Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, is still alive. He was a maths prodigy who abandoned academia in 1969. He moved to a remote cabi

Is a wave of anti-tech terrorism on the horizon? - The Washington Post

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2021-05-19 06:25:01

Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, is still alive. He was a maths prodigy who abandoned academia in 1969. He moved to a remote cabin in the Montana woodlands, there to return to a more primitive life. In horror, he watched as his personal Eden was invaded by developers and tourists.

He began a terrorist campaign. Bombs, increasingly sophisticated, in parcels and letters that were sent to airline headquarters, university labs, computer stores. Three people were murdered, others were maimed. Like any academic he had big ideas and he wrote a manifesto — Industrial Society and Its Future. He posted it to newspaper editors: publish this or more people will die. In 1995 the Washington Post published the entire thing. Kaczynski’s brother recognised the tone, and the FBI found the Unabomber with his help.

The Unabomber, committed to eight life sentences, has become a pop cultural icon, in the way only infamous American killers can be. There have been movies and documentaries; the ideas of Industrial Society and Its Future have found a home among communities of anarchists, primitivists, neo-Luddites, and ecofascists.