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Message of Hate Delivered by Death E. Ralph Hostetter If the unimaginable tragedies of Virginia Tech, Columbine, and the earlier Unabomber murders were used to carry a message from the perpetrators to immortalize themselves in the halls of evil: the messenger was death. While Virginia Tech and Columbine appear to be more parallel, the Unabomber uses the same messenger, death, for the same purpose, although he did not take his own life. Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter at Virginia Tech, sent this message to NBC to be broadcast extensively and to be picked up by other media outlets, as well: Cho: "I didn't have to do this. I would have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run . . . You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option . . . Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." Continuing to rail at those he intended to murder, Cho said, "You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough . . . All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your Hedonistic needs . . ." Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began sending messages of hate two years prior to their shooting spree at Columbine with the establishment of a Web site that "showed an ever-growing anger against society." It "contained violent threats directed at the students and teachers at Columbine High School . . . including blurbs Harris had written concerning his hatred of society in general and his desire to kill all those who annoyed him." The final message was delivered on April 20, 1999, when Harris and Klebold murdered 10 students and one teacher in cold blood, wounding 24 others before turning the guns on themselves. Story Continues Below
The Unabomber, Harvard-educated Ted Kaczynski, terrorized America for some 18 years, killing three and wounding 23 others from the late 1970s to the early 1990s with his "letter bombs" and one unsuccessful aircraft bomb aboard an American Airlines plane. Kaczynski used death as the messenger to emphasize his infamous "manifesto" published in The New York Times and Washington Post on Sept. 19, 1995. Paragraph 96 of the 232-paragraph, 35,000-word discourse identifies the true messenger of the Unabomber's testament: "To make an impression on society with words is therefore almost impossible for most individuals and small groups." Referring to himself in the plural, he continues, "If we had never done anything violent and had submitted the present writings to a publisher . . . they probably would not have attracted many readers . . . because it is more fun to watch the entertainment put out by the media than to read a sober essay. "In order to get our message before the public with some chance of making a lasting impression, we've had to kill people." Interestingly, the "manifesto" does not recommend violence to solve the problems discussed in the lengthy political discourse. Instead, it outlines "the problems of modern society in general": Paragraph 6 — "One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of this world is leftism." Paragraph 7 — "When we speak of leftists in this article we have in mind mainly Socialists, collectivists, 'politically correct' types, feminists, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists and the like." Paragraph 18 — "Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good, and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate nationality. They say they hate the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so forth . . . He (the leftist) hates America and the West because they are strong and successful." Paragraph 50 — "Conservatives are fools: they whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth." In paragraph after paragraph, Kaczynski criticizes conservatives for surrendering to refinements of the processes of technological advancement and industrialization to the extent that "Human beings may be happy . . . but they will most certainly not be free." Paragraph 11 — "In this world, humans will have been reduced to the status of domestic animals." The Unabomber points out, under the heading of "Feelings of Inferiority," the motivations that would later lead both the Columbine killers and the murderer at Virginia Tech to kill. Their motives are found in Paragraph 10 — "Low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, depressive tendencies, defeatism, guilt, and self-hatred." The Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the Unabomber terrorists saw violence as the only avenue open for immediate attention and lasting recognition. The crimes they were about to commit were so heinous they would be guaranteed immortality. There is little doubt but the force that drove all of them to commit such evil acts was, for the most part, fostered by the climate of hate that has been generated in America during recent years. Presently centered inside the Beltway in Washington, D.C., and principally within the halls of Congress, this outspoken hatred is poisoning American society. It is affecting the youth of our nation in two ways. First, a misguided segment of our youth is drifting into violence; and secondly, a perceived affluent segment of our youth is becoming the target.
E. Ralph Hostetter, a prominent businessman and agricultural publisher, also is a national and local award-winning columnist. He welcomes comments by e-mail sent to eralphhostetter@yahoo.com.
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