that are perhaps academically worth discussing, but the guy was–whether he’d agree with the parlance or not–clearly a weird conservative whose views almost entirely inform groups that should not be taken seriously or given political power.[^1] i don’t think i’ve ever met someone who had what i’d describe as “good politics” who takes the manifesto to heart. both anecdotally and as far as i can research, the manifesto is most actively applied in the political space by accelerationist terrorists on the far-right, nihilists across the political spectrum who have given up on anything better, and anarcho-primitivist movements whose ideology is essentially predicated on widespread mass death. make of that what you will.
[^1] the manifesto almost immediately opens up with what i can best describe as 1980s-era rant about how gay and cucked and unserious the left and people pushing for civil rights are. he’s certainly not an ally of liberals or leftists.
once upon a time i fell down a rabbit hole that led me to a criticism of Kaczynski, and in it a collection of things he had criticised about the left. it was weirdly long. that is to say, your post scriptum there made me chuckle; such a funny way to put it.
yeah i always have to question people who self-describe as left who take him seriously at all because it’s like… you know he hates people like you, right? he does not hide how he feels, lol
I think that some people just see that he didn’t like the government but liked nature/the environment and don’t really bother looking much further into his beliefs.
There’s also this passage: “It is true that not all was sweet- ness and light in primitive societies… transexuality was fairly common”
I could maybe ignore his blatant bigotry if there was anything meritous about his manifesto, but he says nothing that hadn’t already been said more competently by philosophers before him, and that hasn’t since been more effectively communicated than in the movie Fight Club.
Speaking of which, can anyone recommend me good critiques (books or articles) of Kaczynski’s ideas?
The guy was smart but he wasn’t a genius, and we need to stop handing out that title to anybody who killed a couple people and also had ideas.
If you can make it through his manifesto it’s probably interesting. I’ve been trying off and on since it was published in the papers and it’s as dry as some of the historical grimoires, or maybe the Orange Book.
So… what’s for lunch?
Guy was nutty for sure. No saving grace there.
Be mindful, though, that Kaczynski was subjected to a three-year mind control experiment, tentatively linked to the infamous MK Ultra. I don’t think evil is inherent in most people, and this might be the reason for his growing misanthropy over his life. Regardless, he got the punishment fit for his terrible crimes.
Guy was a nutter for sure. He may have been an intelligent nutter, but a nutter all the same.
My old man was in the same dorm (Elliot House) as Kaczynski, and always said that he was weird, but not the craziest kid in the house. That honor went to the guy who stabbed his roommate because of the leprechauns living in the eggshells.
I thought he was dead already.
he was previously sent to a hospital in 2021 and it’s been speculated he had terminal cancer, which may be what you heard about vaguely.
It would have been odd if he was found dead somewhere other than a prison cell. Or outside the US for that matter.
