Myself and my best friend constantly talk about our future plans. To buy a piece of land, in an isolated area, without droves of people polluting the airwaves with the noise of modern life. I'd be lying through my teeth if I told you that I can comfortably exist around the average man, without wanting to put a bullet in his head. I've debated - with myself - many times, whether or not the violence with which Ted Kaczynski sought to illustrate his point was warranted. My first inclination is to say no, of course, hurting or killing others is wrong. Period. But then I get to thinking, violence is the only language certain people understand.
To me, it is just as much a tragedy that Ted Kaczynski was locked away as it is that those he decided to go after lost their lives, or in some cases their limbs or eyesight. But I myself can empathise, to a large degree, with what it is Ted wanted, and what he ultimately got for it. A lot of people would consider him a terrorist - to this day. And its easy for me to sit here and dismiss such a claim out of hand, rationalising in my own mind why he did what he did.
Think about it. Ted, in his hey day, was an example of everything the American government couldn't stand. I would wager that his self-sufficiency was the very thing that make him so hard to catch. No running water. No electricity. A little cabin, filled with soot, old books and handmade bombs. The degree to which Ted went out of his way to not leave a trace of evidence in any of the packages is mind boggling. Let's talk about his psych eval, then. Paranoid Schizophrenia. Boy, do I know that bag. 'Who could possibly live this way?' Only a nut, surely. One of the saddest parts of all that unfolded was the fact that Ted, although most probably was/is mentally ill, it just goes to show you how much of what Paranoid Schizophrenia really is is not delusional thinking. The government was hot on his trail - or at least that's what they thought - with teams of people analysing his writing, the language used in his typed up letters, and in the end, an entire SWAT team hid out in the woods close to his cabin, in order to capture him, put his on trial, and lock him in solitary. How much of that, I ask, is a conspiracy, or make-believe? Very little of it. He most certainly broke the law, and no one is above the law, is he? But whether or not Ted created the very world of what can only be described as a Paranoid Schizophrenic's, remains to be seen. There were many out there in the rest of the world who were working together tirelessly to foil his plans. That is in no way able to be disputed. And technology, and how fast it is and continues to develop has lead to worldwide suffering. If more people took the time to stop, breathe and live in a more meaningful way (instead of ramming junk food down their fat throats, blasting carbon monoxide into the air while they rush around on their fat asses in their big trucks, to wherever it is they feel the urgency to go) perhaps the world would be a better place. But how can you see any merit in a loon posting packages of explosives around America at random? Well, I can see the merit in this supposed loon's manifesto. I definitely don't live as frugally and 'off the land' as he did - but I do hope to in time. See, its the principals Ted was prepared to live by that fascinate and inspire me. He once said to his brother David that smart people have a sadistic streak. And I most certainly do, too. But and still, how do you separate Ted's philosophy from the bombings, and taking of innocent life? That's the thing, though. We are all complicit, pretty much. We all trudge on day in and day out, serving the machine, being the cogs, and for all our protestations to the contrary, we are more depressed and defeated than we ever have been. Cars didn't bring us only convenience, they brought on sloth, and greed. Money makes a man get up on a Monday morning and punch in - not because he wants to have to suck up the abusive corporate environment he's been conditioned to tolerating and participating in, but because man fears death - and no money, no life. Then, of course we get all the trimmings of this capitalist pleasure-jail: fast food, a flashy wardrobe and keeping up with the Jones'. I don't care how many times you try to tell me that you're happy sucking up what you've become accustomed to sucking up every day, lying to my face is not the tragedy in this scenario. Lying to yourself is. What would you be, if you didn't have to scrounge and save every cent you have to just exist in this world? Most people can't even answer that. The stats on psychiatric illnesses have skyrocketed in the past decade. Its been an unprecedented uptick, and no small feat. This is what your false sense of security has lulled you into accepting. You're telling me that having to go to therapy, to talk to a stranger, and swallow meds in order to perform is something you're okay with? Of course you're okay with it - those tranquilisers take the edge off, make you feel like the horrific prospect of sitting at a desk in a cubicle for the rest of your days is something you can now stomach. And the minute you start getting antsy again, don't worry, the doctor will find a stronger, more effective drug. Anxiety and depression wouldn't be so prevalent today if more people were living in line with their lives true purpose. I'm on medication. I am by no means a wealthy man, and even on my meds, I can't seem to fit in the round hole as a square peg for more than a few weeks at a time.
One day, when I get that piece of land, and I leave the world as I now know it, I'm guessing it'll take a month tops, till I'll be able to ditch those pills and start living my life. And in a sense, that's all Ted ever wanted. But he made a couple really stupid moves. And each of them involved the slaughter of his fellow man for ideas that seemed at odds with what he was about. At least that's the way I see it, anyway.
