The
Unibomber, a rogue neo-Luddite, held north america
spellbound with his deadly guerrilla tactics against
the Machine. (While law enforcement officials claim
that Theodore Kaczynski is the Unibomberwith the
media taking them at their wordlet's remember that
the man is innocent until proven guilty.)
After
David Kaczynski went to the authorities with his
suspicions about his brother, details surfaced about
both of them. The following article pieces together a
portrait of the two brothers as symbolic
representations of the environmental movement. This
essay was originally published in 1996 in
Satya.
By Cathleen and Colleen McGuire
The FBI is indulging in a lot of back-slapping lately over
their capture of the alleged Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. The
agency deserves about as much credit as Dr. Robert Gallo did
for "discovering" the HIV virus. (Does the name Dr.
Luc Montagnier of France ring a bell?) In other words,
someone else cracked the case! In the Unabomber matter,
someone else turned out to be Teds younger brother,
David Kaczynski.
Not since the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s has there
been such anguish and soul searching over naming names and
co-operating with the Feds. While McCarthy witnesses squealed
for opportunistic political reasons, David Kaczynski was
motivated by a spiritual consciousness: his priority was to
stop the random murder of innocent lives.
Although, the younger Kaczynski probably wont have
any streets or schools named after him, his actions beg
respect. It must have taken Herculean courage to identify his
beloved kin as the potential culprit in an era when
prosecutors and politicians salivate over the death penalty.
The FBIs million dollar reward reportedly never entered
Davids decision-making process. One can imagine how the
Brothers Menendez would have handled such a situation. Yes,
Virginia, there still are principled people in post-O.J.
America.
Like many progressives, the Kaczynskis shared a distrust
of advanced capitalist society, abhorring its reverence for
and dependence on The Machine. Both retreated into the wilds
of nature opting for alternative, rugged life styles. David,
however, returned to "civilization", and
contributed to society by working at a shelter for runaway
youths. Ted stayed put in voluntary isolation,
solipsistically absorbed in his secret agenda. What message
lies in the divergence of their paths?
It says something that David is the vegetarian and Ted the
meat-eater. That David was a "bunny hugger" (as
described by one Texas neighbor), while Ted stalked rabbits
with military precision. That David is a Buddhist and Ted an
agnostic, if not atheist. Perhaps even that David majored in
literature (the humanities) while Ted excelled in the
abstract rationalism of mathematics.
Ted is sort of an Earth First! Dave Foreman gone amok.
While Earth First! long ago rejected Foremans macho
world views, his notoriety lingers, particularly his
repugnant belief that nature needs AIDS and hunger to combat
overpopulation. Just as monkey wrenchers deemed human life
expendable in their crusade to save the earth, Ted
Kaczynskis eco-jihad likewise represents extreme
misanthropy.
From what little we know of David, on the other hand, his
politics appear to be based on a spiritual reverence for all
life. It is doubtful that he became a vegetarian strictly for
health reasons. Although it cannot be said that vegetarians
are more caring than carnivores, one cant help but
sense that Davids unwillingness to eat dead animals
coincides with his compassionate urge to save lives.
While the public and press monopolize attention on the
latest postmodern monster, the politics of the
Unibombers brother go unexamined except as simplistic
black/white, good brother/bad brother portraits. Perhaps
useful lessons could be learned from David Kaczynski if the
meaning behind his life choices including his refusal
to hunt and kill were explored in greater depth.
Response and Reply
to Article
The following exchange took place in the Letters to the
Editor section of Satya,
June, 1996.
Anonymous Response
- I must take umbrage at many of the things said in
"The Brothers Kaczynski" article. To me,
equating Ted Kaczynskis murderous behavior to
his rabbit hunting is akin to equating Hitlers
murderous behavior to his vegetarianism [see Satya
1:1 for the question of Hitlers supposed
vegetarianism]. Although I do not condone the killing
of rabbits for food, Mr. Kaczynski lived completely
"off the grid" -- in a near-wilderness
environment. The fact that he needed to hunt rabbits
during the long winter is not aberrant or cruel
behavior. For the rest of the year, he supposedly
survived on the bounties of his organic garden. One
resident of the near-by town even believed he was a
vegetarian because he never bought (industrial
produced) meat from the local supermarket. He would
travel to the supermarket on his bicycle and always
took a bus to get to further destinations. Can his
brother claim such ecological high ground in his
transportation choices? I would be that David
Kaczynski drives a car. Does that then make Theodore
the better person? The entire premise of the article
seems trite and silly.
What also angered me was the
authors remark about Dave Foreman, Earth First!
and monkey wrenchers (eco-saboteurs). They were
misleading at best, resembling apocryphal
"rumors" and "press releases"
from the FBIs COINTELPRO program aimed at the
radical ecology movement. The reason Dave
Formans "notoriety lingers"
concerning statements about human starvation and
diseases is because articles such as the one in
question continue to re-examine statements made by
Foreman in 1986 in an interview with an Australian
journalist. Foreman has explained many times in the
past ten years his true feeling concerning human
welfare, and deeply regrets some of the things he had
said, most of which are typically taken out of
context. Although his Deep Ecology convictions lead
him and other Earth First!ers to believe in the
rights of all species to exist ahead of trivial human
interests like economic development, this hardly
translates into murderous misanthropy.
I would finally like to question whether the
authors know anything about monkey wrenching. I
promise you, no monkey wrencher has ever deemed human
life indispensable! Eco-sabotage is unequivocally a
non-violent movement and is always directed at
property damage to retard ecological destruction.
Whether scuttling a whaling ship, freeing animals
from a lab, or destroying road building equipment,
people who monkey wrench take all precautions to
ensure there is no risk to humans. (Concerning the
tree spiking incident, there is considerable evidence
that the tree which injured a logger in the early
1990s was spiked by either a property rights fanatic
or the timber industry looking to discredit radical
environmentalists.)
I find it sad that something written in Satya
perpetuates some of the mainstream medias
negative stereotypes about people who are trying to
save the Earth and her creatures through non-violent,
but illegal, means.
Reply by Cathleen and Colleen McGuire
We appreciate your thoughtful comments, and perceive
them as coming from an ally. The premise of our essay was
not "silly." Its point was to accentuate
conflicting core values these two brothers held in the
face of their shared antipathy for advanced industrial
capitalism. One hunts, the other doesnt. One eats
non-human animals, the other doesnt. The reasons
why "the other doesnt" is what we want
people to deeply explore.
Were not so sure Mr. K. lived
"completely" off the grid judging from the
inventory of canned goods seized by the Feds. What about
that tin of Spam? The larger issue you raise is
important: should wilderness people who unplug from the
money-exchange system be excused or condoned for hunting
animals for food? We say no, not if their survival is
contingent upon the killing of other beings. We hold a
higher regard for those who live off the land, not off
animals. (Indigenous peoples who hunt for food pose
special issues. More Satya dialogue on that matter
is welcomed.)
We wholeheartedly support Earth First! and completely
share your point about the mainstream medias
libelous image of radical environmentalists. Our intent
was not to further that false image, but to contexualize
a Kaczynski within the historical continuum of
ecologically motivated violence. We recommend Judi
Baris excellent book Timber Wars for her
trenchant insights on monkey wrenching and Dave
Foremans alleged metamorphosis.
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