Correct, it had essentially nothing to do with environmentalism at all, the Unibomber's Manifesto as reduced to its simplest thesis is: technology necessitates regulation and conformity, as a result technology necessitates increased levels of control over people. With increased technology we will require increased control to the point where we will be automatons controlled by a central authority in order for society to continue functioning. The Unibomber Manifesto is incredibly well written I recommend everybody reading it. I expected it to be a crazy person rant but it is extremely lucid and he sets up his arguments well with assumptions and conclusions from those assumptions. For the most part his conclusions seem to be sound--the problem generally comes down to whether or not you accept his stated assumption that technology inevitably leads to increased dependence on society/authority.
I think historically that is true. In order to live in a city you need to rely on its sewage system. In order to use a computer you need electricity. In order to get electricity you have to tie yourself to a large grid and buy electricity. In order to use the internet you have to adhere to the standards and interfaces. In order to live in the city you have to buy your food. In order to not piss off your neighbors you need to control your impulses and desires to avoid offense and promote harmony among cohabitants. In order to manage those who don't self manage we need police. In order to travel and co-exist in society we need transportation which necessitates a large government run transportation network or owning a vehicle. Owning a vehicle or using a transportation network requires regulation of roads for traffic laws and emission standards etc etc etc.
If we did extrapolate that out I would agree that we might need to consider destroying technology and regressing. But I would disagree that it's the case. What we have seen is that we've all been wired for telephones--but now we're moving to wireless. We all are connected to the grid but Solar and Geothermal is rapidly reducing or eliminating that. Our dependence on all showing up to a factory is evaporating. Technology both enslaves us but it's a bell curve--go far enough down that technological curve to magic and it frees us to live where we want, it frees us from reliance on large government/corporate entities for basic services. If we achieved a Star Trek level replicator society or a Matrixesque virtual reality where our physical location was irrelevant we could be free of consideration or dependence on others without the Unibomber's dystopian world of drugs and oppression. The weakest point though is that in his manifesto he acknowledges that it's pretty much impossible to technologically regress and that it would require 100% buy-in from the population to sustain. Ultimately I felt like he just wanted it out there so that if his predicted apocalypse occurred he would get credit for predicting it--it didn't read as if he actually had any hope of his goals being achieved. In that regard he is very much like the California Shooter, it was a final act of despair with no real hope of changing the world--just self gratification.
