Domestic terrorism involves violence against the civilian population or infrastructure of a nation. They are activities that involve dangerous acts to human life that are violating the criminal law of the United States. Citizens of the country conduct domestic terrorism with the intention of intimidating, coercing, or influencing the national policy. Kaczynski is a renowned terrorist who is remembered for his attacks against technology and modern society at large.
Unabomber manifesto published
Ted Kaczynski was a graduate of Harvard University. He was an anti-technology individual. His hatred for technology and modern society grew over time to the extent of engaging in terror activities. He was determined to destroy the industrial community. Kaczynski used to construct bombs and mail them to institutions such as universities, homes, offices, and airlines where technology was used. These attacks injured and killed people. Kaczynski prepared a manifesto of terrorism comprising six significant parts that explain his ideologies ( Kaczynski & Kaczynski) . These included the introduction, the psychology of Leftism, the power process and modern society, Industrial-Technology society's erosion of freedom, the revolution, and a conclusion.
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The introduction contained issues that Kaczynski considered the primary problem; society is miserable. He stated that the high level of stress, depression, and anxiety have significantly resulted in general discontent, violence, and other aberrations. Being anti technologists, he insisted that technology hinders the ability of a human to become free and autonomous. The second section is the psychology of Leftism, where Kaczynski identifies two principles that govern Leftism. The feeling of inferiority and over-socialization where the former is the characteristics of modern Leftism and the latter a feature of a particular group of modern Leftism, which is quite influential (Hogrefe, 2019). Kaczynski asserts that people live in a troubled society, and the craziness of Leftism well illustrates it.
Kacynski uses the power process part of the manifesto to answer the question of why he considered the society miserable. According Hogrefe (2019), people need power. He continues to argue that obtaining energy alone is not enough. Instead, it is essential to satisfy the power process through the fulfillment of the goal, efforts, attainment, and autonomy. The process can never be complete without either of the four elements. The industrial Technology part of the manifesto states that their dependence on technology reduces human freedom. Assuming the benefits of technology, Kaczynski says that it turns people into robots in that they are tired to operating within the system.
In the revolution, Kaczynski argues that since the industrial society cannot be changed, it is necessary to do away with it. The last part of the manifesto is the conclusion. The conclusion provides the critique of modern society, technology, and progress itself.
Sympathy or just Ranting
After reading Kaczynski's manifesto, it is easy to establish that he was led by rage as opposed to sympathy. All along, before he moved to Montana, he was okay with the technology and its impact on society. However, after moving to the secluded place where he had to learn new survival tactics, he realized that the presence of technology signifies their hindrance to human potential. The manifesto states that he decided to undertake the neo-Luddite anti-technological eco-terrorist campaign when he realized that he could not run away from industrial society and technology. To him, the only way to escape it was through the destruction of the technology itself.
Kaczynski considered the industrial revolution, together with its impacts in society, a big disaster to the human race. He feels that people would be doing way better if there was no technology. Today, due to over-dependence on technology, it is impossible for a human being to survive in the wilderness without running water and electricity, just as Kaczynski did. The feeling of hating technology began when he realized that even without the technology, he could still construct primitive techniques, make discoveries of the edible plants, and learn to make tracks ( Kaczynski, T., & Kaczynski) .
The major reason I do not consider Kaczynski's actions sympathetic is due to the inclusivity of his manifesto. Despite presenting his concerns, Kaczynski's declaration does not offer a practical solution that can be used to address the problem. Additionally, the majority of his thoughts throughout the document appear incomplete. The only thing that he does is to highlight some of the civilization challenges that manifested themselves. In this case, it could not give leaders an excellent way to respond to these problems. It would have been better if Kaczynski suggested some of the strategies he considered essential for changing society and making it a better place. He definitely could not eradicate the problem by himself. Bombing America is also not the best solution as Kaczynski was hurting the same human beings that Kaczynski wanted to save from the notorious technology. If he cared about the impact that technology had on people, he would have developed a permanent solution for society and not destroying it.
Ted Kaczynski to the Boston Marathon bombers
Ted Kaczynski and the Boston Marathon bombers had similarities and differences. The first similarity is that they were both domestic terrorists who targeted to destroy the American land. Attacks conducted by both terrorists led to death, injuries, and even disability of Americans. They both had the inspiration and the key driver for their actions. On the one hand, Kaczynski was pushed by the fact that he considered technology a hindrance to human autonomy and freedom. Kaczynski's most significant target was in educational institutions, offices, and homes where he thought that technology was being applied. For the Boston bombers, they were motivated by the extremist Islamist beliefs together with the war between Iraq and Afghanistan (BBC News, 2015). Often, Islamic terrorists attack Americans intending to destroy the non-Muslims.
The difference is that Kaczynski used the knowledge that he had obtained from Havard University. Kaczynski was an intelligent person. He describes all his ideologies and the arguments behind his belief as a bomber. BBC News (2015) assert that the Boston bombers learned the skills of manufacturing bombs from a magazine of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Necessarily, their targets were places with a large number of American people. From their convention, they stated that despite bombing the marathon, their target was to attack Times Square in New York. Kaczynski was targeting the ideology and not a belief as for Boston. Kaczynski thought there was a need to fight against the system of technology as it lagged the society behind. In the case of the belief, the Boston bombers were Islamic, and they wanted to fight for their religion.
Unlike the Boston Bombers, Kaczynski did not plant the bombs himself. He often sent them as parcels to the go target places. He conducted all his terrorist activities in hidings. In the case of Boston bombers, they were arrested while mingling with other people in the marathon. Given that Kaczynski was quite educated, he was good at laying strategies that could ensure that he was not caught during his operations. Boston bombers included a teenager and a brother who lacked knowledge in the terrorism field.
Conclusion
Domestic terrorism refers to the terrorist activities that involve citizens attacking their nation. Often, these terrorists are motivated by some driving forces. For instance, in the case of Kaczynski, his hatred and ideology for technology pushed him to conduct terror attacks that targeted places where the technology was being used. The most common impact of terrorism is deaths, injuries, and disability.
References
BBC News. (2015). Profile: Who is Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31734557
Hogrefe, V. (2019). Quick Thoughts: The Unabomber’s Manifesto. Medium. Accessed from https://medium.com/@victorhogrefe/quick-thoughts-the-unabombers-manifesto-6001d31286d1
Kaczynski, T., & Kaczynski, T. J. Unabomber And His Manifesto. http://www.socialvibes.net/socialvi/2017/08/29/unabomber-and-his-manifesto/ .
