unibomber-manifesto

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FVTURE
151. The social disruption thaI we see today is certainly not the rtlsult of mere chance. It can only be
a relult of the COnditiON of life thai. the system imposes on people. (JVe have argued thaI the most
importan! of conditions is diuupdon of the power process.) If the systelllS succeeds in
imposing sufficient control over hUman beh.a.viour to assure its own survival, a new watershed in
human history will have pused. Whereas formerly the limits of human endurance have imposed
linliu OD. the developmCllt of 5Ocictic1 (as we explained in paragraphs 143, 144), industrialtedloolopcal
50Ciety will be able to pass those limits by modifying human beings, whether by
psycbologlcal methods or biological methods or wh. In the furwe, social .ystems will not be
adjusted to suit the needs of human beings. Instead, human being will be adjusted to suit the. needs
ofthc IYIt=L 'D
152. Genctally speaking, technological control over hUman beh.a.viour will probably not be
introduced wi1.h a totalitarian intention or eYen through a conscious desire to restria human freedom.
» Each new step in the assertion of control over the human mind wil1 be taken as a rational ponsc
to a problem that f.ateI: society, such as curing alcobolism, reducing the crime rafe or inducing young
people to lrudy science and engineering. In many C&SCIi, thertl wil1 be humanitarian justification. For
example, when a psychilIrisl prescribes an anti-deprusant for a depressed patieOl, he is clearly
doing that individual a favour. It would be inhumane to withhold the drug from someone who needs
it. WbcD parenu send Iheir childrcD to Sylvan Learning CcIUCrS to have them manipulated into
ming enthusiastic about their srudics, they do so from concern for their children's welfare. It
may be that some ofthcsc parents wish that one didn't have to have specialized training to get a job
and thal their kid didn have to be brainwashed into becoming a compuu:r nerd. But whaI can they
do? They can't change society, and their child may be unemployable if be doesn have certain skills.
So they send him to Sylvan.
153. Thus contlol. over hUman behaviour will be introduced nol by a calculated deci.liion of lhe
authoritica but through a process of social evolution (RAPID evolution, however). The process will
be imposable 00 sia. each advaooe, considered by iLsclf, wil1 appear 00 be beneficia!, or 11
least the evU involved in making the advance will appear to be beneficial, or aI lcu:I the evil involved
in makill& the advance will lUlll to be leu than thaI which would ult from nol making it (see
paRglllph 127). Pwpaganda for example is used for many good putpOseJ, such as diSCOUl'lging
child abw;e or race haued. 1.\ Sex educar.ion is obviously w;cful, yet (he effea of sex. education (to the
exteol: that It is .uccc.uful) is 10 take the shaping of scxual attitudes away from the family and put it
i the hands ohhc state u reprcseDled by the public school sySiem.
154. SUPJH»e I blological lnit iJ diJcovcrcd that increast.l the likelihood thaI a chUd will grow up to
be • cz:im.i.na1 and luppo$C some son of acne tbcn.py can remove thiJ U1Iit. 2f Of course most parents
whose childxen polSCliS the trait will have them undergo the therapy. II would be inhumane 10 do
otberwbe, since the child would probably have a miICl'able life if he grew up to be a criminal But
many QI' 1II0Sl pd.milive SO