Ted Kaczynski was ahead of his time. The lone citizen at war with the part of “society” he despises. A lone terrorist, similar to those on strike today. The real lone wolf who manages to live far away from everyone and everything in a forest in the American West, both a sanctuary and a “base” for his destructive campaign.
Unabomber, that’s his “nickname”, passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. They found him dead in Butner Prison in North Carolina. It appears that he committed suicide. He died alone as he lived alone for most of his life and devoted himself to a personal struggle that came back to life during these difficult times.
Originally from Chicago, Ted is the son of an entrepreneur. He has always been different from others. Very high IQ, forced by parents to read books for hours, no friends, reserved character, has chosen his own personal path. He did so well in high school that he skipped two years. At the age of 16 he entered Harvard University, graduated with a degree in mathematics and became an assistant professor in Berkeley, California. He excels, but the others “don’t see him” because he is alienated and lacks social connections. Someone later argued that he might have been ready to commit acts of violence before he was thirty. The fact is that in 1969 Professor Kaczynski left the world and the prestigious university with a seemingly sudden decision. He deepens his knowledge, increases his distance, buys a small piece of land in a wooded area of Lincoln, Montana, and here in 1971 builds a single-room wooden house. He’s like a pioneer. No water and light, nothing at all, just lots of books, nature and the game that you need for food. A decision consistent with what he will do later. A move that will make him a wanted superhero.
In the quiet of the shed, Ted crafts rudimentary devices, careful not to leave marks on the components. They are the weapons of his challenge. For 17 years he will send bombs through the United States, killing three people and injuring 23. He will target colleagues, airline managers, entrepreneurs and scientists. The first attack occurred in July 1978, a security guard remains involved, while in November 1979 one of his traps explodes aboard an American Airlines jet, an attack that narrowly escapes tragedy. His plan is glacial, perfect. He assembles the pieces in his “cave”, prepares the package, then hops on his bike to get to the nearest post office, where he begins the delivery. Then wait for the result. On one occasion, in February 1978, he changed tactics: He left the bomb outside a computer store in Salt Lake City. The witnesses will provide a tenuous likeness of a bespectacled and hooded person, the only clue along with a ‘signature’, FC.
The FBI reacts by setting up its own task force with 150 officials, placing a bounty in the millions, searching in all directions, imagining different scenarios, also because the goals are different. It’s a tiny needle in a haystack, there aren’t that many elements and the hunting ground is huge. But, as is so often the case, it’s the killer who makes the mistake. In September 1995, Ted sent his “manifesto” to the Washington Post and the New York Times, clearly explaining the motive and proposing a trade-off: Publish it and I’ll stop hitting people. For Kaczynsky, the threat represents a development that imprisons man and deprives him of all control, through systematic attacks on the environment, through technology that makes one dependent, through the decisions of others. We are chess pieces and no longer master of our decisions. A message where anarchy, ecology, good principles and personal frustrations come together.
The document is powerful, newspaper editors decide to print it after long consultation with the government. The turning point is near. It is David, Kaczynski’s brother, who discovers similarities between the language used in the manifesto and the thoughts Ted often expressed when they were still together. Or rather it is his wife who shows him the points of contact. And so he warns investigators by giving them a track to explore that’s full of promise and full of ideas. The story ends on April 3, 1996. After long patrols, remote observations with the help of the rangers, the agents take action and arrest the Unabomber. He is sentenced to numerous life sentences and incarcerated in Super Max, Colorado’s maximum security prison, where inmates are held in solitary confinement. In the spy cells, the worst terrorist, El Chapo Guzman. It will remain there until it is relocated to North Carolina two years ago. It’s now become a source of inspiration – they’ve renamed it ‘Uncle Ted’, a major, revised and almost ‘re-evaluated’. Writings, letters and correspondence – the New York Times points out – were sent by the Unabomber to an archive at the University of Michigan devoted to radicalism. The Legacy of the Invisible Man.