A review by b3114_c140
Technological Slavery by Theodore John Kaczynski

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

 After having finished Kaczynski's manifesto, I had almost expected Technological Slavery ("TS" for short) to be, more or less, a rehash. In reality, it was anything but— it proved to be a valuable elaboration on previously established anti-tech ideas, and taught me much about the life of primitive people.

The first chapter of the book is dedicated to a critique of anarcho-primitivism. I initially found it a boring read, and thought spending 60 pages on the topic was unnecessary. Now, my opinion has mellowed, and I see why Kaczynski decided to focus on debunking that myth. Many (who’ve indeed never read his works) call him an anarcho-primitivist ("anprim" for short) but he differs from one in both philosophy and method. 

In short, anprims too often possess leftist characteristics, and consequently attempt to idealise primitive society. They, being leftists, are abhorred by violence, and consequently try to pretend primitive people engage in less (interpersonal) violence than we do, which is not quite true. Anarcho-primitivists also act as if pre-agricultural tribes existed in a utopia of social justice, equality, ethnic diversity and inclusion, which is absolutely absurd.

In addition, it should be noted that Kaczynski was not opposed to violence as a means to an end, whereas attitudes among anprims are overwhelmingly pacifist; they rarely argue for a revolution against technology in the first place. Indeed, anti-tech differs greatly from anarcho-primitivism, and the two ought to stay separate, so Kaczynski was right to dedicate a large part of TS on debunking the primitivist myth.

The other key point of the book is the “System’s Neatest Trick”, which succinctly explains a phenomenon which has been reduced to a daily occurrence in our society. Simply put, the modern left serves as a means to channel rebellious impulses that arise under the technological system into causes that actually play into the establishments’ needs. The Leftists advocate for some kind of ‘change’ (be it, for example, “empowering women”) which is strictly in the interest of the establishment (as in, in the interests of the technological system), while pretending to be social revolutionaries. 

Issues such as women’s rights, race equality, etc. only serve to help the establishment, which can safely progress forwards. Meanwhile the response of reactionaries and conservatives to leftists’ activism tricks the leftists into thinking what they are advocating is truly at odds with the establishment, and, more importantly, the back-and-forth struggle between the leftists and their rightist counterparts helps distract attention from the real root cause of human misery and enslavement: technology itself. The System’s Neatest Trick goes to show how industrial society can waste the individual’s time on meaningless ‘struggles for freedom’ while benefiting itself. This has been the case for quite some time now, and it will probably continue to be so for a long time to come.

Technological Slavery was, as I alluded, the first of Kaczynski’s works I read after Industrial Society and its Future. It’s a crucial step for any serious anti-tech individual, and it has much more merit than shown in this brief review. TS contains numerous letters sent by (and to) Kaczynski, which provide another source of insight into his way of thinking.

There are some arguments about whether one should first read Technological Slavery or Anti-Tech Revolution (Ted’s third major work) after the manifesto. Ultimately, this is of minor significance. However, I would say reading TS first is more convenient and logical, as it actually starts with a more accurate version of the manifesto, without any of the publishing mistakes made back in 1995 by publishing outlets.