By Saul Roth
Ted Kaczynski gave up an academic career and became one of America’s most wanted criminals. He spent decades as an anti-social terrorist responsible for sending mail bombs all over the United States until finally being captured by authorities in 1996.
Kaczynski felt that living in nature was becoming impossible so he moved to a remote cabin without electricity or running water near Lincoln, Montana. There, Kacynski lived as a recluse while learning survival skills.
In 1978, a 23-year old man named Timothy Kaczysnki killed two people and injured 19 others in Salt Lake City. His rationale for these crimes were that they represented “the destruction of America” through modern technology which he opposed. This led him to reject leftism as well because it advocates unity among workers without class distinction or status difference between them; something he felt wasn’t inclusive enough towards poor miners who would have trouble making ends meet.
In 1995, he sent a letter to The New York Times promising not make any more terrorist acts if they’d publish his essay which argued that current technological advancements was eroding human freedom and dignity.
The FBI investigated a man who called himself “The Unabomber” for twenty-two years before his identity was known. The case identifier UNABOM (University and Airline Bomber) resulted in the media naming him this, which is how we know him today.
Kaczynski’s academic achievements were not limited to one school. He attended the University of Michigan, where he earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees in mathematics. He went on to earn another degree from California State University before coming back home for good – this time as a professor at U Mass Amherst.
Kaczynski’s obsession with being female grew so strong that he decided to undergo gender transition. He scheduled an appointment but changed his mind in the waiting room and didn’t disclose what brought him there; afterwards, Kaczynski felt like killing everyone who hated doctors or people like himself – including psychiatrists.
In 1967, the 25-year old Kaczynski became an acting assistant professor at University of California. He taught mathematics there for six years before quitting.
On July 27th, 1979; a bomb was placed in the cargo hold of American Airlines flight 444 from Chicago to Washington D.C., however, a faulty timing mechanism prevented its explosion and only released smoke.
The Unabomber’s letter to a major newspaper in 1995 outlined his thoughts on Industrial Society and Its Future, which would be titled “The Manifesto” after the article was printed.
When FBI agents surrounded Ted Kaczynski’s cabin on April 3, 1996 they found more than 40 thousand pages describing in detail his crimes and how he committed them. One live bomb was also discovered by searchers near where the suspect had been staying.
The federal grand jury indicted Kaczynski in 1996 on ten counts of illegally transporting, mailing and using bombs. His lawyers tried to enter an insanity defense but he rejected this strategy.
In 1998, Ted Kaczynski was found fit to stand trial by a federal prison psychiatrist. He agreed on all counts and accepted life imprisonment without parole at age 48 after being charged with 47 crimes that included murder for hire (one count).
Kaczynski’s views have inspired an online community that calls themselves “primitivists” or neo-Luddites. They believe in living simply, without technology.
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