All members of the class are required to read A Mind for Murder: The Education of the Unabomber and the Origins of Modern Terrorism (2004) by Alston Chase. You should read this book with the expectation of writing a 6 to 8-page (i.e., 1,500-2,000 words)
This is an analytical exercisenot a review of Chases A Mind for Murder. As such, your task is to reflect on the material presented in this book in its entirety. Your essay should demonstrate comprehension of the reading, and contain a critical and thoughtful reaction to the book. Here are several examples of how you might approach this task:
I. Focus on an aspect of the reading that you will argue pertains to some issues or ideas have arisen in class. Does the reading support, undermine, or come into tension with previous issues or concepts? Explain why it is significant. Does this book implicate civil liberties in some way? What (if anything) does it say about terrorism and the Criminal Justice System, and its efficacy for dispensing justice in terrorism cases?
II. Focus on a particular theme or issue that was raised in the book, and give your own perspective on it. Be sure to elaborate on your opinion. What is your thinking based on? What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the main sides of the issue, as you see it? Does the book inform the reader about the human costs of the fight against terrorism?
I am not giving you a specific focus on which to write your paper. That said, what you write must be related to Terrorism and the Criminal Justice System. You must give a brief summary of the reading in order to write a good paper, but only summarize what is necessary to write your essay.
Your paper must be typed, double-spaced, and in a Word file. The length of the paper should be no less than 6 pages–ideally, it should run about 6 to 8 pages long.
It is also important to avoid vague impressions about the reading. Be specific–base what you say on something concrete in the reading, such as a quote, a concept, or an argument. However, do not over quote in your Essay.
The more thorough you are the better your grade will be at the end of the day. In that regard, you are encouraged to populate your essay with information gleaned from any other relevant resource, including lectures, media sources, and class discussions.
Be sure to make proper reference to these specific sources; any citations in the body of your essay as well as in the References page itself are required to be in APA format.
Do not use a canned bibliographic program to construct your References, a Citation Generator, or a standard citation provided by the source. Points will be deducted for missing this criterion.
This is a research project (e.g., based on fact/objective inquiry), and not an exercise in editorializing (i.e., based on personal opinion or belief, or populated with gratuitous remarks). Points will be deducted for ignoring this criterion.
This essay is worth 20% of your course grade. You will lose points by (a) not following the guidelines above, (b) not showing clearly that youve read the book, and/or (c) submitting a poorly drafted Essay (i.e., grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors; unsupported statements).
(1) Steve Chapman thinks Kaczynski was on to something when he railed against the technocratic society we would inherit. As Chase notes, Kaczynski wrote that continued scientific and technological progress will inevitably result in the extinction of individual liberty (p. 52).
(a) Is it accurate to say that the individual has little power to resist. Technological innovation is a one-way street. Why or why not? Can you provide any real-world examples?
(b) How is it possible that Ted Kaczynskia murderer, a terrorist, perhaps–be correct in his thinking?
(c) BTW, is Ted Kaczynski a really smart murderer, a committed environmentalist, a mentally ill person, a terrorist, or something else?
(2) Before the Unabomber was captured, he murdered 3 people and injured/maimed 23 others.
(a) Was Harvard to blame for Teds subsequent path to killing and maiming his fellow citizens?
(b) Was justice served by condemning Ted to serve a life sentence at ADX Florence?
(c) What lesson do we as a society take away from this case? Are there any policy prescriptions that flow from the case of the Unabomber?
1A) Yes I believe that it is accurate to say that “the individual has little power to resist. Technological innovation is a one way street” because with all the technological developments that have occured over the years other things have gone bad. An example of this would be the impact of automobiles on life, in many parts of the world having a car or using ride sharing companies is a neccesity as walking and riding bikes are not always possible.
1B) Ted Kaczynski may be correct, although he was a murderer and a terrorist he still was an extremely smart person that graduated from harvard. He also was envirmentalist that lived without technology for many years and seen first hand what was happening to our resources.
1C) I believe that Ted Kaczynski could be considered all of those things, although he should not be celebrated his opinions should be more talked about as many of them have been proven true and he should be interviewed before he dies to try and understand what made him think the way he thought in the 60’s and 70’s.
2A) Although Harvard was not to blame for Teds path to killing and maiming of his fellow citizens the experiment that he participated in did have an everlasting impact on his life and may still subconsciously affect him to this day.
2B) Yes, although I do not agree with solitary confinement for long periods of time and believe it to be cruel.I believe that it is a better alternative than the death penalty which is the only other possible outcome of the Unabomber case.
2C) I believe that as a society we face different moral codes and by the brother of the Unabomber telling the FBI that he might know who the bomber was that tested societys moral code. Asking and answering the question “is family more important then your peace” is a difficult task and one that the brother of Ted Kaczynski did in 1995. Im not susre of any policy prescriptions that came from the case although the unabomber attempted to fire his attorneys beofre trial.
November 6th, 2020 
