Antoine

Before tackling this book, I had already read "Industrial Society and Its Future" (ISAIF) and Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How. I plan on revisiting that latter one for a review soon but had to get something out about this while it's fresh in my mind. This work compiles Kaczynski's famous 1995 essay "Industrial Society and Its Future" and other writings, including correspondences with people who mailed Kaczynski while he was in prison. Technological Slavery (TS) expands and clarifies many of the arguments from his original manifesto as well as talking about practical concerns that have arisen in the time since he was put in prison. While I obviously don't condone the acts that put Kaczynski in prison, his reasoning is undeniable, and Technological Slavery forces readers to confront uncomfortable but necessary questions about technology, society, and the cost of industrial civilization. At the core of Kaczynski's argument is the belief that modern technological society is fundamentally incompatible with human freedom and well-being. He contends that the growth of industrial and technological systems leads to the increasing domination of human lives by large, impersonal structures. Kaczynski argues that this technological system not only creates physical and psychological stress but also strips individuals of their autonomy and agency. In his view, technological progress itself inevitably leads to environmental destruction, social alienation, and a homogenized world where the individual is subsumed by the machine of industrial civilization. Kaczynski’s critique is not limited to technology but extends to the larger framework of modernity. He asserts that we are increasingly conditioned to accept a life of "surrogate activities"—tasks and hobbies that do not satisfy fundamental human needs but rather fill the void created by a lack of control over one's environment. He draws connections between this discontent and rising rates of psychological issues, arguing that much of the modern malaise stems from the fact that humans are trapped in a system that turns them into mere cogs in a machine. The later sections of the book delve deeper into his thoughts on a variety of topics, such as issues with "accelerationism" and "anarcho-primitivism," and a short but incisive essay called "The System's Neatest Trick," which stood out to me. This essay points to the tendency of so-called "radicals" or "rebels" to fight for the values and goals of the system. Kaczynski explains how the only solution to the problems he identifies is the complete dismantling of industrial civilization, and that human desires are always secondary to the material conditions imposed by the structure of the system. I highly enjoyed this book and especially the more personal essays by Kaczynski about his time living off the land, and the pain that he felt at seeing the wildlife around him destroyed by industrial governments and corporations. Kaczynski's ideas resonate with contemporary concerns over environmental degradation, loss of privacy, and the growing influence of technological corporations. The book forces readers to grapple with the darker side of technological progress, even if they reject Kaczynski’s extremist solutions. His concerns about the loss of freedom in a highly techno-industrial world remain relevant, offering a stark warning about the consequences of letting technology go unchecked.

A must-read for any environmentalist This book is no less prescient than when it was published nearly 30 years ago. Despite his controversial status, Kazynski has been praised even by his critics for his skills as a logician and rhetorician. Kazynski explains in a straightforward manner why mental anguish continues to grow in our society, why technology seems to continually backfire on us, and why the leftist environmentalist movement will not solve any of these problems. First, humans are principally motivated by the “power process”. In the power process, a person sets a goal, works towards that goal, and then achieves it. Historically, this was useful to us as a species. We were able to straightforwardly accomplish things that let us continue living and exerting real freedom. However, in our techno-industrial society, we instead pursue the power process through “surrogate activities. Surrogate activities are activities which, were we in a situation where we were struggling for the basic necessities of life, we would feel no loss at not being able to pursue them. Contemporary examples are endless: video games, bodybuilding, shopping, "activism," watching TV, endless scrolling. Human activity in technological society is largely governed by and dedicated to pursuing these surrogate activities, and they have taken on an extreme and disproportionate role. This is why everything feels meaningless - because surrogate activities cannot satisfy our deep need to meaningfully complete the power process through fundamental life-and-death goals. Next, Kaczynski explains why technology can't be rescued in any form. Technology appears to be a set of singular new inventions that will in some way make our lives better, only for them to become part of the totalizing techno-industrial hegemony and to make our lives more constrained, more unhealthy, more unhappy. For example, the smartphone– not so long ago, smart phones were initially conceived as a net positive, where everyone would feel more connected, knowledgeable, and powerful than ever. However, now, the smartphone is a requirement of living and interacting with society, which only makes us more disconnected, less able to enact our will, less able to exert real freedom. This can be seen with every subsequent technological "development," from the automobile to computer networks, etc. If we are to have any hope of a better future, we must end mass technology as a whole. Many of the symptoms of these problems have been addressed by a constellation of leftist causes, but none have solved them, and none have clearly articulated them or dealt with their substance as Kaczynski has. As Kaczynski explains, leftists are in fact useful dupes for techno-industrial society. Their entire worldview is governed not by logic, but by oversocialization and an inferiority complex (themselves caused by the conditions of modern technology) which always win out over clear-headed reason. Instead of working for liberation, as they often proclaim, they are instead simply alleviating their psychological problems by working through the power process via the surrogate activity of their “movement,” and refusing to deal with their inferiority. Theodore J. Kaczynski writes in a clear, logical, and engrossing way, and his work should be taken seriously and studied if we are to have any hope of a better future for ourselves, our children, and the environment. I highly recommend this book.