unibomber-manifesto

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE
kind of conflict 0110 CDCOurages. The liDe of conflict sbould be dnawn between the mass of 1M peoplc
and the power-balding elite of industrial JOCicty (politicians, sc.icnlists, upper-Ievd business
executives, govcnuncnt officials, etc .. ), 11; should NOT be drawn between thc tevolutionarics II1ld the
mass of the people. For ex&Dlple. it would be bad SU1Ilegy for the tevolutionaries to condemn
Americans for their hlLbiu of consumption. Instead, the average American should be poruayed as a
victim of the advertising and mlIIketing industry, which has suckered him into buying a lot of junk
that he doesn't need and that Is very poor compensation for his lost freedom. Ether approach is
consistelll with Lhc facu. It is merely a matter of altitude whether you blame the advertising industry
for manipullling the public or blame the public for allowing itself to be manipulated As a maner of
stralCgy onc should generally avoid blaming the puhlic.
191. One 5bould think: twice before encouraging any Olber social conflict than that between the
power-bolding elite (which wields tccluloIogy) and the genenl publie (over which technology exctU
its power). For onc thing, other conllicu tend to distracl attctUi.on from lhe important conflicts
(between power-elitc and ordinaIy people, between technology and nature); (Ot another thing, other
conflicts may actua1.Iy tend 10 cncoura.gc tcchnolo&iza!:iOI1, because each side in lucb a conflicl wants
to use technological power 10 gain advantqcs over its adversary. This is clearly seen in riva1ri
betweea nadons. lr also appears in ethnic conllicll within nations. For example, in America many
black leaden; are anxious to gain power (or African Amcricaru by placing back individllais in the
technological power-clitt. They want to be many black govemmcnl officials, scienlisLS,
corporation cxccutives and 50 forth. In this way they arc helping to absorb lhe African American
subculture ioto the technoloejcal systcm. Generally spca.king, one should encourage oniy those social
coo.1lic:u that can be lilted intO the framewort o( the conOicts of power-e1ite vs. Ofdinary people,
technology VI nature.
192. BUI tbe way to discourage ethnic conflict iJ NOT tlu'ough militant advOCllCy of minority rights
(5CC paragraphs 21, 29). Instud, the volutiotlllJ'iu sbauld cmph.asize lha.t although minorities do
suffer more or leu disadvantage, this disadvantage is of peripberal significance. Our real enemy is
the industrial-technological system, and in the struggl agalnst the sYltem, ethnic distinctions arc of
DO importance.
193. The kind of ItIvolution we have in mind will not neceswily involve an armed uprising against
any gOVcrnmc.nL 11 may or may DOl involve physical violence, but it will nol be a POunCAL
volUJion. Its focus will be on tt:chnoI.oar and economics, not politic •. la
194. Probably the volutionaricl sbould even A VOID assuming political powcr, whether by legal or
illgal means, until the industrial 5yacm is 5trcUed to the danger poilll and bas proved itself to be a
fail\lle in the cye. of moll. people. Suppose for ICX&lllpl that &alOe MP=I" pany should win control
oftbc United SWu Coopu in an elcaion. In 0Tdc:r 10 avoid bctrayina; or watering down their own
ideoloi)' they would have 10 taktI vi&oroWi measurea to tum economic growth inlo ecooomic
'hrinka.ae. To the avcmge man the reaulu: would appear disastrous: Thc:rc would be mauive
uncmploymc.nl, shortages of t:OIMlOditics. CLC. Even if the gro:nCl' ill efJcc:u could be avoided
througb .upcrbumanly skilful management, still people would have to begin giving up the luxuries to
which they have become addicted. Diualiifaction would grow, the "green" pany would be voted OUI
of offioc and the ItIvolutionariu would have suffered a severe setback.. For this reason lhe
volUJionaric.s should not Ir)' to acquire political power until the system has gallcn itself into such a
mess that any hardships will be seen as ItIsulting from the failures of the inchllltrlal system itself and
not from the poUciell of the revolutionaries. The revolution against IC