This is a selection included in: 'For the love of a brother ' on Yahoo News. 'Brother to brother' on Yahoo News.
From his prison cell, Ted Kaczynski — the “Unabomber” who terrified the nation in the 1980s and early 1990s — has carried on a remarkable correspondence with thousands of people all over the world. As the 20th anniversary of his arrest approaches, Yahoo News is publishing a series of articles based on his letters and other writings, housed in an archive at the University of Michigan. They shed unprecedented light on the mind of Kaczynski — a genius, madman and murderer.
This is a selection included in: 'For the love of a brother ' on Yahoo News. 'Brother to brother' on Yahoo News.
From his prison cell, Ted Kaczynski — the “Unabomber” who terrified the nation in the 1980s and early 1990s — has carried on a remarkable correspondence with thousands of people all over the world. As the 20th anniversary of his arrest approaches, Yahoo News is publishing a series of articles based on his letters and other writings, housed in an archive at the University of Michigan. They shed unprecedented light on the mind of Kaczynski — a genius, madman and murderer.
This is a selection included in: 'For the love of a brother ' on Yahoo News. 'Brother to brother' on Yahoo News.
From his prison cell, Ted Kaczynski — the “Unabomber” who terrified the nation in the 1980s and early 1990s — has carried on a remarkable correspondence with thousands of people all over the world. As the 20th anniversary of his arrest approaches, Yahoo News is publishing a series of articles based on his letters and other writings, housed in an archive at the University of Michigan. They shed unprecedented light on the mind of Kaczynski — a genius, madman and murderer.
ie happier im prison, but it is not conceivasle
Dave —
Of all the things you could. conceivatly have
done tome, what you have done is by far
the cruclest. You know it, and you knew it
before you did it, even though, with your saad
stalent tor self-deception, you never permitted
yourself to be conscious of it- You know me
well enough ta realize that above all I need
physical freedom, silence, and solitude, and that,
to me, permanent imprisonment will be a fate
fac worse than death, That would be the case _
even if I were imprisoned under the best of
conditions, But you know very well that _in
prisons there is a high isk of homosetual rape
and of abuse by other prisoners, or even by
guards; and that even without that prisoas ave
noisy and crawded, and you are certainly —
aware thet I can't endure noise and crowding. _
The FBI assured you thet conditions in
federal prisons were Sine and thet I wo
rae
thet you could have beli i z ae
particularly egregious act of self-deception,
You know me 1@
You tried to get the FRI te arrest me
under conditions that weuldn't involve risk ef
wy being Killed, and you urged the gavernment
not fo seek the death penalty for me- But, as
already noted, you knew well that permancat
Imprisonment weuld be for me far werse
than death, so your effort to “save” me trom
death can only have been an attempt to Salve
your conscience by inflicting on me a punishment
that in our society is conventionally regarded as
less severe than death. PT BI seh
_ T+ is interesting that you asked the FBI tp
promise not ta reveal your identity as the
informant, and you were very upset when thet _
promise was broken. Evidently you were ashamed
oF whet you were doing Why did you do it?
To step the unabomber? Hardly. You knew that.
the unabomber had promised to stop bombing if
Wis manifesta were published, and you knea that
the promise weuld be kept if I were the
unabomber, since [am Strict about keeping
promises, Furthermore) if T were the unabouter
you could have eNectively stopped tthe bombings
by warning me that you would tip off the FRI
GPT didu't desist
The veal reason why be i
that you hat i! :urcentroiled conflicts concerning me, and your
loving me does not prevent you From hating me
at the same time. This. hatred has repeatedly
Vevealed itself in your behavior toward me
over the years. And ihat you hate me for
is your own gnawing Sense of infect atitpe eae |
Suspicion “hat I was the unabomber at last __—
gave you your epportunity to gef a crushing
revenge on big brotrer for being smarter and
more capable than you are, While maintaining
thei liiaion Nat Yawn batives Swere “macal”
_ OF coucse, you will not accept tae truth
about your own motives T know from long
experience that it is useless to reason with
you where your emotions are invetved, because
you will resort to any Sort of rationalfzation, —
ho matter how Fec-fetched, te caveid Facing a
up to difficult truths. You wear a kindof
veil ouer your motives te Keep yourself from
being conscious of them, and it is this veilDaves - “
Tf there was ever any doubt about —-
the fact thet your turning me _in_ was ——
motivated by your hatred of me, thet.
doubt has eae removed by your interviews
that appeared in the New York Times and
on 60 Minutes. Se
In those interviews you portrayed_me_
as mentally ill. Did you really believe —
T was so% Hardly. In the past. you have_
denied the very existence of mental ae
iMness. J have proof of this in the
letters you weete me concerning Joel _
Schwartz. Were you trying to “Save" me
Prom the death penalty by providing me
with an insanity defense? Jf that had
been your motive you wowd have ,
emphasized the fact that I was subjected
to verbal and ptychologicel abuse, whick
you know is true and which would —
have helped my defense. Insteas, you
lie and denied that T had suffered
such abuse, -even though you are well _
aware Clive made it clear to. you in_
various letters) that the acknowledgement.
of that abuse was desperatel ae
imac ae is wn eeof nes
peer tt “Thou you. rate admit
|___ yourself ta ata dong sade dial
| were tn Plieti acute Suffering on me
making the pu lre__ statements that you —
Aid, “and you were doing it ieee
hate me on _account_of
Reelings of inferiority aoe nell
ee relative To me.