It’s been years since I’ve read Industrial Society and its Future, but I remember it felt like the author was rationalizing his own emotional state into a philosophy supposedly explaining society. It contained many subjective ideas presented as hard fact, as well as some naive romanticization of pre-industrial societies.
He was right about one thing, though. No one would give his writings a second look if he wasn’t a terrorist. Even if the many copycat manifestos would be much worse.
> I remember it felt like the author was rationalizing his own emotional state into a philosophy supposedly explaining society.
Your intuition is correct. Here's TK's own words on the matter [0]:
> But even leaving aside all questions of “political” utility and considering only my personal predilections, I have little interest in philosophical questions such as the desirability or undesirability of the “herd mentality.” The mountains of Western Montana offered me nearly everything I needed or wanted. If those mountains could have remained just as they were when I first moved to Montana in 1971, I would have been satisfied. The rest of the world could have had a herd mentality, or an individualistic mentality or whatever, and it would have been all the same to me. But, of course, under modern conditions there was no way the mountains could have remained isolated from the rest of the world. Civilization moved in and squeezed me, so…
Here is a timestamped clip of George Hotz Twitch stream from 6 days ago making the same point about rationalizing his own emotional state of powerlessness in Industrial Society and its Future
He was right about one thing, though. No one would give his writings a second look if he wasn’t a terrorist. Even if the many copycat manifestos would be much worse.