This paper is not about the Unabomber; it is about his indictment of the entire techno-industrial enterprise as expressed in his 35,000-word "manifesto" published under threat of further mail bombings by The Washington Post in joint arrangement with The New York Times. The Unabomber's claim is that as it grows exponentially, the industrial engine that technology drives creates the myth of empowering human life. With the exception of elites, the reality, he says, is exactly the opposite. While many, if not most, practitioners-the experts whose livelihoods and careers depend on continuing technical/industrial evolution-would acknowledge it has produced some unfortunate side-effects, environmental degradation being the most salient and recognized, the progress of technics, on balance, is a positive force. It enriches and empowers far more than it enslaves, disenfranchises and degrades. The system certainly needs guidance and tweaking-sometimes extensive-not dismantling, even if it were possible, which it is not. The Unabomber says no, the system cannot be tweaked, corrected or reformed. Out-of-Control Technics has turned into a virus that is killing its host. To get his message across, he mailed 16 bombs over a period of 17 years that resulted 3 deaths and 23 injuries. If he's wrong, no real problem: business as usual. But, if he's right, what if anything can be done? Can an anti-virus be found before time runs out?.
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