Over the past few months I've seen a couple of people refer to Ted Kaczynski as a critic of the left (and as a social critic in general, to be sure). Reference is made to a particular quote:
>When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is pronounced among minority rights advocates, whether or not they belong to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities ... Those who are most sensitive about "politically incorrect" terminology are not the average black ghetto-dweller, Asian immigrant, abused woman or disabled person, but a minority of activists, many of whom do not even belong to any "oppressed" group but come from privileged strata of society. Political correctness has its stronghold among university professors, who have secure employment with comfortable salaries, and the majority of whom are heterosexual, white males from middle-class families
Ted Kaczynski cites, for his analysis, Eric Hoffer's conception of a 'true believer'. Eric Hoffer, the American philosopher who prefered to be referred to as a longshoreman (guy who throws ropes and shit around boats), characterized the true believer as a particular person who follows a movement with a strong degree of conviction. He emphasized the following characteristics of the true believer:
>Identifying with a group and identifying personal achievement with the achievement of the movement.
People will, of course, have varying reasons for this: Hoffer cites as examples ethnic groups which struggle to assimilate, the chronically bored, unsuccessful people of all shades (particularly artists); Essentially, those who feel worthless and who feel their lives are meaningless.
>A tendency to focus the locus of control outside the self.
There are many levels to this, such as the need to demonize the toxic present and to glorify the prestigious past, the need for a devil (even in the absence of a God), the notion that their lives are irremediably spoiled and they must strive to correct whatever ills they perceive.