UTNE Reader Nov-Dec 98 Article Response March 1999 Glenn Tracey Cohort III

Unmasking the Unabomber, Ellen Becker and Tom McPheeters.

This article deals with the personal family drama surrounding the revelation of Ted Kaczynski as the Unabomber. It is a story of denial, a realization of responsibility, and an eventual feeling of betrayal that was shared by the family that had to bring their deranged bomber to face the trial they believed would keep him from the death penalty. The initial suspicion was brought out by Linda Patrik, the wife of Ted's brother David. "Even though she had never met Ted, Patrik, a philosophy professor, was the first to come to the conclusion that he was the Unabomber." It then took her many months to persuade her husband to consider that his brother was the person responsible for the crimes. Even then she admits her philosophy training made it difficult to follow her intuitions that a person she never met was the one committing the bombings. But after denying the possibility repeatedly David agreed to read the Unabomber manifesto and eventually his knowledge of Ted's mental deterioration led him to the conclusion that he had to share his wife's suspicions. The result of this was that the family agreed to go to the authorities with their beliefs, hoping to find help for Ted, and ending feeling betrayed when the government sought the death penalty rather than life in prison. When reading I could not help but feel sympathy for the families of all the innocent victims of Ted Kaczynski. His crime must not go unpunished! The real thing that moved me however was the Kaczynski family, which had to undergo terrible pain in examining itself and discovering the horrible truth about Ted. The strength shown by Linda Patrik to follow an unbelievable suspicion that caused her personal relationship with her husband's family to be tested is even more worthy of our recognition. Just try to imagine trying to convince your spouse's family of the possibility that one of them could be a mentally ill criminal! When I was in college trying to decide on a career, the study of philosophy seemed to be a useless waste of time that wouldn't help me to be successful in today's machine age. How ironic, that a graduate of MIT would be brought to justice in a tragedy worthy of those written by the ancient Greeks.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 1999

Answers

Hello Glen: You offer an interesting thought in your closing sentences. The merit of the study of philosophy remains a curious question. Have we as a culture walked away from an anchor in the Humanities thus causing us more difficulty with right and wrong? What other implications are there? I would be interested in your thoughts. By the way, my name is John Hansen, the new discussion facilitator.I am an instructor in the Communication Department here at UMD. The questions you expressed are some I see in this setting. Thanks, John

-- Anonymous, March 03, 1999