[ceilingcorner]

Kaczynski really did everyone a massive disservice by turning to violence. He was a nut, but his criticism of industrialization is more coherent than you'd think. In an alternate universe he is a public "thought leader" giving TED talks on the subject.

[zozbot234]

His ideas are not original at all and he's no "thought leader"; the anarcho-primitivists had raised the same points a lot better and more coherently than he did. Just read the original sources, no reason to pay attention to a violent nutcase.

[tuxxy]

But don't take Anarcho-primitivism seriously. A lot of the "thought leaders" on that side of the Anarchist spectrum just use it as a means to espouse what would normally just be considered Fascism except with an Anarchist twist.

It's the same stupid arguments that people use to justify population control due to "overpopulation". There's a school of thought called anti-civilization that's a tad similar with some divergences that offers far more interesting critiques of industry. Once you get through that, post-civilization thought is also rather interesting.

But really, Anarcho-primitivism is essentially fascist dribble disguised as environmentalism and social justice.

[zozbot234]

> But don't take Anarcho-primitivism seriously.

Why shouldn't it be taken seriously when it's the only variety of anarchism that's actually self-consistent? You can't run a large, mass society on anarchist principles, because social organization on a large scale will always require some way of formally resolving disputes, and that pretty much implies that conventional politics and "rule" by some over others will be a thing.

[michaelt]

A self-consistent philosophy based on a world with a 99.5% lower population seems like a step backwards for that 99.5%, regardless of how good it is for the freedom and equality of the remaining 0.5% of the population?

I mean, in my mind that's right up there with negative utilitarianism's benevolent world-exploder in terms of clever ideas that aren't good ideas.

[partomniscient]

Unfortunately sometimes the only way to find out that a clever idea is not a good idea is to test it via implementation.

[ceilingcorner]

I didn't say his ideas were original, I said they were more coherent than you'd think. And sure, read the original sources, but I don't see the harm in reading Kaczynski himself, if only to see how a smart man went down the wrong path.

The "thought leader" thing was supposed to be a joke.

[zozbot234]

> The "thought leader" thing was supposed to be a joke.

Yes, I got your point but it could be misinterpreted. Plenty of people are quite unaware of where these ideas actually come from, and who deserves credit for them.

[mauvehaus]

Would you mind sharing some starting points for a reading list? I'd be curious to read some of the source material you're talking about.

[tuxxy]

You could begin with the Anarcho-primitivist philosopher John Zerzan. However, heed my comment above: a lot of the followers use this philosophy to justify horribly fascistic ideals. Take a peek at the alternatives to this such as post-civilization.

[zholito]

Could you name a few that you think are worthy?

[ethanwillis]

Except Ted is no anarchist.

[ambivalents]

Whether original or not I am quite shocked by how easily this reads and how much of it rings true today.