West Coast Action

“It would be extremely difficult psychologically for such people to recognize that the only way to get off the road to disaster that we are now on would be through a total collapse of organized society, and therefore a descent into chaos. So they cling to any scheme, however, unrealistic, that promise is to preserve the society on which their lives and their worldview are dependent; if one suspects that a threat to the world of view is more important to them than the threat to their lives”. - Ted Kaczynski

Anti-Tech Revolution, Chapter One: Part VI, p.38

It's hard to describe how huge the shift in the average person's life has been in the past 200 years. On average, your ancestor worked less, ate better, had more friends, more sex, was more respected, happier than you, and would find most the things you'd argue make up for that difference strange, unnecessary, and downright pathetic. It's largely because of how removed you and I are from their time that we don't realize the scale of this difference, and justifications for the technological system as we know it even exist.

What we're trying to get at here is that there is no particular set of ideas, no ideology, and no code of conduct that will meaningfully change the system. The system is like a multi-headed Beast - you can cut off as many heads as you like, and others will grow and bite you in its place.

Ted proposes Leftist ideas have been largely successful since the Industrial Revolution because despite being promoted by what were oftentimes the most oppressed members of their societies, the ideas were objectively good for the system. The problem is that what is good for the system is not necessarily good for humans. In fact, they are diametrically opposed to one another.

The exception to this rule is what are commonly referred to as 'Leftist' policies. On the whole, policies such as minority representation in society, suppression of violent acts/impulses, and 'globalized' societies have been implemented rapidly and with resounding effect worldwide.

"I don't believe that!" I can hear you saying. "there are things I want changed." What we're proposing is that if your solutions involve the continued existence of advanced society as you know it, then the things in society that caused all the problems you experience will continue to exist.. or at best will vanish only for a brief period of time before returning.

Immediately, Ted makes clear that what he refers to as 'the system' isn't specifically related to corruption, violence, or even acts that threaten to change human nature itself. The system is the decision making process almost every person alive uses to justify why the circumstances around them are ultimately okay - no matter how clearly this isn't the case.

Having finished The System's Neatest Trick, let's look at some of what Kaczynski says and what we can learn from it