If the Unabomber's manifesto was a bit too technical and emotionally detached for your liking, this book is far more approachable and makes a more sympathetic case for a reactionary approach to the modern dehumanizing effects of what we call "society." Submerged in a sea of literary and philosophical references to illustrate the differing experiences of our humanity throughout history and how the all encompassing industrialization combined with hyper self optimizing global capitalism has effectively uprooted us leaving everyone feeling alone and adrift both spiritually and emotionally. While acknowledging the remarkable reach and technical efficiency laid throughout the the first world via capitalism, the author is quick to point out this expansion has come at a cost we're still struggling to rectify even as more and more people are trying to swear off social media or rejoin the church or embrace political activism as their new religion.
The examples praised as being stand alone rebellions and valiant attempts at rejecting this endless encroachment of our traditions and roots to our heritages we took for granted are in the luddites, quakers and few reactionaries who make it a point to not be a part of our modernized world, not for the sake of hating the jews or (insert minority here) but simply because the modern world repulses them on some spiritual gut level that can't be fully articulated through words.
While I enjoyed the audiobook a lot, the narrator holds a lot of talent for welcoming the reader and guiding them through and between the chapters on what feels like a guided tour of the greatest hits on where the modern society and all it's rapid developments have gone wrong in minimizing and sometimes erasing our humanity. An important distinction is that the book is not your usual anti-capitalism marxist slop. There is praise for Marx's attempts to channel the productive energy of capitalism into something that benefits the humans at the bottom, namely the workers or "proletariat" but the praise ends as the author denotes Marx still admires and wanted to keep the advanced centralizing force capitalism brought, whereas the author wishes for a regression if at all possible.
I didn't come away with any significant changes in opinion, I still appreciate the modern world and it's eccentric changes to how we relate to ourselves and each other. Moreso I was curious to poke holes and hypotheticals into the valorization the author gives to local first communities and ways of thinking. The federalized and state managed systems made in the US reflects some of the ideals the author is talking about but I'm curious what he'd make of the local attempts to circumvent and reject advances like civil rights and the arrest of criminals in cases where said criminals have enmeshed themselves well in said small towns.
Maybe it's my mistake in presuming this book would hold a holistic vision of the morally good and humanizing force we all need in these modern times so I'm giving the book a harsher time than it deserves. Give it a try and see if anything resonates with how alienating the modern world feels, maybe the author comes off too extreme for your tastes or maybe you think he doesn't go far enough. I believe everyone should give this book a try as everyone should try this eloquent presentation for a world view so often maligned as barbaric and regressive, something only bigots and wannabe terrorists would explore.