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Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

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Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#31
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> I'd be a Windows admin today. You didn't lose any body parts with your pipe bomb right? I hope I misread your comments.

Nope! The Anarchist Cookbook did not ruin my dreams of becoming a Windows admin, either. Seriously, though, if you asked me how I got started with my career, "The Anarchist's Cookbook" would be one of the first thoughts in my head. The topic is interesting to me because my thoughts on the book are so complicated.

I'm curious now. Why?

I haven't read the book, but what appealed and stuck with that rebellious teenager?

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#32
post #30
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it contains practical knowledge that can be used for good or evil How can said practical knowledge be used for good? In the real world, I mean, not hypothetical-land? Where do you suggest I should plant my homemade bomb in order to make the world a better place, really? You don't have to have a "big evangelical moment" to see that this book's main contribution to the world has been a bunch of teenagers blowing up eit…

If you happen to scroll down further, you might end up reading a review[1] of a person who's college ROTC instructor used this same book as training material. For most everyone working a 9-5 in the city with a middle-class family in the suburbs, no this book won't have any practical day to day application. But the review I'm referencing is quoted as saying, "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have…

Yeah, sorry, wrong. The best-known lesson of this book was "you can walk into a series of hardware stores and drug stores and acquire the materials needed to make a cool explosion inside of a trash can, no questions asked, even if you're in Tulsa and you're 13". Unfortunately, that wasn't all you needed to know about the topic to blow up garbage cans safely.

You may have the impression that, like "Steal This Book", this was an interesting compendium of ideas no normal person would ever put into use. The problem was, it actually included a lot of ideas that stupid kids like me certainly would put to use.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#33
post #11

Eh, who cares? So he had a big evangelical moment and saw Jesus, great, wonderful. This book continues to contain information that can be useful to people, and this is the same "book-burning" way of thinking that is so prevalent in conservative religious communities. While the document is injected with immature content throughout in terms of the motivations for the activities upon which it instructs, it contains prac…

it contains practical knowledge that can be used for good or evil How can said practical knowledge be used for good? In the real world, I mean, not hypothetical-land? Where do you suggest I should plant my homemade bomb in order to make the world a better place, really? You don't have to have a "big evangelical moment" to see that this book's main contribution to the world has been a bunch of teenagers blowing up eit…

Sometimes things need to be destroyed.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#34
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope! The Anarchist Cookbook did not ruin my dreams of becoming a Windows admin, either. Seriously, though, if you asked me how I got started with my career, "The Anarchist's Cookbook" would be one of the first thoughts in my head. The topic is interesting to me because my thoughts on the book are so complicated.

I'm curious now. Why? I haven't read the book, but what appealed and stuck with that rebellious teenager?

Without getting specific, let's just say that there's a path from "blowing stuff up" to "software security researcher" that involved me knowing how to code C before I was 15. My history of childhood mayhem is tamer than most stories you can read elsewhere and is pretty boring. I became an ISP admin while still a teenager and all this stuff got a lot less funny, fast.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#35
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's true, me and my high school freshman friends really should have had a better grounding in pyrotechnics and demolitions before taking on the projects in the Anarchists Cookbook. Maybe we should have gone to mining school first. I'm sorry. I'm not sure why this was left as a comment on my comment, though, since it doesn't have anything to do with it. We weren't "resorting to violence", unless "violence agains…

It's really about common sense and responsibility. If I were going to make some thermite or something, I'd do a bit of research to see what safety precautions to take. I'd keep a good distance between myself and the thermite, and I'd make sure that everyone else was also a good distance away. I'd make sure nothing of value was near the thermite, and I'd make sure I could ignite it without being too close. When someth…

> It's really about common sense and responsibility

I'm not taking a position on whether the book should or should not be made available, but it's worth keeping in mind that the sorts of people who are most interested in trying the stuff in the book are the least mindful of the consequences of their actions. On balance, the fewer teenagers with access to thermite, the better - for themselves and us.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#36
post #32
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you happen to scroll down further, you might end up reading a review[1] of a person who's college ROTC instructor used this same book as training material. For most everyone working a 9-5 in the city with a middle-class family in the suburbs, no this book won't have any practical day to day application. But the review I'm referencing is quoted as saying, "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have…

Yeah, sorry, wrong. The best-known lesson of this book was "you can walk into a series of hardware stores and drug stores and acquire the materials needed to make a cool explosion inside of a trash can, no questions asked, even if you're in Tulsa and you're 13". Unfortunately, that wasn't all you needed to know about the topic to blow up garbage cans safely. You may have the impression that, like "Steal This Book", t…

I agree, and you're also wrong.

I did have the impression that under the right circumstances, in the right climate, the book was a very useful reference. I never said that the book was safe. You may have have the impression, or experience to argue for, the dangers of this book because of certain events that may have occurred, or possibly could have occurred, after you read it at about the same age I read it.

If I may, let me abstract both of our arguments:

I say that the book is a good tool, under certain preconditions, that may help one in time of emergency. I'm talking about the book as a reference, as a tool, and a guide. And by its nature, anyone with some common sense knows that it is not a complete, concise work. There are thousands of pages omitted regarding safety. But it can point one in the right direction when it is the only thing available.

You say that the book is dangerous because 13 year old kids from Tulsa can buy materials off the shelf of retail stores and build bombs, with the possibility of killing or severely injuring themselves. You are arguing that the product of the actions derived from use of the book in an irresponsible manner are unsafe, and thus no one should have access to the material described within the book. If this is not what you are arguing about, please clarify.

The book isn't inherently dangerous. It also is not inherently safe, having it on my shelf does not make my home or family more prepared for survival than yours, if you didn't have this book on your shelf. Nor does it make my house more dangerous to be in. This book is a tool, just like a machette or toaster oven. Just because a 13 year old puts shredded newspaper in a toaster and burns his family's house down doesn't make toasters dangerous. Corollary, a 13 year old reading this book doesn't become a violent madman, until that person acts on the ideas and methods of building bombs to take to school. It is the action, like building a bomb, that is the danger, even for people trained and experienced in the field.

With every liberty man has been given a burden also comes with. We shouldn't prevent this book from being published because the fear of it being used irresponsibly is too great. We should be teaching respect and safety to the ideas presented within. No one answer will win this argument.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#37
post #36
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, sorry, wrong. The best-known lesson of this book was "you can walk into a series of hardware stores and drug stores and acquire the materials needed to make a cool explosion inside of a trash can, no questions asked, even if you're in Tulsa and you're 13". Unfortunately, that wasn't all you needed to know about the topic to blow up garbage cans safely. You may have the impression that, like "Steal This Book", t…

I agree, and you're also wrong. I did have the impression that under the right circumstances, in the right climate, the book was a very useful reference. I never said that the book was safe. You may have have the impression, or experience to argue for, the dangers of this book because of certain events that may have occurred, or possibly could have occurred, after you read it at about the same age I read it. If I may…

You think I'm arguing that the book should be burned. I'm not; I'm saying that it was irresponsible to write and publish a book with haphazard and amateurish demolitions instructions, and calamitously irresponsible to make that book available to teenagers. I also said, earlier, that the book launched my career, which I'm quite happy with. My feelings about the book are complicated.

It should go without saying that there are many tools that, unlike toaster ovens, are not generally provided to children without supervision --- regardless of whether they can cough up the cash to buy them.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#38
Not having seen the book until after I got back from Vietnam I thought it ironic in the extreme that the best way to acquire expertise on the subject matter was in fact to volunteer for the draft, survive the year, come home and get busy. With training before during and after my year in country even a then 'stoner' like myself learned more than enough to easily loose all of the body parts I had available!! Didn't though, went back to being an art major...

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#39
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ideas on paper don't hurt people. The people who act on them do. Take some f*cking accountability for your actions; the author did not force anyone to resort to violence.

Yes, it's true, me and my high school freshman friends really should have had a better grounding in pyrotechnics and demolitions before taking on the projects in the Anarchists Cookbook. Maybe we should have gone to mining school first. I'm sorry. I'm not sure why this was left as a comment on my comment, though, since it doesn't have anything to do with it. We weren't "resorting to violence", unless "violence agains…

>I'm not sure why this was left as a comment on my comment, though,

Some people are just looking for any excuse to preach, even if it's a stretch that requires willful misinterpretation.

Re: Anarchist Cookbook authors hopes for discontinuation (read the author review)

#40
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's true, me and my high school freshman friends really should have had a better grounding in pyrotechnics and demolitions before taking on the projects in the Anarchists Cookbook. Maybe we should have gone to mining school first. I'm sorry. I'm not sure why this was left as a comment on my comment, though, since it doesn't have anything to do with it. We weren't "resorting to violence", unless "violence agains…

Why? To draw a parallel: Video games teach kids how to shoot up schools.

I'm not up on the videogame scene, but is there really one out there that simulates breaking into a highschool or college and shooting up students and teachers, before finally winning the game by offing yourself?
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