Ship of Fools (short story)

“Ship of Fools” is a 1999 short story by Ted Kaczynski. The story is a parable demonstrating Kaczynski's views that identity politics within liberalism is a distraction from the issue of environmental collapse and that revolutionary violence is justified.

About
Ship of Fools was written for Off!, a student magazine at State University of New York (SUNY) in Binghamton, New York. It was written at the request of Tom LaPietra, a student at SUNY. The story also appeared on the website for Context Books. It is 11 pages long. Kaczynski wrote the parable from prison. The short story is about a ship that is headed north to the Arctic Ocean. Rather than turn back the ship to avoid collisions with icebergs, the crew argues among themselves about various injustices on the ship. The crew includes a Mexican sailor, a Native American sailor, a gay bosun, an animal rights activist, and a female passenger. The Mexican sailor asks for more food, the Native American sailor asks for reparations for being forced to be on the ship, the gay bosun objects to homophobic slurs and asks for the "right to suck cocks without being called names for it", the animal rights activist objects to the mistreatment of the dog on the ship, and the female passenger asks for more blankets. Only the cabin boy, a representation of Kaczynski, suggests turning the ship around. The cabin boy also suggests killing the crew if they do not comply. Rather than turn back, the ship continues to sail north until it is crushed between two icebergs. The ship sinks and everyone drowns.

The manuscript for Ship of Fools is included with "The Writings of Ted Kaczynski" in the Kaczynski Papers collection at the University of Michigan Library.

Reception
The short story has been noted for its use of "colorful" racial and sexual stereotypes. The text is also noted for its justification of revolutionary violence. Tom LaPietra has said the parable is about Kaczynski's belief that "People who are leftist shouldn't waste their time with what he calls reform, such as equal wages and equal treatment for women...The main issue is we have to stop the industrial machine before it takes away all of our humanity."

Legacy
In 2006 the Norwegian artist Gardar Eide Einarsson staged a play based on Ship of Fools at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.