I've heard various circles sing great praise to the Kaczynski manifesto - it's said to diagnose the main problems in modern society precisely, and proscribe very appropriate and well-argued remedies. So I decided to dig in harder than a coolie on the Oregon track. However, the book wasn't too much work to get through, standing at a paltry 38,000 words...so the metaphor may not be apt.
In any case, Uncle Ted opens with an explanation of what it is that haunts the minds of leftists - he admits himself that he cannot define a leftist, but knows one when he sees one - fair enough. The mental disease of the age is the lack of purpose that comes from not overcoming great barriers, or what Ted calls "the power process". He claims that modern society, through its violently and otherwise coercive means, hobbles this natural impulse.
One may certainly (as I still do) dwell on the fact that he used the very technology he abhors in order to create and mail the bombs that made him famous, nor the fact that he advocates for a regression to a previous stage of human development, despite never addressing the regressive's paradox: how will a regressed society be sure to stay at the ideal level of development, and how can it be sure not to be overtaken by societies with less scruples?
The argument essentially boils down to "don't worry, it won't happen again," which may suffice for some - certainly not myself. Ted makes some interesting points about alienation and ennui in the modern society, as well as the all-or-nothing nature of revolutions. However, whatever Butlerian Jihad Ted had imagined wasn't thought out fully - neither was his manifesto.
3/10