by Hakim Bey
The negative refusal of Home is "homelessness", which most consider a form of victimization, not wishing to be forced into nomadology. But "homelessness" can in a sense be a virtue, an adventure- so it appears, at least, to the huge international movement of the squatters, our modern hobos.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Thursday, September 23, 2004
The Next Experiment
by Skald
Currently I'm living in Bangkok, Thailand but recently I've begun to reflect on the past two "hobopoet" experiments in America. One was in a 1986 Nissan Sentra, in which I lived for six months. I did this in Athens, Georgia,.. which is a fairly friendly place for homeless people. Although I had two police encounters, they were as pleasant as such encounters can be. The police were very polite. In fact, my first encounter took place a week after the start of the experiment... I was sleeping in my Nissan and had it parked in an abandoned lot under a tree. After they ran my license, they asked me what I was doing. I was honest and said I was living in my car and needed a place to park and asked them for advice. To my surprise they were friendly and suggested marked, unmetered parking spots downtown... so long as I cleared out by business hours.
My other experiment took place in Gainesville, Georgia and was far (FAR!!!) less pleasant. While Athens is a progressive college town, Gainesville is still pretty much a right-wing redneck enclave. When I first started the experiment, I had long hair. I was pulled over twice for bogus reasons (crooked license plate was one of them!!) just so they could harass me a bit. I shaved my head soon after and was never pulled over again. I also paid careful attention to stealth. In Athens, in the Nissan, I was very obvious. Anyone who passed by could see the plywood bunk I'd made. At night I put burlap curtains on the windows... again, hardly stealthy. Yet I was never bothered.
But in Gainesville I lived in the van and took all of the stealth precautions mentioned in previous posts. Although living "homeless" in Gainesville was far from pleasant, I did learn alot about how to do so while maintaining a very low profile.
So the question is, what's the next step. For one, I'm thinking that a totally inconspicuous vehicle is needed. This would probably be some sort of super-common mini-van.... of the soccer mom variety. In fact, I'd probably slap a soccer sticker on it just to be sure. I'd tint the windows and do all the other "stealth" techniques mentioned earlier. And as I mentioned in a recent post... I'd pay much more attention to soundproofing. To be sustainable, such a living arrangement has to be not only livable, but comfortable.
Another thing I would do would be to insulate the vehicle--- with foam, bubble wrap, or even housing insulation (which would require a set of inner walls to keep the fiberglass sealed up). I'd also do a better job of wiring... would probably use two extra marine batteries for power.... and wire them to the vehicles electrical system with good quality automotive wiring.
As for parking: The ideal situation is to have a private place to park... I've thought about searching for an empty lot to rent for super cheap.... or even about buying a really cheap lot in some rural area outside Athens. This is not as easy as it should be, however, as it seems that land that is cheap by the acre is almost always sold in large amounts.... and most small plots are in developed areas and are expensive (and subject to zoning scrutiny). Anyway, parking is still a problem..... good sound-proofing and disguising make public parking easy to do... but for me at least, there is always a bit of worry about being bugged or woken up or found by the police... and that always tended to make me sleep lighter and more fitfully.
Finally, the town itself is obviously very important. Though much more gruelling physically (because I was in a small car),... my experience in Athens was more pleasant than van-living in Gainesville. I was generally relaxed in Athens and never worried about being overtly harassed. In Gainesville this was a constant concern. Maybe I'm just paranoid of right-wing Republican good old boys... but I slept easier in Athens despite the discomfort of the Nissan. So the point is, choose your location carefully... some place that is at least tolerant of homeless people, artists, and other weirdos.
Currently I'm living in Bangkok, Thailand but recently I've begun to reflect on the past two "hobopoet" experiments in America. One was in a 1986 Nissan Sentra, in which I lived for six months. I did this in Athens, Georgia,.. which is a fairly friendly place for homeless people. Although I had two police encounters, they were as pleasant as such encounters can be. The police were very polite. In fact, my first encounter took place a week after the start of the experiment... I was sleeping in my Nissan and had it parked in an abandoned lot under a tree. After they ran my license, they asked me what I was doing. I was honest and said I was living in my car and needed a place to park and asked them for advice. To my surprise they were friendly and suggested marked, unmetered parking spots downtown... so long as I cleared out by business hours.
My other experiment took place in Gainesville, Georgia and was far (FAR!!!) less pleasant. While Athens is a progressive college town, Gainesville is still pretty much a right-wing redneck enclave. When I first started the experiment, I had long hair. I was pulled over twice for bogus reasons (crooked license plate was one of them!!) just so they could harass me a bit. I shaved my head soon after and was never pulled over again. I also paid careful attention to stealth. In Athens, in the Nissan, I was very obvious. Anyone who passed by could see the plywood bunk I'd made. At night I put burlap curtains on the windows... again, hardly stealthy. Yet I was never bothered.
But in Gainesville I lived in the van and took all of the stealth precautions mentioned in previous posts. Although living "homeless" in Gainesville was far from pleasant, I did learn alot about how to do so while maintaining a very low profile.
So the question is, what's the next step. For one, I'm thinking that a totally inconspicuous vehicle is needed. This would probably be some sort of super-common mini-van.... of the soccer mom variety. In fact, I'd probably slap a soccer sticker on it just to be sure. I'd tint the windows and do all the other "stealth" techniques mentioned earlier. And as I mentioned in a recent post... I'd pay much more attention to soundproofing. To be sustainable, such a living arrangement has to be not only livable, but comfortable.
Another thing I would do would be to insulate the vehicle--- with foam, bubble wrap, or even housing insulation (which would require a set of inner walls to keep the fiberglass sealed up). I'd also do a better job of wiring... would probably use two extra marine batteries for power.... and wire them to the vehicles electrical system with good quality automotive wiring.
As for parking: The ideal situation is to have a private place to park... I've thought about searching for an empty lot to rent for super cheap.... or even about buying a really cheap lot in some rural area outside Athens. This is not as easy as it should be, however, as it seems that land that is cheap by the acre is almost always sold in large amounts.... and most small plots are in developed areas and are expensive (and subject to zoning scrutiny). Anyway, parking is still a problem..... good sound-proofing and disguising make public parking easy to do... but for me at least, there is always a bit of worry about being bugged or woken up or found by the police... and that always tended to make me sleep lighter and more fitfully.
Finally, the town itself is obviously very important. Though much more gruelling physically (because I was in a small car),... my experience in Athens was more pleasant than van-living in Gainesville. I was generally relaxed in Athens and never worried about being overtly harassed. In Gainesville this was a constant concern. Maybe I'm just paranoid of right-wing Republican good old boys... but I slept easier in Athens despite the discomfort of the Nissan. So the point is, choose your location carefully... some place that is at least tolerant of homeless people, artists, and other weirdos.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
The "Your Money or Your Life" Formulas
I often use a shorthand formula to measure my relative freedom & wage slavery. Its a very simple formula.... a simple ratio of time (in days) spent working to time (in days) spent free from work. And by work, of course, I mean work-for-money.
By my figuring, Thoreau had a magnificent ratio well over 1 to 8. For every day he spent day-laboring, he earned enough to live another eight days without working. My own figure is not nearly as impressive. Since going to Japan two years ago... I have achieved a ratio of 1:2. I worked 6 months in Japan... and earned enough to live another year without working (which included money for buying a van and for travelling around SE Asia).
When I finally needed to make money, I managed to make enough by working from 12-18 hours a week.
I highly recommend this little formula as a way to analyze just how much of your life you are frittering away- enslaved to someone else's priorities and schedule.
Another very good calculation is the one used in the book "Your Money or Your Life"... a formula for determining your real hourly wage. First you start with the generally accepted figure... in one column write the average number of hours you work per week.... in another column write the amount of money you typically make in a week.
Then, begin to add all work related time expenditures.... How much time do you spend, each week, on commuting to your job? Add that figure to the "hours worked" column. How many hours do you spend getting ready for work (dressing, grooming, etc.)? Add that time to the "hours worked" column. How many hours a week do you spend "de-compressing" from your job... too tired to do anything but watch TV or vegetate or sleep? Add that time. And add any other time that is wasted/spent as a result of working your job.
Next, do the same with money. For example, how much money do you spend, per week, commuting to work (gas, car maintenence, bus fares, etc..)? SUBTRACT that amount from your weekly income. How much money, pro-rated to the week, do you spend on clothes, tools, etc.. related to your job. Subtract that from your income. How much do you spend on expensive lunches or other expenses you wouldn't have if you weren't working? Subtract those. Subtract the cost of "mindless entertainment" used to de-compress from the job. Subtract the cost of childcare. Subtract health care and medicine costs- of illness brought on by job-related stress. Subtract the costs of on the job injuries. Try to capture all of the expenses related to the job.
Now total up the true weekly income and the true number of work-related hours... and divide income by the hours. This, then, is your true hourly wage... and it is probably much lower than what your W-2 says. This formula is a great tool for discovering what you are really trading your valuable time for. It is also a good tool for evaluating different jobs. A job with a higher salary may, in fact, pay a much lower real hourly wage-- if it requires, for example, a long commute, new clothes, unpaid overtime, and lots of de-compression time.
Unfortunately, most Hobopoets have to earn an income occaisonally. Our most practical goals are a) to work less while enjoying more freedom... and b) to get the highest real hourly wage for the least amount (or most pleasant) work possible.
By my figuring, Thoreau had a magnificent ratio well over 1 to 8. For every day he spent day-laboring, he earned enough to live another eight days without working. My own figure is not nearly as impressive. Since going to Japan two years ago... I have achieved a ratio of 1:2. I worked 6 months in Japan... and earned enough to live another year without working (which included money for buying a van and for travelling around SE Asia).
When I finally needed to make money, I managed to make enough by working from 12-18 hours a week.
I highly recommend this little formula as a way to analyze just how much of your life you are frittering away- enslaved to someone else's priorities and schedule.
Another very good calculation is the one used in the book "Your Money or Your Life"... a formula for determining your real hourly wage. First you start with the generally accepted figure... in one column write the average number of hours you work per week.... in another column write the amount of money you typically make in a week.
Then, begin to add all work related time expenditures.... How much time do you spend, each week, on commuting to your job? Add that figure to the "hours worked" column. How many hours do you spend getting ready for work (dressing, grooming, etc.)? Add that time to the "hours worked" column. How many hours a week do you spend "de-compressing" from your job... too tired to do anything but watch TV or vegetate or sleep? Add that time. And add any other time that is wasted/spent as a result of working your job.
Next, do the same with money. For example, how much money do you spend, per week, commuting to work (gas, car maintenence, bus fares, etc..)? SUBTRACT that amount from your weekly income. How much money, pro-rated to the week, do you spend on clothes, tools, etc.. related to your job. Subtract that from your income. How much do you spend on expensive lunches or other expenses you wouldn't have if you weren't working? Subtract those. Subtract the cost of "mindless entertainment" used to de-compress from the job. Subtract the cost of childcare. Subtract health care and medicine costs- of illness brought on by job-related stress. Subtract the costs of on the job injuries. Try to capture all of the expenses related to the job.
Now total up the true weekly income and the true number of work-related hours... and divide income by the hours. This, then, is your true hourly wage... and it is probably much lower than what your W-2 says. This formula is a great tool for discovering what you are really trading your valuable time for. It is also a good tool for evaluating different jobs. A job with a higher salary may, in fact, pay a much lower real hourly wage-- if it requires, for example, a long commute, new clothes, unpaid overtime, and lots of de-compression time.
Unfortunately, most Hobopoets have to earn an income occaisonally. Our most practical goals are a) to work less while enjoying more freedom... and b) to get the highest real hourly wage for the least amount (or most pleasant) work possible.
A Large Dose of Sanity
At times when I am overwhelmed by petty concerns, anxieties, and the like... I time and again return to one author for a centering dose of sanity: Thoreau. Thoreau is the archetypical American Hobopoet... our American Lao Tzu. He is, in my opinion, the greatest American writer (that I have read). And so again, this week, I returned to Walden... and again I find my mind calmed and clarified by his words. Here are a few quotes that, on this reading, particularly resonated:
Simplicity
Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly the need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add in his toes and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail...
Instead of three meals, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion...
Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow. As for work, we haven't any of any consequence.
News & Current Events
And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in Winter,-- we never need read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? To a philosopher all news , as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea. Yet not a few are greedy after this gossip.... shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous.
House Building
There is some of the same fitness in a man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building its own nest... shall we ever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? I never in all my walks came across a man engaged in so simple and natural an occupation as building his house. Where is this division of labor to end? And what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
Vagrant Scholarship
"But", says one, "you do not mean that the students should go to work with their hands instead of their heads?" I do not mean that exactly, but I mean something which he might think a great deal like that; I mean that they should not play life, or study it merely, while the community supports them at this expensive game, but earnestly live it from beginning to end.
With a little more deliberation in the choice of their pursuits, all men would perhaps become essentially students and observers, for certainly their nature and destiny are interesting to all alike.
Bosses and Wage Slaves
As for the Pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs.
Business & Trade
But I have since learned that trade curses everything it handles, and though you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to the business.
Doing Good
As for Doing-Good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution... What good I do, in the common sense of that word, must be aside from my main path, and for the most part wholly unintended... There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. If I knew for certain that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life, as from that dry and parching wind of the African deserts call the simoon, which fills the mouth and nose and ears and eyes with dust till you are suffocated, for fear that I should get some of his good done to me, --- some of its virus mingled with my blood. No, -- in this case I would rather suffer evil the natural way. A man is not a good man to me because he will feed me if I should be starving, or warm me if I should be freezing, or pull me out of a ditch if I should ever fall into one. I can find you a good Newfoundland dog that will do as much. Philanthropy is not love for one's fellow-man in the broadest sense...
Often the poor man is not so cold and hungry as his is dirty and ragged and gross... I was wont to pity the clumsy Irish laborers who cut ice on the pond, in such mean and ragged clothes, while I shivered in my more tidy and somewhat more fashionable garments, till, one bitter cold day, one who had slipped into the water came to my house to warm him[self], and I saw him strip off three pairs of pants and two pairs of stockings ere he got down to the skin, though they were dirty and ragged enough, it is true, and that he could afford to refuse the extra garments I offered him, he had so many intra ones... Then I began to pity myself, and I saw it would be a greater charity to bestow on me a flannel shirt than a whole slop-shop on him...
Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated my mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it. I would not subtract anything from the praise that is due to philanthropy, but merely demand justice for all who by their lives and works are a blessing to mankind... [A man's] goodness must not be a partial and transitory act, but a constant superfluity, which costs him nothing and of which he is unconscious...
I believe that what so saddens the reformer is not his sympathy with his fellows in distress, but, though he be the holiest son of God, is his private ail. Let this be righted... and he will forsake his generous companions without apology. If, then, we would indeed restore mankind by truly Indian, botanic, magnetic, or natural means, let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our own brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.
American Houses
Many of our houses, both public and private, with their almost innumerable apartments, their huge halls and their cellars for the storage of wines and other munitions of peace, appear to me extravagantly large for their inhabitants. They are so vast and magnificent that the latter seem to be only vermin which infest them.
Safety and Danger
The old and infirm and the timid, of whatever age or sex, thought most of sickness, and sudden accident and death; to them life seemed full of danger, -- what danger is there if you don't think of any-- and they thought that a prudent man would carefully select the safest position where Dr. B. might be on hand at a moment's warning..
The amount of it is, if a man is alive, there is always danger that he may die, though the danger must be allowed to be less in proportion as he is dead-and-alive to begin with. A man sits as many risks as he runs.
Simplicity
Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly the need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add in his toes and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail...
Instead of three meals, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion...
Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow. As for work, we haven't any of any consequence.
News & Current Events
And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in Winter,-- we never need read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? To a philosopher all news , as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea. Yet not a few are greedy after this gossip.... shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous.
House Building
There is some of the same fitness in a man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building its own nest... shall we ever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? I never in all my walks came across a man engaged in so simple and natural an occupation as building his house. Where is this division of labor to end? And what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
Vagrant Scholarship
"But", says one, "you do not mean that the students should go to work with their hands instead of their heads?" I do not mean that exactly, but I mean something which he might think a great deal like that; I mean that they should not play life, or study it merely, while the community supports them at this expensive game, but earnestly live it from beginning to end.
With a little more deliberation in the choice of their pursuits, all men would perhaps become essentially students and observers, for certainly their nature and destiny are interesting to all alike.
Bosses and Wage Slaves
As for the Pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs.
Business & Trade
But I have since learned that trade curses everything it handles, and though you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to the business.
Doing Good
As for Doing-Good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution... What good I do, in the common sense of that word, must be aside from my main path, and for the most part wholly unintended... There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. If I knew for certain that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life, as from that dry and parching wind of the African deserts call the simoon, which fills the mouth and nose and ears and eyes with dust till you are suffocated, for fear that I should get some of his good done to me, --- some of its virus mingled with my blood. No, -- in this case I would rather suffer evil the natural way. A man is not a good man to me because he will feed me if I should be starving, or warm me if I should be freezing, or pull me out of a ditch if I should ever fall into one. I can find you a good Newfoundland dog that will do as much. Philanthropy is not love for one's fellow-man in the broadest sense...
Often the poor man is not so cold and hungry as his is dirty and ragged and gross... I was wont to pity the clumsy Irish laborers who cut ice on the pond, in such mean and ragged clothes, while I shivered in my more tidy and somewhat more fashionable garments, till, one bitter cold day, one who had slipped into the water came to my house to warm him[self], and I saw him strip off three pairs of pants and two pairs of stockings ere he got down to the skin, though they were dirty and ragged enough, it is true, and that he could afford to refuse the extra garments I offered him, he had so many intra ones... Then I began to pity myself, and I saw it would be a greater charity to bestow on me a flannel shirt than a whole slop-shop on him...
Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated my mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it. I would not subtract anything from the praise that is due to philanthropy, but merely demand justice for all who by their lives and works are a blessing to mankind... [A man's] goodness must not be a partial and transitory act, but a constant superfluity, which costs him nothing and of which he is unconscious...
I believe that what so saddens the reformer is not his sympathy with his fellows in distress, but, though he be the holiest son of God, is his private ail. Let this be righted... and he will forsake his generous companions without apology. If, then, we would indeed restore mankind by truly Indian, botanic, magnetic, or natural means, let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our own brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.
American Houses
Many of our houses, both public and private, with their almost innumerable apartments, their huge halls and their cellars for the storage of wines and other munitions of peace, appear to me extravagantly large for their inhabitants. They are so vast and magnificent that the latter seem to be only vermin which infest them.
Safety and Danger
The old and infirm and the timid, of whatever age or sex, thought most of sickness, and sudden accident and death; to them life seemed full of danger, -- what danger is there if you don't think of any-- and they thought that a prudent man would carefully select the safest position where Dr. B. might be on hand at a moment's warning..
The amount of it is, if a man is alive, there is always danger that he may die, though the danger must be allowed to be less in proportion as he is dead-and-alive to begin with. A man sits as many risks as he runs.
Friday, July 30, 2004
The Power of Place
by Skald
Just finished a book called The Power of Place. I was intrigued by the title, but unfortunately, the title was the best part of the book. However, there was one excellent line in the book: "We can powerfully manage our psychology with geography." That statement rings true.
Perhaps I'm more sensitive than most... but nothing seems to impact my mental health quite as much as where I'm living. When living in big cities, I have typically been high-strung, irritible, and quasi-manic (my current state while living in Bangkok). Living in the redneck suburban hell of Greenville, SC (a conservative right-wing outpost) I continually felt stifled, oppressed, and bored.
On the other hand, I feel an immediate uplift every time I drive into Athens, GA or Asheville, NC. Likewise, Dharmasala & Varanasi India..... Chang Mai, Thailand..... and Orvieto, Italy. Some places lift the spirit, some squash it. There is tremendous power in geography and social-geography. Where we live matters... and it matters a lot!
Therefore, I have come to my senses and turned down the job offer at Thammasat University (what was I thinking?!). And while Bangkok has been an interesting one year experiment, I am now plotting my next move... possibly to Chang Mai... possibly to another country.
It is time to manage my psychology with geography once again. Let's call it "Hobopoet Therapy".
Just finished a book called The Power of Place. I was intrigued by the title, but unfortunately, the title was the best part of the book. However, there was one excellent line in the book: "We can powerfully manage our psychology with geography." That statement rings true.
Perhaps I'm more sensitive than most... but nothing seems to impact my mental health quite as much as where I'm living. When living in big cities, I have typically been high-strung, irritible, and quasi-manic (my current state while living in Bangkok). Living in the redneck suburban hell of Greenville, SC (a conservative right-wing outpost) I continually felt stifled, oppressed, and bored.
On the other hand, I feel an immediate uplift every time I drive into Athens, GA or Asheville, NC. Likewise, Dharmasala & Varanasi India..... Chang Mai, Thailand..... and Orvieto, Italy. Some places lift the spirit, some squash it. There is tremendous power in geography and social-geography. Where we live matters... and it matters a lot!
Therefore, I have come to my senses and turned down the job offer at Thammasat University (what was I thinking?!). And while Bangkok has been an interesting one year experiment, I am now plotting my next move... possibly to Chang Mai... possibly to another country.
It is time to manage my psychology with geography once again. Let's call it "Hobopoet Therapy".
The Essence of The Hobopoet Path
by Skald
The hobopoet path, stripped down to its barest essentials, comes to just two elements: Experience and Contemplation.
Both are necessary. A variety of experiences is absolutely essential. This means that we do not live the same day over and over again until we die. We seek out that which is new, odd, challenging, different, fascinating. But this is not enough, by itself. A variety of experiences, without contemplation, creates only a driven busy-body... the typical "type-A" personality: devoid of wisdom, greedily acquiring and consuming... the thrill seeker.... the shallow adrenaline junky.
Contemplation is essential.... the careful and relentless examing of one's life. This is meditation. This is choiceless awareness. This is deep looking. We think, we consider, we examine, we observe. But this, alone, is not enough. Contemplation without experience quickly degenerates into "navel-gazing", self-absorption, confusion, and circular thinking: the befuddled academic,... the media junky.... the nuerotic new ager.... the fearful recluse... Devoid of wisdom. Cut off from the world.
As Hobopoets, we require both experience and contemplation.... both of them in massive amounts and both of them throughout our entire lives.
These are the twin disciplines of the Hobopoet life... what unites the vagrant scholar, the dharma bum, the cyber hobo, the itinerate poet, the young homeless professional, the eco-traveller, the sufi, the haiku drifter... These are the yin and yang of the Hobopoet way.... its bare essential qualities. A hobopoet must continually seek experiences beyond their comfort zone and must continually contemplate these experiences and the larger truths beneath them.
This is not a choice between stillness (of body and mind) and action... both are required... each in its proper time and amount. Stillness and action. Experience and contemplation. Such is our path.
by Skald
The hobopoet path, stripped down to its barest essentials, comes to just two elements: Experience and Contemplation.
Both are necessary. A variety of experiences is absolutely essential. This means that we do not live the same day over and over again until we die. We seek out that which is new, odd, challenging, different, fascinating. But this is not enough, by itself. A variety of experiences, without contemplation, creates only a driven busy-body... the typical "type-A" personality: devoid of wisdom, greedily acquiring and consuming... the thrill seeker.... the shallow adrenaline junky.
Contemplation is essential.... the careful and relentless examing of one's life. This is meditation. This is choiceless awareness. This is deep looking. We think, we consider, we examine, we observe. But this, alone, is not enough. Contemplation without experience quickly degenerates into "navel-gazing", self-absorption, confusion, and circular thinking: the befuddled academic,... the media junky.... the nuerotic new ager.... the fearful recluse... Devoid of wisdom. Cut off from the world.
As Hobopoets, we require both experience and contemplation.... both of them in massive amounts and both of them throughout our entire lives.
These are the twin disciplines of the Hobopoet life... what unites the vagrant scholar, the dharma bum, the cyber hobo, the itinerate poet, the young homeless professional, the eco-traveller, the sufi, the haiku drifter... These are the yin and yang of the Hobopoet way.... its bare essential qualities. A hobopoet must continually seek experiences beyond their comfort zone and must continually contemplate these experiences and the larger truths beneath them.
This is not a choice between stillness (of body and mind) and action... both are required... each in its proper time and amount. Stillness and action. Experience and contemplation. Such is our path.
Soundproofing For Van Living
by Skald
The last vanliving experiment was, by and large, a stunning success. I managed to live a year in my van in a redneck suburban Georgia town... without ever being discovered... and without suffering any undue hardships. I was relatively comfortable throughout the hot Georgia summer and on even the coldest days of winter (the coldest being 7 degrees).
But there was one issue that plagued me.... one that I am determined to address when I make my third vanliving experiement: Noise.
Noise was the most stressful aspect of the last experiment. I was constantly woken up at night by people talking or arguing near my van. This was an especially big problem when I made one of my frequent visits to Athens... as I parked near a night club and would constantly be woken up by loud drunks.
The mornings were also difficult, as cars or machinery or the sound of people going to work disturbed my sleep. I was overparanoid about being discovered, so I found it very difficult to get back to sleep once I was woken up. Over time, this became very stressful.
So next time, in addition to sealing the rear area for light... I will also sound proof it.
Here are some ideas... gleaned from an excellent website on soundproofing ( www.soundproofing.org ):
*Build a "room within a room" in the main compartment of the van. This could be framed with 2x2's. Foam core or plywood could be used for the interior walls... plywood for the floor. The space between the van exterior and the new walls would be filled with insulation.
*A door to the driver compartment would need to be cut in the front of the "room"... sealed tight with gaskets.
*Two vent holes would need to be cut in the front wall as well.... a small brushless fan could be placed in each one... one for intake, one for outtake. These vent holes could be plugged for high-stealth situations (watching a movie, sex, ect.).
*Attach ceiling acoustic board to all of the walls, floor and ceiling to further dampen sounds. Over this, hang curtains or tapestries. The gap between the tile-wall and the fabric will act as sound (and temperature) insulation.
Of course, the above modifications would also greatly increase the heat insulation of the van... keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Hopefully, sound would be greatly reduced as well.... helping to eliminate the primary source of stress that I experienced during the last van living experiment.
If anyone gives these suggestions a try.... please post a comment and let us know how they work.
by Skald
The last vanliving experiment was, by and large, a stunning success. I managed to live a year in my van in a redneck suburban Georgia town... without ever being discovered... and without suffering any undue hardships. I was relatively comfortable throughout the hot Georgia summer and on even the coldest days of winter (the coldest being 7 degrees).
But there was one issue that plagued me.... one that I am determined to address when I make my third vanliving experiement: Noise.
Noise was the most stressful aspect of the last experiment. I was constantly woken up at night by people talking or arguing near my van. This was an especially big problem when I made one of my frequent visits to Athens... as I parked near a night club and would constantly be woken up by loud drunks.
The mornings were also difficult, as cars or machinery or the sound of people going to work disturbed my sleep. I was overparanoid about being discovered, so I found it very difficult to get back to sleep once I was woken up. Over time, this became very stressful.
So next time, in addition to sealing the rear area for light... I will also sound proof it.
Here are some ideas... gleaned from an excellent website on soundproofing ( www.soundproofing.org ):
*Build a "room within a room" in the main compartment of the van. This could be framed with 2x2's. Foam core or plywood could be used for the interior walls... plywood for the floor. The space between the van exterior and the new walls would be filled with insulation.
*A door to the driver compartment would need to be cut in the front of the "room"... sealed tight with gaskets.
*Two vent holes would need to be cut in the front wall as well.... a small brushless fan could be placed in each one... one for intake, one for outtake. These vent holes could be plugged for high-stealth situations (watching a movie, sex, ect.).
*Attach ceiling acoustic board to all of the walls, floor and ceiling to further dampen sounds. Over this, hang curtains or tapestries. The gap between the tile-wall and the fabric will act as sound (and temperature) insulation.
Of course, the above modifications would also greatly increase the heat insulation of the van... keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Hopefully, sound would be greatly reduced as well.... helping to eliminate the primary source of stress that I experienced during the last van living experiment.
If anyone gives these suggestions a try.... please post a comment and let us know how they work.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
More On Goliards
from Joumpeich de los Goliardos
Wandering students and clerics in medieval England, France, and Germany, remembered for their satirical verses and poems in praise of drinking and debauchery. The goliards described themselves as followers of the legendary Bishop Golias: renegade clerics of no fixed abode who had more interest in rioting than in the life of a responsible citizen. It is difficult to be sure how many of them were in fact social rebels or whether this was merely a guise adopted for literary purposes. Of the identifiable poets, Huoh Primas of Orleans, Pierre de Blois, Gautier de Ch‚tillon, and Phillipe the Chancellor all became important establishment figures and to some extent outgrew their student high spirits. The one known as the Archpoet seems to have lived what he preached to the end of his life.
The goliards were noted as rioters, gamblers, poets and scholars. Their satires were almost uniformly directed against the church, attacking even the pope. In 1227 the Council of Trier forbade priests to permit goliards to take part in chanting the service. In 1229 they played a conspicuous part in disturbances at the University of Paris in connection with the intrigues of the papal legate; in 1289 it was ordered that no cleric should be a goliard, and in 1300 (at Cologne) they were forbidden to preach or to grant indulgences. Finally the privileges of clergy were withdrawn from the goliards.
The word goliard lost its clerical association, passing into French and English literature of the 14th century in the general meaning of jongleur, or minstrel (its meaning in Piers Plowman and in Chaucer). A remarkable collection of their Latin poems and songs in praise of wine and riotous living was published in the late 19th century under the title Carmina Burana, taken from the manuscript of that title at Munich which was written in Bavaria in the 13th century. Many of these were translated by John Addington Symonds as Wine, Women, and Song (1884). The collection also includes the only known two surviving complete texts of medieval passion dramas--one with and one without music. In 1937 the German composer Carl Orff based his scenic oratorio Carmina Burana on these poems and songs. Many of them are also to be found in the important Cambridge Songbook written in England some 200 years earlier.
The subject matter of the Goliard poems and songs varies: political and religious satire; love songs of an unusual directness; and songs of drinking and riotous life. The last category involves the most characteristically goliardic elements: the plaints of unfrocked clergy, a homeless scholar's cries of self-pity, the unashamed panegyrics of hedonism, and the dauntless denials of Christian ethics. It is this last category for which the least trace of written music survives. Present knowledge of medieval poetry and music suggests that all the poems were intended for singing, even though only a few are provided with music in the manuscripts. The music is normally notated in diastematic neumes--a kind of musical shorthand that can be read only by comparison with another version of the tune, fully written out. In musical style the amorous songs are similar to those of the trouvËres; in several cases the same melody appears in both repertories.
from Joumpeich de los Goliardos
Wandering students and clerics in medieval England, France, and Germany, remembered for their satirical verses and poems in praise of drinking and debauchery. The goliards described themselves as followers of the legendary Bishop Golias: renegade clerics of no fixed abode who had more interest in rioting than in the life of a responsible citizen. It is difficult to be sure how many of them were in fact social rebels or whether this was merely a guise adopted for literary purposes. Of the identifiable poets, Huoh Primas of Orleans, Pierre de Blois, Gautier de Ch‚tillon, and Phillipe the Chancellor all became important establishment figures and to some extent outgrew their student high spirits. The one known as the Archpoet seems to have lived what he preached to the end of his life.
The goliards were noted as rioters, gamblers, poets and scholars. Their satires were almost uniformly directed against the church, attacking even the pope. In 1227 the Council of Trier forbade priests to permit goliards to take part in chanting the service. In 1229 they played a conspicuous part in disturbances at the University of Paris in connection with the intrigues of the papal legate; in 1289 it was ordered that no cleric should be a goliard, and in 1300 (at Cologne) they were forbidden to preach or to grant indulgences. Finally the privileges of clergy were withdrawn from the goliards.
The word goliard lost its clerical association, passing into French and English literature of the 14th century in the general meaning of jongleur, or minstrel (its meaning in Piers Plowman and in Chaucer). A remarkable collection of their Latin poems and songs in praise of wine and riotous living was published in the late 19th century under the title Carmina Burana, taken from the manuscript of that title at Munich which was written in Bavaria in the 13th century. Many of these were translated by John Addington Symonds as Wine, Women, and Song (1884). The collection also includes the only known two surviving complete texts of medieval passion dramas--one with and one without music. In 1937 the German composer Carl Orff based his scenic oratorio Carmina Burana on these poems and songs. Many of them are also to be found in the important Cambridge Songbook written in England some 200 years earlier.
The subject matter of the Goliard poems and songs varies: political and religious satire; love songs of an unusual directness; and songs of drinking and riotous life. The last category involves the most characteristically goliardic elements: the plaints of unfrocked clergy, a homeless scholar's cries of self-pity, the unashamed panegyrics of hedonism, and the dauntless denials of Christian ethics. It is this last category for which the least trace of written music survives. Present knowledge of medieval poetry and music suggests that all the poems were intended for singing, even though only a few are provided with music in the manuscripts. The music is normally notated in diastematic neumes--a kind of musical shorthand that can be read only by comparison with another version of the tune, fully written out. In musical style the amorous songs are similar to those of the trouvËres; in several cases the same melody appears in both repertories.
The Goliards and Vagabond Poets
by Will Fletcher and Rebecca Bailey
Bands of vagabond poets roamed through Europe in the 10th through the 12th centuries. Their work and their way of life came to be associated with a mythical hero named Golias, an amalgam of the "greedy, half-starved reprobates who traveled light with threadbare cloaks and a few staves of Latin verse as their only baggage" (Walsh, 3). Many of their poems are literary tributes to this lifestyle and the vices they enjoy.
They travel from city to city, or more accurately, from center of learning to center of learning, taking knowledge and leaving poems. These men were the epitome of professional students, planting no roots, they had nothing to keep them in one place or another, unless of course they found work. Their career options as learned men were not too wide, the only jobs really open to them were as a cleric or court poet to a magistrate or high officer in the clergy. But, even if they were tied to a place or a patron, they would not give up their vagabond lifestyle; they still felt the draw of the drink and dice, and would often find themselves in trouble because of it. In The Danger of Asking for One's Own, Primas reports an account of a man chasing him out of a boarding house and almost killing him (one can only guess at why). There is also a fine example of the poverty enjoyed by these vagabonds in A Plea for Clothing in which the author begs of a kind lord to "cover up his body."
Those that were clerics enjoyed a certain amount of legal freedom:
Pay no secular taxes
Perform no military service
Not tried in secular courts
Entitled to alms
Not Subject to the death penalty
This allowed them the freedom to speak their minds more freely and to enjoy themselves without fear of extreme legal retribution. But their main concern was neither art nor social change. These poets did not write just to make a living, often they wrote just to stay alive; because of this unique and precarious situation, their poetry mostly reflects their actual lives. Examples of the work of two such clerici vagi (wandering scholars) can be found on our website.
by Will Fletcher and Rebecca Bailey
Bands of vagabond poets roamed through Europe in the 10th through the 12th centuries. Their work and their way of life came to be associated with a mythical hero named Golias, an amalgam of the "greedy, half-starved reprobates who traveled light with threadbare cloaks and a few staves of Latin verse as their only baggage" (Walsh, 3). Many of their poems are literary tributes to this lifestyle and the vices they enjoy.
They travel from city to city, or more accurately, from center of learning to center of learning, taking knowledge and leaving poems. These men were the epitome of professional students, planting no roots, they had nothing to keep them in one place or another, unless of course they found work. Their career options as learned men were not too wide, the only jobs really open to them were as a cleric or court poet to a magistrate or high officer in the clergy. But, even if they were tied to a place or a patron, they would not give up their vagabond lifestyle; they still felt the draw of the drink and dice, and would often find themselves in trouble because of it. In The Danger of Asking for One's Own, Primas reports an account of a man chasing him out of a boarding house and almost killing him (one can only guess at why). There is also a fine example of the poverty enjoyed by these vagabonds in A Plea for Clothing in which the author begs of a kind lord to "cover up his body."
Those that were clerics enjoyed a certain amount of legal freedom:
Pay no secular taxes
Perform no military service
Not tried in secular courts
Entitled to alms
Not Subject to the death penalty
This allowed them the freedom to speak their minds more freely and to enjoy themselves without fear of extreme legal retribution. But their main concern was neither art nor social change. These poets did not write just to make a living, often they wrote just to stay alive; because of this unique and precarious situation, their poetry mostly reflects their actual lives. Examples of the work of two such clerici vagi (wandering scholars) can be found on our website.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Disciplined Hendonism
by Skald
Hobopoet Chris Moses refers to our approach to life as "disciplined hedonism". I like the term. I also like to use the closely related term, "sustainable hedonism". Yes, we want happiness, emotional growth, ecstasy, intellectual challenges, freedom, sex, enthusiasm, good food, good drink, friends, music, peak experiences, etc... but we want a full life of them. Many an undisciplined hedonist has destroyed their life with excess and addiction: a few years of glory followed by decades of wretchedness.
That's not our way. Sustainable hedonism does require discipline. In the realm of money- it requires financial control... a constant vigilance against runaway consumerism. In the realm of psychedelic drugs- it requires a careful, measured, courageous approach. In the realm of travel- it requires alertness and, at times, wariness. This is not a path to self-destruction... it is a path to freedom, self-reliance, and a wildly enjoyable life. We don't want to burn out OR fade away.
As Hobopoets, we are not concerned with establishing an impossible utopia in the far future. We will seize our freedom now... and we will maintain it through persistence and self-discipline.
Disciplined hedonists live by the maxim: "moderation in all things-- including moderation." Sustainable hedonism requires reflection... a conscious and ongoing examination of one's life coupled with an unswerving dedication to experiential experimentation. We like good ideas-- but view them only as working hypotheses until tested by direct experience. We are explorers, first and foremost, of our own lives and minds. We embrace the zen principle of radical empiricism-- the primacy of direct experience: no sacred texts, no leaders, no gurus, no laws... no mediated truths... only the truth of our own lives... here and now.
There are many paths to disciplined hedonism... to a hobopoet life. Every life, every temperment will find its own way. We are punks, hobos, poets, spiritual seekers, philosophers, permanent students, impoverished aesthetics, part-time wanderers, full-time bums.... we are professionals (Matt Salleh.... the "young homeless professional"), we are artists. Some of us have Phds... others of us never finished High School.
What binds us together is our dedication to the central tenants of the hobopoet life:
Freedom,
Simplicity,
Self-Reliance, &
Wisdom Through Experience
by Skald
Hobopoet Chris Moses refers to our approach to life as "disciplined hedonism". I like the term. I also like to use the closely related term, "sustainable hedonism". Yes, we want happiness, emotional growth, ecstasy, intellectual challenges, freedom, sex, enthusiasm, good food, good drink, friends, music, peak experiences, etc... but we want a full life of them. Many an undisciplined hedonist has destroyed their life with excess and addiction: a few years of glory followed by decades of wretchedness.
That's not our way. Sustainable hedonism does require discipline. In the realm of money- it requires financial control... a constant vigilance against runaway consumerism. In the realm of psychedelic drugs- it requires a careful, measured, courageous approach. In the realm of travel- it requires alertness and, at times, wariness. This is not a path to self-destruction... it is a path to freedom, self-reliance, and a wildly enjoyable life. We don't want to burn out OR fade away.
As Hobopoets, we are not concerned with establishing an impossible utopia in the far future. We will seize our freedom now... and we will maintain it through persistence and self-discipline.
Disciplined hedonists live by the maxim: "moderation in all things-- including moderation." Sustainable hedonism requires reflection... a conscious and ongoing examination of one's life coupled with an unswerving dedication to experiential experimentation. We like good ideas-- but view them only as working hypotheses until tested by direct experience. We are explorers, first and foremost, of our own lives and minds. We embrace the zen principle of radical empiricism-- the primacy of direct experience: no sacred texts, no leaders, no gurus, no laws... no mediated truths... only the truth of our own lives... here and now.
There are many paths to disciplined hedonism... to a hobopoet life. Every life, every temperment will find its own way. We are punks, hobos, poets, spiritual seekers, philosophers, permanent students, impoverished aesthetics, part-time wanderers, full-time bums.... we are professionals (Matt Salleh.... the "young homeless professional"), we are artists. Some of us have Phds... others of us never finished High School.
What binds us together is our dedication to the central tenants of the hobopoet life:
Freedom,
Simplicity,
Self-Reliance, &
Wisdom Through Experience
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Evasion
by Mack
[Check out the link to the Evasion website... under "anti-work" on the sidebar --Skald]
Evasion in an almost religious way, as a text by which to live their life. Since itís release - the book and the zine before that - weíve seen in the DIY subculture a surge in things like dumpster diving, and shoplifting, as well as a wave of ìtraveler kidsî inspired in part or whole by your writing. What are your reflections on the role youíve played in these things? Are these positive trends?
First, I think Iíll fall under attack if I didnít point out there was Iggy Scam before me, and Aaron Cometbus before him, and we could trace the lineage of Evasion back to Abbie Hoffman before both. Prankster/outlaw/vagabond memoir-literature is timeless.
Traveling continues to be important to me. But I have not ever, nor do I now identify with ìtraveler kid cultureî. I was never involved with the anarcho/crust/pseudo-activist/scenester cult many would identify me with. When it comes with dreadlocks, a bandanna in itís back pocket, and holds a 40 oz, I run. Itís just a basic feeling this scene has nothing to do with my life. Iím speaking of most every traveling punk Iíve met when I say the traveling culture is focused on ìhanging outî.One thing about my early writing, something that remains important to me, is that much of my traveling was done alone. The emphasis was on the experience. I still choose to travel alone at least half the time. But for many of the kids I meet now.... Itís a social scene. Hopping trains from punk house to punk house. Great I guess, but.... I donít really stay at punk houses, or eat Food Not Bombs, or go to ìradicalî conferences. I support those things, but they are not stimulating to me. So, Iím not really in the circles you describe.
I wouldnít doubt maybe a few kids have read Evasion and decided to model their life from it. Is this positive? Dumpster diving reduces consumption, so I feel good about that. I like the idea of people maybe taking a shortcut to their dreams via a little ìreallocation of goodsî, like the kid in Louisville who told me his passion was music, and after reading Evasion walked into one of those chain music stores and walked out with a guitar! I can say Iíve hardly had a bad day since I quit my last job 8 years ago, and I think most people would be better for doing the same. Iíve gotten several ìRead Evasion, went veganî letters, and those are the greatest. Then there are Evasion readers who come away just knowing better tactics for stealing beer. You take the good with the bad.
by Mack
[Check out the link to the Evasion website... under "anti-work" on the sidebar --Skald]
Evasion in an almost religious way, as a text by which to live their life. Since itís release - the book and the zine before that - weíve seen in the DIY subculture a surge in things like dumpster diving, and shoplifting, as well as a wave of ìtraveler kidsî inspired in part or whole by your writing. What are your reflections on the role youíve played in these things? Are these positive trends?
First, I think Iíll fall under attack if I didnít point out there was Iggy Scam before me, and Aaron Cometbus before him, and we could trace the lineage of Evasion back to Abbie Hoffman before both. Prankster/outlaw/vagabond memoir-literature is timeless.
Traveling continues to be important to me. But I have not ever, nor do I now identify with ìtraveler kid cultureî. I was never involved with the anarcho/crust/pseudo-activist/scenester cult many would identify me with. When it comes with dreadlocks, a bandanna in itís back pocket, and holds a 40 oz, I run. Itís just a basic feeling this scene has nothing to do with my life. Iím speaking of most every traveling punk Iíve met when I say the traveling culture is focused on ìhanging outî.One thing about my early writing, something that remains important to me, is that much of my traveling was done alone. The emphasis was on the experience. I still choose to travel alone at least half the time. But for many of the kids I meet now.... Itís a social scene. Hopping trains from punk house to punk house. Great I guess, but.... I donít really stay at punk houses, or eat Food Not Bombs, or go to ìradicalî conferences. I support those things, but they are not stimulating to me. So, Iím not really in the circles you describe.
I wouldnít doubt maybe a few kids have read Evasion and decided to model their life from it. Is this positive? Dumpster diving reduces consumption, so I feel good about that. I like the idea of people maybe taking a shortcut to their dreams via a little ìreallocation of goodsî, like the kid in Louisville who told me his passion was music, and after reading Evasion walked into one of those chain music stores and walked out with a guitar! I can say Iíve hardly had a bad day since I quit my last job 8 years ago, and I think most people would be better for doing the same. Iíve gotten several ìRead Evasion, went veganî letters, and those are the greatest. Then there are Evasion readers who come away just knowing better tactics for stealing beer. You take the good with the bad.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Note on Nationalism
by Hakim Bey
Viewed as the quintessentialization of hierarchy & separation, the State can replicate itself on any level of experience -- from the individual psyche to the laws of nations. And yet society can exist in theory without the State -- & did so in fact for nearly a million years, 99% of the time span of the human species, thanks to the persistence of customs & institutions -- and mythemes -- that appear to have been designed for just this purpose, i.e. the suppression of the State & realization of the Social.
War itself can be one of these institutions of "Society against the State", since (in its "primitive" form) it acts to disperse power & wealth rather than concentrate it. On another level we might say that shamanism also tends toward centrifugality of power in its emphasis on direct experience rather than mere symbolization (i.e. the shaman must "really" heal the patient, the medium must "really" be possessed, otherwise their prestige evaporates: -- in some tribes shamanic failure was punishable by exile or death).
The proto-State then must emerge in the moment of breakdown of centrifugal force in war & religion. Changes in economic structure appear to follow upon this breakdown rather than cause it. [Note: The "breakdown" itself may have had economic causes but we cannot perceive them -- certainly overpopulation and climatic change are inadequate "explanations"!] For instance, the replacement of hunting/gathering by agriculture failed to produce the proto-State. We cannot even blame the State on specialization of labor, since we are perfectly capable of imagining (with Fourier) a State-less Society based on fairly complex economics. The State seems almost sui generis -- its birth is shrouded in a certain mystery.
Something went wrong somewhere -- the old myths (based on reciprocity & redistribution) collapsed before the power of a new "story" based on separation & accumulation. The precise instant is lost, although the true State lurches into archaeological view sometime around the 4th to 3rd millennium in Sumer & Egypt. In both cases the realms of war & religion seem to have coalesced to produce figurative & literal pyramid-structures impossible to conceive without tribute & slavery. The centrifugality of the social is gradually supplanted by the centripetality of power & wealth till a crisis point is reached in the catastrophic emergence of a "priest-king" & a nascent bureaucracy -- the infallible signs of the true State.
The essence of the State is found in symbolization as mediation, & in mediation as alienation. These abstractions denote a brutal reality: -- The appearance of History's Bootheel. Separation & expropriation must be accomplished simultaneously on both the symbolic & actual plane. Symbols must be made to do the "work" of accumulation -- the State cannot expend its energy in re-creating itself in every moment. Writing for instance technologizes symbolization to the point where power can "act at a distance" -- hence the "magic" of writing, its Hermetic origin -- but writing itself may have been invented in order to implement an even more basic form of symbolization -- i.e. money.
Let's examine the hypothesis that the State is impossible without money as symbolic exchange. Even the most primitive king (as opposed to "elder" or "chieftain") can only be defined by the creation of scarcity & the accumulation of wealth -- & this double process can only be reproduced in symbolization. Generally this means that the king is somehow "sacred" & thus in himself (or herself) symbolizes the very motion of energy in or between surplus & scarcity. But this motion must be impeded if the energy-transfer can only take crude material form (actual cows or jars of wheat etc.). The essential exchange of protection-for-wealth that defines the true State must be symbolized in order to transcend what might be called the inherent egalitarianism of the material, its recalcitrance, its natural resistance to accumulation. "Protection" moreover has no overt material base, whereas wealth does -- hence the State will be at a disadvantage in the exchange unless it can present its power in symbolic (non-material) form -- as nothing for something.
If however the State remains impossible without money (even in its most unexpected or exotic or primitive form), money seems to be quite possible without the State. Our best evidence for this comes not only from the Past but also -- so to speak -- from the Future.
In the past we can discern money in the symbolic exchange & social construction of the sacrifice. When the tribe grows beyond the point where it can re-create itself in the sharing of a sacrificial animal, for instance, we might surmise that one's "due share" could be symbolized by some token. Once the "spiritual content" of these tokens is transferred to an economic sphere outside the sacrifice (as for example in the Lydian temple-coins of the 7th century BC) the existence of the tokens would then facilitate the "creation of scarcity" by symbolizing the accumulation of wealth. Thus money would precede the State.
If we wish to push the origin of money even farther back into the past, we could examine the mysterious clay tokens that appeared in the Neolithic "Near East" around the 7th millennium BC, apparently as counters for commodities. Real goods that are present only in symbolic form already express the possibility of scarcity -- & in fact these clay counters almost certainly stand for debt. When the symbolic counters themselves are then symbolized by writing -- a concept that appears at a very precise moment datable to about 3100 BC in the city of Uruk -- we can speak not only of money but of banking: the centralization of debt at the religio-political focus of power, the Temple. Thus, to put it crudely, money exists for 4000 years before it mutates into a form that makes possible the emergence of the true State.
If we look to the future -- i.e. to the "logic" of the present -- we can see even more clearly that money exists beyond the State. In a situation where money is "free" to move across borders in defiance of all political economy, as in "neo-liberal" free-market internationalism, the State can find itself abandoned by money, & re-defined as a zone of scarcity rather than wealth. The State remains by definition mired in production, while money attains the transcendence of pure symbolization. In the last five years money has achieved almost absolute lift-off, since more than 90% of all money now refers to nothing in the sphere of production, not even to the dirty outmoded symbolic tokens called "cash" -- although the entire productive world remains utterly in the power of money, such that scarcely a tomato can be grown & eaten without the mediation of symbolic exchange.
Paracelsus once told a petty German king, "Your Majesty is the true alchemist, not me (a mere puffer)! Your Majesty has only to empower a bank with a monopoly to coin money, and then borrow it. Thus you will create something out of nothing, a far more puissant act than making lead into gold!" The joke here is that the king was not the real alchemist. The locus of the magical act lay in the bank not the court. When all thrones in the world were hopelessly in debt to their own self-created central banks, the focus of power shifted. When governments resign their ancient role of protection, money breaks free at last -- governments can now provide only nothing for nothing -- their power is shattered. Their power has migrated into the alchemical sphere of pure symbolization.
Thus money & the State have never -- at any point -- been exactly identical, or even necessarily in alliance. Like the paradoxical relation of money & religion, money & the State are sometimes in conspiracy, sometimes in competition, occasionally even at war. God & Moloch, Mammon & Moloch -- the intricacies of their cosmic dance might be revealed in the legend of the Templars -- or the IMF! Money & the State (& religion) do not possess the simple paradoxicality of the ancient riddle about chicken & egg, but a far more complex relation; the question about cause & effect is the wrong question.
Money, the State, & religion: -- all are powers of oppression, but not the same power of oppression. In fact, when deployed against each other, they can act as powers of liberation. Money "buys freedom" for example; the populist State can suppress the banks, thus freeing its citizens from "money-power"; and religion has been known to deploy its "higher morality" against both economic & political injustice.
Moreover, the State does not appear all at once in its "absolute" form. If "primitive" societies possess institutions which successfully prevent the emergence of the State, nevertheless the emergence of the State cannot erase these institutions all at once. The "early" State must still co-exist with "customs & rights" that enable Society to resist its power. In ancient Ireland for example the kingship had to depend on (and often contend with) semi-independent warrior bands, the fianna, whose lives were devoted to sources of power (raiding) and wealth (hunting) that remained essentially outside the control of the State. The anthropology of "Society against the State" can be extended to a sociology of historical State systems *such as "feudalism") where some potent institutions & mythemes work against the total accumulation of power -- usually at the cost of violence.
Moreover, as Karl Polyani noted, money is also held in check in "pre-modern" cultures, not just in "primitive" societies (where money simply fails to appear), but also in quite complex State systems. "Classical civilizations" such as Mesopotamia, Greece, Mesoamerica, Egypt & even Rome retained structures of redistribution of wealth to some extent -- if only as panem et circenses; no one could have conceived of a "free" market in such circumstance, since its obvious inhumanity would have violated every surviving principle of reciprocity -- not to mention religious law. It was left to our glorious modern era to conceive of the State as absolute power, & money as "free" of all social restraint. The result might be called the Capital State: the power of money wedded to the power of war.
Ultimately, once the struggle against Communism was won, it would be logical to expect a last & final struggle between Capital & the State for power pure & supreme. Instead the Molochian State appears to know that it was already secretly beaten long ago (all thrones hopelessly in debt...) & has capitulated without a whimper to the triumph of Mammon. With a few exceptions the nations are now falling all over themselves in their eagerness to "privatize" everything from health to prisons to air & water to consciousness itself. "Protection" -- the only real excuse for the State's existence -- evaporates in every sphere of government's influence, from tariffs to "human rights". The State seems somehow to believe it can renounce not only its vestigial power over money but even its basic functions, & yet survive as an elected occupying army! Even the US, which boasts of itself as the last & final "superpower", found itself in the very moment of its apocalyptic victory reduced to a mercenary force at the bidding of international Capital -- blustering bush-league bully boasting of its crusade to overthrow a "Hitler" of the Middle East, but capable only of serving the interests of oil cartels & banks. National borders must survive so that political hirelings can divert taxes to "corporate welfare"; & so that huge profits can be made on arbitrage & currency exchange; & so that labor can be disciplined by "migratory" capital.
Otherwise the State retains no real function -- everything else is empty ceremony, & the sheer terrorism of the "war on crime" (i.e. the State's post-Spectacular war on its own poor and different). Thatcher & Reagan foretold with true prescience what government should & would do once it had fulfilled its last historical goal -- the overthrow of the Evil Empire. Government would voluntarily dismantle itself (at the "people's" bidding of course) & gracefully submit to the real Hegelian absolute: -- money.
Of course to speak of the "end of History" when there has been no ending (for example) of writing -- nor for that matter of material production -- is merely a form of insanity -- perhaps even a terminal form! Like religion, the State has simply failed to "go away" -- in fact, in a bizarre extension of the thesis of "Society against the State", we can even re-imagine the State as in institutional type of "custom & right" which Society can wield (paradoxically) against an even more "final" shape of power -- that of "pure Capitalism". This is an uncomfortable thought for a good anarchist; we've always tended to view the State as the enemy, & capitalism as one of its aspects or "accidents". The ideal opposite of the anarch is the monarch. [In fact there were some amusing & futile attempts in fin-de-siËcle France to forge links between anarchism & monarchism against the common enemy, the fading illusion of "democracy" -- & the emerging reality of Capitalism.] In this sense we may have been out-thought by syndicalism & by "council-communism", which at least developed more mature economic critiques of power.
Like the left in general however anarchism collapsed in 1989 (a growing North-american movement for example suddenly imploded) in all likelihood because at that moment our enemy the State also secretly collapsed. In order to move into the gap left by the defeat of Communism we needed a critique of Capitalism as the single power in a unified world. Our careful & sophisticated critique of a world divided into two forms of State/economic power was rendered suddenly irrelevant. In an attempt to rectify this lack, I believe we need a new theory of "nationalism" as well as a new theory of Capitalism (and indeed a new theory of religion as well). So far the only interesting model for this is the EZLN in Mexico -- (it's gratifying to see Zapatista slogans scrawled all over Dublin!) -- & it would be worth analyzing their theory-&-praxis for inspiration. The EZLN is the first revolutionary force to define itself in opposition to "global neo-liberalism"; it has done so without aid or influence from the "Internationale" because it appeared in the very same moment that "Moscow" disappeared. It has received the support of the remnants of Liberation Theology as well as the secret councils of Mayan shamans & traditional elders. In the Native-american sense of the word it is a "nationalist" movement, & yet it derives its political inspiration from Zapata, Villa, & Flores Magon (i.e., two agrarian anarcho-syndicalists & one anarcho-communist). It is concerned with "empirical freedoms" rather than purist ideology. [As Qaddafi says, "In need, freedom remains latent".] No wonder the NYTimes called Chiapas the first "post-modern" revolution; in fact, it is the first revolution of the 21st century.
James Connolly, one of the founders of the IWW, developed in Ireland a theory that socialism & nationalism were parts of one & the same cause -- & for this theory he suffered martyrdom in 1916. From one point of view Connolly's theory might lead toward "National Socialism" on the Right -- but from another point of view it leads to "third wold nationalism" on the Left. Now that both these movements are dead it is possible to see more clearly how Connolly's theory also fits with anarchist & syndicalist ideas of his own period, such as the left volkism of Gustav Landauer or the "General Strike" of Sorel. These ideas in turn can be traced back to Proudhon's writings on mutualism & "anarcho-federalism". [The quarrel between Marx & Proudhon was for more unfortunate for history than Marx's much noisier & more famous quarrel with Bakunin.]
Inasmuch as we might propose a "neo-proudhonian" interpretation of the Zapatista uprising, therefore, Connolly's ideas may take on a new relevance for us [and thus perhaps it's not surprising if the EZLN sparks a response from the Irish left!]. Nationalism today is headed for a collision with Capitalism, for the simple reason that the nation per se has been redefined by Capital as a zone of depletion. In other words, the nation can either capitulate to Capitalism or else resist it -- no third way, no "neutrality" remains possible. The question facing the nation as zone of resistance is whether to launch its revolt from the Right (as "hegemonic particularity") or from the left (as "non-hegemonic particularity"). Not all nations are zones of resistance, & not all zones of resistance are nations. But wherever the two coincide to some extent the choice becomes not only an ethical but also a political process.
During the American Civil War the anarchist Lysander Spooner refused to support either side -- the South because it was guilty of chattel-slavery, the North because it was guilty of wage-slavery -- & moreover because it denied the right to secede, and obvious sine qua non of any genuinely free federation. In this sense of the term, nationalism must always be opposed because it is hegemonic -- & secession must always be supported inasmuch as it is anti-hegemonic. That is, it can only be supported to the extent that it does not seek power at the expense of others' misery. No State can ever achieve this ideal -- but some "national struggles" can be considered objectively revolutionary provided they meet basic minimal requirements -- i.e. that they be both non-hegemonic & anti-Capitalist.
In the "New World" such movements might perhaps include the Hawaiian secession movement, Puerto Rican independence, maximum autonomy for Native-american "nations", the EZLN, & at least in theory the bioregionalist movement in the US -- and it would probably exclude (with some regrets) such movements as Quebec nationalism, & the militia movement in the US. In Eastern Europe we might see potential in such states as Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia, the Ukraine -- but not in Serbia nor in Russia. In the "Mid-East" one cannot help supporting Chechnya & the Kurds. In Western Europe the EU must be opposed, & the smaller nations most likely to be crushed by the weight of Eurotrash & Eurodollars should be encouraged to stay out of the Union or to oppose it from within. This includes the Atlantic littoral from Morocco (where Berber resistance & Saharan independence have our sympathy) to Ireland, Denmark, perhaps, Scandinavia, the Baltics, & Finland. Celtic secessionism should be encouraged in Scotland, Wales, Brittany, & Man; this would add a strong socialist & green tint to any possible coalition of small Atlantic States. In Northern Ireland the best possible solution to the "Troubles" might be an independent Ulster based on socialist anti-sectarian solidarity -- a dream perhaps but far more interesting than "Peace" at any price -- & a free revolutionary Ulster would no doubt release an unbelievable burst of energy into the anti-Capitalist movement -- despite its size Ulster would emerge as a leader of any such movement -- it would possess tremendous moral prestige.
Since we're indulging in dreams let's imagine that an anti-Communist/anti-Capitalist movement emerges in E. Europe, & allies itself with new movements within Islam, no longer "fundamentalist" & hegemonistic but definitely anti-Capitalist & opposed to "One World" culture. In turn an alliance is made with the anti-capitalist anti-"Europe" states of the Atlantic littoral -- & simultaneously within all these countries revolutionary forces are at work for social & economic justice, environmental activism, anti-hegemonic solidarity, & "revolutionary difference". NGOs & religious groups lend their logistical support to the struggle. Meanwhile we can imagine Capitalism in crisis for any of a myriad reasons, from bank-collapse to environmental catastrophe. Suddenly the radical populist critique of "neo-liberalism" begins to cohere for millions of workers, farmers, tribal peoples, x-class drop-outs & artists, heretics, & even "petit-bourgeois" shopkeepers & professionals...
..."After the Revolution" of course all nationalist forms would have to be carefully reconsidered. The goal of "neo-Proudhonian federalism" would be the recognition of freedom at every point of organization in the rhizome, no matter how small -- even to a single individual, or any tiny group of "secessionists". No doubt these freedoms would have to be ensured through constant struggle against the "natural" tendencies to greed & power-hunger inherent within every individual & every collectivity. But that's a matter for the future. In the present we are faced with the monumental task of constructing an anti-Capitalist resistance movement out of the shattered remnants of radicalism, some glue, some tissue paper, & some hot rhetoric. We can no longer afford the luxury of ignoring politics. This does not mean I'm about to ruin a perfect anarchist record & vote for the first time -- since in my country voting means nothing & gains one nothing, not even $5 or a free drink (as in the old days of Tammany Hall). I mean politics in the Clauswitzian sense. And war makes for strange bedfellows -- even for unexpected comrades & allies. I'd like to believe that revolution could be a non-violent "war for peace" -- but like a good scout, one should be prepared.
by Hakim Bey
Viewed as the quintessentialization of hierarchy & separation, the State can replicate itself on any level of experience -- from the individual psyche to the laws of nations. And yet society can exist in theory without the State -- & did so in fact for nearly a million years, 99% of the time span of the human species, thanks to the persistence of customs & institutions -- and mythemes -- that appear to have been designed for just this purpose, i.e. the suppression of the State & realization of the Social.
War itself can be one of these institutions of "Society against the State", since (in its "primitive" form) it acts to disperse power & wealth rather than concentrate it. On another level we might say that shamanism also tends toward centrifugality of power in its emphasis on direct experience rather than mere symbolization (i.e. the shaman must "really" heal the patient, the medium must "really" be possessed, otherwise their prestige evaporates: -- in some tribes shamanic failure was punishable by exile or death).
The proto-State then must emerge in the moment of breakdown of centrifugal force in war & religion. Changes in economic structure appear to follow upon this breakdown rather than cause it. [Note: The "breakdown" itself may have had economic causes but we cannot perceive them -- certainly overpopulation and climatic change are inadequate "explanations"!] For instance, the replacement of hunting/gathering by agriculture failed to produce the proto-State. We cannot even blame the State on specialization of labor, since we are perfectly capable of imagining (with Fourier) a State-less Society based on fairly complex economics. The State seems almost sui generis -- its birth is shrouded in a certain mystery.
Something went wrong somewhere -- the old myths (based on reciprocity & redistribution) collapsed before the power of a new "story" based on separation & accumulation. The precise instant is lost, although the true State lurches into archaeological view sometime around the 4th to 3rd millennium in Sumer & Egypt. In both cases the realms of war & religion seem to have coalesced to produce figurative & literal pyramid-structures impossible to conceive without tribute & slavery. The centrifugality of the social is gradually supplanted by the centripetality of power & wealth till a crisis point is reached in the catastrophic emergence of a "priest-king" & a nascent bureaucracy -- the infallible signs of the true State.
The essence of the State is found in symbolization as mediation, & in mediation as alienation. These abstractions denote a brutal reality: -- The appearance of History's Bootheel. Separation & expropriation must be accomplished simultaneously on both the symbolic & actual plane. Symbols must be made to do the "work" of accumulation -- the State cannot expend its energy in re-creating itself in every moment. Writing for instance technologizes symbolization to the point where power can "act at a distance" -- hence the "magic" of writing, its Hermetic origin -- but writing itself may have been invented in order to implement an even more basic form of symbolization -- i.e. money.
Let's examine the hypothesis that the State is impossible without money as symbolic exchange. Even the most primitive king (as opposed to "elder" or "chieftain") can only be defined by the creation of scarcity & the accumulation of wealth -- & this double process can only be reproduced in symbolization. Generally this means that the king is somehow "sacred" & thus in himself (or herself) symbolizes the very motion of energy in or between surplus & scarcity. But this motion must be impeded if the energy-transfer can only take crude material form (actual cows or jars of wheat etc.). The essential exchange of protection-for-wealth that defines the true State must be symbolized in order to transcend what might be called the inherent egalitarianism of the material, its recalcitrance, its natural resistance to accumulation. "Protection" moreover has no overt material base, whereas wealth does -- hence the State will be at a disadvantage in the exchange unless it can present its power in symbolic (non-material) form -- as nothing for something.
If however the State remains impossible without money (even in its most unexpected or exotic or primitive form), money seems to be quite possible without the State. Our best evidence for this comes not only from the Past but also -- so to speak -- from the Future.
In the past we can discern money in the symbolic exchange & social construction of the sacrifice. When the tribe grows beyond the point where it can re-create itself in the sharing of a sacrificial animal, for instance, we might surmise that one's "due share" could be symbolized by some token. Once the "spiritual content" of these tokens is transferred to an economic sphere outside the sacrifice (as for example in the Lydian temple-coins of the 7th century BC) the existence of the tokens would then facilitate the "creation of scarcity" by symbolizing the accumulation of wealth. Thus money would precede the State.
If we wish to push the origin of money even farther back into the past, we could examine the mysterious clay tokens that appeared in the Neolithic "Near East" around the 7th millennium BC, apparently as counters for commodities. Real goods that are present only in symbolic form already express the possibility of scarcity -- & in fact these clay counters almost certainly stand for debt. When the symbolic counters themselves are then symbolized by writing -- a concept that appears at a very precise moment datable to about 3100 BC in the city of Uruk -- we can speak not only of money but of banking: the centralization of debt at the religio-political focus of power, the Temple. Thus, to put it crudely, money exists for 4000 years before it mutates into a form that makes possible the emergence of the true State.
If we look to the future -- i.e. to the "logic" of the present -- we can see even more clearly that money exists beyond the State. In a situation where money is "free" to move across borders in defiance of all political economy, as in "neo-liberal" free-market internationalism, the State can find itself abandoned by money, & re-defined as a zone of scarcity rather than wealth. The State remains by definition mired in production, while money attains the transcendence of pure symbolization. In the last five years money has achieved almost absolute lift-off, since more than 90% of all money now refers to nothing in the sphere of production, not even to the dirty outmoded symbolic tokens called "cash" -- although the entire productive world remains utterly in the power of money, such that scarcely a tomato can be grown & eaten without the mediation of symbolic exchange.
Paracelsus once told a petty German king, "Your Majesty is the true alchemist, not me (a mere puffer)! Your Majesty has only to empower a bank with a monopoly to coin money, and then borrow it. Thus you will create something out of nothing, a far more puissant act than making lead into gold!" The joke here is that the king was not the real alchemist. The locus of the magical act lay in the bank not the court. When all thrones in the world were hopelessly in debt to their own self-created central banks, the focus of power shifted. When governments resign their ancient role of protection, money breaks free at last -- governments can now provide only nothing for nothing -- their power is shattered. Their power has migrated into the alchemical sphere of pure symbolization.
Thus money & the State have never -- at any point -- been exactly identical, or even necessarily in alliance. Like the paradoxical relation of money & religion, money & the State are sometimes in conspiracy, sometimes in competition, occasionally even at war. God & Moloch, Mammon & Moloch -- the intricacies of their cosmic dance might be revealed in the legend of the Templars -- or the IMF! Money & the State (& religion) do not possess the simple paradoxicality of the ancient riddle about chicken & egg, but a far more complex relation; the question about cause & effect is the wrong question.
Money, the State, & religion: -- all are powers of oppression, but not the same power of oppression. In fact, when deployed against each other, they can act as powers of liberation. Money "buys freedom" for example; the populist State can suppress the banks, thus freeing its citizens from "money-power"; and religion has been known to deploy its "higher morality" against both economic & political injustice.
Moreover, the State does not appear all at once in its "absolute" form. If "primitive" societies possess institutions which successfully prevent the emergence of the State, nevertheless the emergence of the State cannot erase these institutions all at once. The "early" State must still co-exist with "customs & rights" that enable Society to resist its power. In ancient Ireland for example the kingship had to depend on (and often contend with) semi-independent warrior bands, the fianna, whose lives were devoted to sources of power (raiding) and wealth (hunting) that remained essentially outside the control of the State. The anthropology of "Society against the State" can be extended to a sociology of historical State systems *such as "feudalism") where some potent institutions & mythemes work against the total accumulation of power -- usually at the cost of violence.
Moreover, as Karl Polyani noted, money is also held in check in "pre-modern" cultures, not just in "primitive" societies (where money simply fails to appear), but also in quite complex State systems. "Classical civilizations" such as Mesopotamia, Greece, Mesoamerica, Egypt & even Rome retained structures of redistribution of wealth to some extent -- if only as panem et circenses; no one could have conceived of a "free" market in such circumstance, since its obvious inhumanity would have violated every surviving principle of reciprocity -- not to mention religious law. It was left to our glorious modern era to conceive of the State as absolute power, & money as "free" of all social restraint. The result might be called the Capital State: the power of money wedded to the power of war.
Ultimately, once the struggle against Communism was won, it would be logical to expect a last & final struggle between Capital & the State for power pure & supreme. Instead the Molochian State appears to know that it was already secretly beaten long ago (all thrones hopelessly in debt...) & has capitulated without a whimper to the triumph of Mammon. With a few exceptions the nations are now falling all over themselves in their eagerness to "privatize" everything from health to prisons to air & water to consciousness itself. "Protection" -- the only real excuse for the State's existence -- evaporates in every sphere of government's influence, from tariffs to "human rights". The State seems somehow to believe it can renounce not only its vestigial power over money but even its basic functions, & yet survive as an elected occupying army! Even the US, which boasts of itself as the last & final "superpower", found itself in the very moment of its apocalyptic victory reduced to a mercenary force at the bidding of international Capital -- blustering bush-league bully boasting of its crusade to overthrow a "Hitler" of the Middle East, but capable only of serving the interests of oil cartels & banks. National borders must survive so that political hirelings can divert taxes to "corporate welfare"; & so that huge profits can be made on arbitrage & currency exchange; & so that labor can be disciplined by "migratory" capital.
Otherwise the State retains no real function -- everything else is empty ceremony, & the sheer terrorism of the "war on crime" (i.e. the State's post-Spectacular war on its own poor and different). Thatcher & Reagan foretold with true prescience what government should & would do once it had fulfilled its last historical goal -- the overthrow of the Evil Empire. Government would voluntarily dismantle itself (at the "people's" bidding of course) & gracefully submit to the real Hegelian absolute: -- money.
Of course to speak of the "end of History" when there has been no ending (for example) of writing -- nor for that matter of material production -- is merely a form of insanity -- perhaps even a terminal form! Like religion, the State has simply failed to "go away" -- in fact, in a bizarre extension of the thesis of "Society against the State", we can even re-imagine the State as in institutional type of "custom & right" which Society can wield (paradoxically) against an even more "final" shape of power -- that of "pure Capitalism". This is an uncomfortable thought for a good anarchist; we've always tended to view the State as the enemy, & capitalism as one of its aspects or "accidents". The ideal opposite of the anarch is the monarch. [In fact there were some amusing & futile attempts in fin-de-siËcle France to forge links between anarchism & monarchism against the common enemy, the fading illusion of "democracy" -- & the emerging reality of Capitalism.] In this sense we may have been out-thought by syndicalism & by "council-communism", which at least developed more mature economic critiques of power.
Like the left in general however anarchism collapsed in 1989 (a growing North-american movement for example suddenly imploded) in all likelihood because at that moment our enemy the State also secretly collapsed. In order to move into the gap left by the defeat of Communism we needed a critique of Capitalism as the single power in a unified world. Our careful & sophisticated critique of a world divided into two forms of State/economic power was rendered suddenly irrelevant. In an attempt to rectify this lack, I believe we need a new theory of "nationalism" as well as a new theory of Capitalism (and indeed a new theory of religion as well). So far the only interesting model for this is the EZLN in Mexico -- (it's gratifying to see Zapatista slogans scrawled all over Dublin!) -- & it would be worth analyzing their theory-&-praxis for inspiration. The EZLN is the first revolutionary force to define itself in opposition to "global neo-liberalism"; it has done so without aid or influence from the "Internationale" because it appeared in the very same moment that "Moscow" disappeared. It has received the support of the remnants of Liberation Theology as well as the secret councils of Mayan shamans & traditional elders. In the Native-american sense of the word it is a "nationalist" movement, & yet it derives its political inspiration from Zapata, Villa, & Flores Magon (i.e., two agrarian anarcho-syndicalists & one anarcho-communist). It is concerned with "empirical freedoms" rather than purist ideology. [As Qaddafi says, "In need, freedom remains latent".] No wonder the NYTimes called Chiapas the first "post-modern" revolution; in fact, it is the first revolution of the 21st century.
James Connolly, one of the founders of the IWW, developed in Ireland a theory that socialism & nationalism were parts of one & the same cause -- & for this theory he suffered martyrdom in 1916. From one point of view Connolly's theory might lead toward "National Socialism" on the Right -- but from another point of view it leads to "third wold nationalism" on the Left. Now that both these movements are dead it is possible to see more clearly how Connolly's theory also fits with anarchist & syndicalist ideas of his own period, such as the left volkism of Gustav Landauer or the "General Strike" of Sorel. These ideas in turn can be traced back to Proudhon's writings on mutualism & "anarcho-federalism". [The quarrel between Marx & Proudhon was for more unfortunate for history than Marx's much noisier & more famous quarrel with Bakunin.]
Inasmuch as we might propose a "neo-proudhonian" interpretation of the Zapatista uprising, therefore, Connolly's ideas may take on a new relevance for us [and thus perhaps it's not surprising if the EZLN sparks a response from the Irish left!]. Nationalism today is headed for a collision with Capitalism, for the simple reason that the nation per se has been redefined by Capital as a zone of depletion. In other words, the nation can either capitulate to Capitalism or else resist it -- no third way, no "neutrality" remains possible. The question facing the nation as zone of resistance is whether to launch its revolt from the Right (as "hegemonic particularity") or from the left (as "non-hegemonic particularity"). Not all nations are zones of resistance, & not all zones of resistance are nations. But wherever the two coincide to some extent the choice becomes not only an ethical but also a political process.
During the American Civil War the anarchist Lysander Spooner refused to support either side -- the South because it was guilty of chattel-slavery, the North because it was guilty of wage-slavery -- & moreover because it denied the right to secede, and obvious sine qua non of any genuinely free federation. In this sense of the term, nationalism must always be opposed because it is hegemonic -- & secession must always be supported inasmuch as it is anti-hegemonic. That is, it can only be supported to the extent that it does not seek power at the expense of others' misery. No State can ever achieve this ideal -- but some "national struggles" can be considered objectively revolutionary provided they meet basic minimal requirements -- i.e. that they be both non-hegemonic & anti-Capitalist.
In the "New World" such movements might perhaps include the Hawaiian secession movement, Puerto Rican independence, maximum autonomy for Native-american "nations", the EZLN, & at least in theory the bioregionalist movement in the US -- and it would probably exclude (with some regrets) such movements as Quebec nationalism, & the militia movement in the US. In Eastern Europe we might see potential in such states as Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia, the Ukraine -- but not in Serbia nor in Russia. In the "Mid-East" one cannot help supporting Chechnya & the Kurds. In Western Europe the EU must be opposed, & the smaller nations most likely to be crushed by the weight of Eurotrash & Eurodollars should be encouraged to stay out of the Union or to oppose it from within. This includes the Atlantic littoral from Morocco (where Berber resistance & Saharan independence have our sympathy) to Ireland, Denmark, perhaps, Scandinavia, the Baltics, & Finland. Celtic secessionism should be encouraged in Scotland, Wales, Brittany, & Man; this would add a strong socialist & green tint to any possible coalition of small Atlantic States. In Northern Ireland the best possible solution to the "Troubles" might be an independent Ulster based on socialist anti-sectarian solidarity -- a dream perhaps but far more interesting than "Peace" at any price -- & a free revolutionary Ulster would no doubt release an unbelievable burst of energy into the anti-Capitalist movement -- despite its size Ulster would emerge as a leader of any such movement -- it would possess tremendous moral prestige.
Since we're indulging in dreams let's imagine that an anti-Communist/anti-Capitalist movement emerges in E. Europe, & allies itself with new movements within Islam, no longer "fundamentalist" & hegemonistic but definitely anti-Capitalist & opposed to "One World" culture. In turn an alliance is made with the anti-capitalist anti-"Europe" states of the Atlantic littoral -- & simultaneously within all these countries revolutionary forces are at work for social & economic justice, environmental activism, anti-hegemonic solidarity, & "revolutionary difference". NGOs & religious groups lend their logistical support to the struggle. Meanwhile we can imagine Capitalism in crisis for any of a myriad reasons, from bank-collapse to environmental catastrophe. Suddenly the radical populist critique of "neo-liberalism" begins to cohere for millions of workers, farmers, tribal peoples, x-class drop-outs & artists, heretics, & even "petit-bourgeois" shopkeepers & professionals...
..."After the Revolution" of course all nationalist forms would have to be carefully reconsidered. The goal of "neo-Proudhonian federalism" would be the recognition of freedom at every point of organization in the rhizome, no matter how small -- even to a single individual, or any tiny group of "secessionists". No doubt these freedoms would have to be ensured through constant struggle against the "natural" tendencies to greed & power-hunger inherent within every individual & every collectivity. But that's a matter for the future. In the present we are faced with the monumental task of constructing an anti-Capitalist resistance movement out of the shattered remnants of radicalism, some glue, some tissue paper, & some hot rhetoric. We can no longer afford the luxury of ignoring politics. This does not mean I'm about to ruin a perfect anarchist record & vote for the first time -- since in my country voting means nothing & gains one nothing, not even $5 or a free drink (as in the old days of Tammany Hall). I mean politics in the Clauswitzian sense. And war makes for strange bedfellows -- even for unexpected comrades & allies. I'd like to believe that revolution could be a non-violent "war for peace" -- but like a good scout, one should be prepared.
Illness and The Benefits of Unemployment
by Skald
Today I woke with a painful sore throat. I'm having great trouble swallowing.... much less eating. I feel tired and worn out. As I lay in my bed today, bemoaning my ill fortune... it struck me how truly fortunate I really am. Past bouts of illness have indeed been miserable experiences. And why? Because usually I was working.... it was the accursed job which made being sick such an incredibly draining experience. Why? Because I always tried to drag my ass into work anyway.... and then spent many miserable hours trying to survive the day. I'd repeat that sorry routine for a week or more.... until I'd taken enough drugs to beat back whatever was ailing me.
Or, I'd call in and use one of those precious "sick days".... always getting that icy reply from the fucking boss.... always the pressure to "hurry back" to work. Or... I'd have a job that had no "sick days" at all... and so there was the pressure of losing precious wages as a result of the illness.
What I rarely, if ever, did was relax, rest, and just take my time getting better--- something that I can now do. So today, blissfully unemployed, I was able to sleep in as late as I liked. I then spent the day lounging around lazily.... sipping orange juice... and generally taking my time. I feel no pressure to hurry up and get well and thus can let this thing run its natural course- instead of doping up on a handful of drugs in order to work, work, work.
This little illness is showing me just how unnatural working is-- how it takes over the natural rhythms of life and makes us slaves to the clock. What do sick animals do? They lay around until they get well. That's it, pretty much. What a luxury it is... in this age of clocks & capitalism... to do the same. Just rest until I feel better.
Let's call this reason #745 for why I loathe jobs!
by Skald
Today I woke with a painful sore throat. I'm having great trouble swallowing.... much less eating. I feel tired and worn out. As I lay in my bed today, bemoaning my ill fortune... it struck me how truly fortunate I really am. Past bouts of illness have indeed been miserable experiences. And why? Because usually I was working.... it was the accursed job which made being sick such an incredibly draining experience. Why? Because I always tried to drag my ass into work anyway.... and then spent many miserable hours trying to survive the day. I'd repeat that sorry routine for a week or more.... until I'd taken enough drugs to beat back whatever was ailing me.
Or, I'd call in and use one of those precious "sick days".... always getting that icy reply from the fucking boss.... always the pressure to "hurry back" to work. Or... I'd have a job that had no "sick days" at all... and so there was the pressure of losing precious wages as a result of the illness.
What I rarely, if ever, did was relax, rest, and just take my time getting better--- something that I can now do. So today, blissfully unemployed, I was able to sleep in as late as I liked. I then spent the day lounging around lazily.... sipping orange juice... and generally taking my time. I feel no pressure to hurry up and get well and thus can let this thing run its natural course- instead of doping up on a handful of drugs in order to work, work, work.
This little illness is showing me just how unnatural working is-- how it takes over the natural rhythms of life and makes us slaves to the clock. What do sick animals do? They lay around until they get well. That's it, pretty much. What a luxury it is... in this age of clocks & capitalism... to do the same. Just rest until I feel better.
Let's call this reason #745 for why I loathe jobs!
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Weariness
by Skald
My greatest source of weariness with this Age and society we live in is its abhorrence of experience. Ours is a world-society obsessed with numbers and symbols. Everyone talks, thinks about, debates, and focuses on the symbols rather than true experience. Quantity is everything. If something can't be quantified... it's considered unimportant and in essence... unreal.
"Experts" have replaced "Masters". A Master is one who has mastered a particular aspect of life-- through experience. A Master has deep experience and acquired skill. By contrast, an "expert" has mastered nothing-- s/he is an expert of symbols only... can quote what hordes of other "experts" have said about a subject.... but knows nothing of the actual experience itself. Thus we have religious "experts" who have never had a transcendental experience. We have language experts who can't speak a foreign language. We have basketball experts who can't make a free throw. We have Arab "experts" who can't speak or read Arabic and who have never visited the Middle East. Experts, quite clearly, are false masters. A religious expert (minister, imam,priest...) can quote the holy text but has no idea what it is pointing to... what experience it is trying to describe. Thus the expert gets lost in the symbols and adopts them as reality. And so we have the ridiculous phenomenon of people killing each other over whose book is the most holy.
This extends everywhere. TV is reality for most folks... while real experience is de-valued. People are terrified of symbolic, TV created fears such as violent crime... despite the fact that they, nor their family or friends, have ever been a victim of violence. They are terrified of terrorists despite never having encountered (or even seen) one. Meanwhile, the paper plant in their county continuously dumps toxins into their rivers and air-- which are indeed real threats to their health and life.... but few seem to care enough to peel their eyes of the TV.
This bedrock philosophy, that knowledge-symbols are more "real" than experience, is what makes our societies so insufferably boring. There are simply no peak experiences-- nothing of substance-- just talking heads and ever more lurid "entertainment".
The cure for this is, of course, experimentation. Experience is the vital-- essential-- thing. To understand "zen" we must experience it. To understand psychedelic drugs we must try them. To understand love we must experience love. Everything else is someone else's clever lie. Yet legions condemn and/or propose what they have never experienced themselves. There is no received wisdom, in the end. There are no real shortcuts. We must live to grow wise.
So this is a call for experience-- experimentation with one's life.... or as Gandhi called it: "Experiments with truth". Our task as Hobopoets is not to learn more but to experience more. Our task is to try more things... to try living simply, to visit other countries, to try drugs, to try new music, to try new places and people and idea for living. Our task is to expand the range and depth of our experience. Unplug the TV and get out there! Time for us all to stop yapping and actually try something new. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here.
But that is life-- real life. All else is virtual reality... which is the programmed reality of parents, teachers, books, movies, TV, "common sense", the internet, etc... I love books but we must keep them in perspective.... they are useful as an inspiration for new experiences and as an aid for making sense of past experience. But without real experiences... reading becomes nothing but mental masturbation. A merely mediated life is for boring losers. It is experience which is the essence of an accomplished life.... which is the essence of wisdom... and which is the essence of being a Hobopoet.
by Skald
My greatest source of weariness with this Age and society we live in is its abhorrence of experience. Ours is a world-society obsessed with numbers and symbols. Everyone talks, thinks about, debates, and focuses on the symbols rather than true experience. Quantity is everything. If something can't be quantified... it's considered unimportant and in essence... unreal.
"Experts" have replaced "Masters". A Master is one who has mastered a particular aspect of life-- through experience. A Master has deep experience and acquired skill. By contrast, an "expert" has mastered nothing-- s/he is an expert of symbols only... can quote what hordes of other "experts" have said about a subject.... but knows nothing of the actual experience itself. Thus we have religious "experts" who have never had a transcendental experience. We have language experts who can't speak a foreign language. We have basketball experts who can't make a free throw. We have Arab "experts" who can't speak or read Arabic and who have never visited the Middle East. Experts, quite clearly, are false masters. A religious expert (minister, imam,priest...) can quote the holy text but has no idea what it is pointing to... what experience it is trying to describe. Thus the expert gets lost in the symbols and adopts them as reality. And so we have the ridiculous phenomenon of people killing each other over whose book is the most holy.
This extends everywhere. TV is reality for most folks... while real experience is de-valued. People are terrified of symbolic, TV created fears such as violent crime... despite the fact that they, nor their family or friends, have ever been a victim of violence. They are terrified of terrorists despite never having encountered (or even seen) one. Meanwhile, the paper plant in their county continuously dumps toxins into their rivers and air-- which are indeed real threats to their health and life.... but few seem to care enough to peel their eyes of the TV.
This bedrock philosophy, that knowledge-symbols are more "real" than experience, is what makes our societies so insufferably boring. There are simply no peak experiences-- nothing of substance-- just talking heads and ever more lurid "entertainment".
The cure for this is, of course, experimentation. Experience is the vital-- essential-- thing. To understand "zen" we must experience it. To understand psychedelic drugs we must try them. To understand love we must experience love. Everything else is someone else's clever lie. Yet legions condemn and/or propose what they have never experienced themselves. There is no received wisdom, in the end. There are no real shortcuts. We must live to grow wise.
So this is a call for experience-- experimentation with one's life.... or as Gandhi called it: "Experiments with truth". Our task as Hobopoets is not to learn more but to experience more. Our task is to try more things... to try living simply, to visit other countries, to try drugs, to try new music, to try new places and people and idea for living. Our task is to expand the range and depth of our experience. Unplug the TV and get out there! Time for us all to stop yapping and actually try something new. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here.
But that is life-- real life. All else is virtual reality... which is the programmed reality of parents, teachers, books, movies, TV, "common sense", the internet, etc... I love books but we must keep them in perspective.... they are useful as an inspiration for new experiences and as an aid for making sense of past experience. But without real experiences... reading becomes nothing but mental masturbation. A merely mediated life is for boring losers. It is experience which is the essence of an accomplished life.... which is the essence of wisdom... and which is the essence of being a Hobopoet.
Bali
by Matt Salleh
We flew out of Jakarta on Monday morning, our flight delayed by an
Indonesian Standard 45-minutes.. 'rubber time' they call it.
As we sailed over Java I saw at least 3 volcanoes... 1 had smoke
spewing from it's vent and we flew so close to another that we could see inside
the crater and into it's throat.... pretty cool!
I was extremely excited... and amazed.. I wanted to get closer!
Our first day in Bali we bussed to an organic rice padi and listened to
the farmers talk about sustainable agriculture, we also did a quadrat study
in a cocoa plantation... the undergrowth was just enough for the kids to
quantify....
Then a tour of a Balinese Hundu temple and a trek through a secondary
forest...
Today I had to bail out and go to the doctore after a 5-day stint of
stomach upset... it had gotten better, but then got worse... the doctor gave me
meds, vitamins and oral rehydration salts...
I caught an afternoon ride to Tanah Lot temple to meet up with the
students....
Other than that, we've tooled around town in semi-anthropological-style
interviewing locals about the effects of the Bali bombing on tourism
for their humanities report.... and swimming in the pool in between
lessons.
Tomorrow we head to the beach for a lesson on waves physics and beach
fun.....
It's been a great time.. Bali is fantastic and once you get off the
typical tourist strip, life here is authentic and unmolested....
I like to cool winds, mountains, rice fields and temples....
by Matt Salleh
We flew out of Jakarta on Monday morning, our flight delayed by an
Indonesian Standard 45-minutes.. 'rubber time' they call it.
As we sailed over Java I saw at least 3 volcanoes... 1 had smoke
spewing from it's vent and we flew so close to another that we could see inside
the crater and into it's throat.... pretty cool!
I was extremely excited... and amazed.. I wanted to get closer!
Our first day in Bali we bussed to an organic rice padi and listened to
the farmers talk about sustainable agriculture, we also did a quadrat study
in a cocoa plantation... the undergrowth was just enough for the kids to
quantify....
Then a tour of a Balinese Hundu temple and a trek through a secondary
forest...
Today I had to bail out and go to the doctore after a 5-day stint of
stomach upset... it had gotten better, but then got worse... the doctor gave me
meds, vitamins and oral rehydration salts...
I caught an afternoon ride to Tanah Lot temple to meet up with the
students....
Other than that, we've tooled around town in semi-anthropological-style
interviewing locals about the effects of the Bali bombing on tourism
for their humanities report.... and swimming in the pool in between
lessons.
Tomorrow we head to the beach for a lesson on waves physics and beach
fun.....
It's been a great time.. Bali is fantastic and once you get off the
typical tourist strip, life here is authentic and unmolested....
I like to cool winds, mountains, rice fields and temples....
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Gotta Move
by Skald
So here I sit in the Coffee Shop-- another day of the same old routine.... that vague itch getting worse. Restless stirrings getting stronger.
Time for a road trip? A long weekend at the beach perhaps? Or hop a bus to a random destination? Or maybe something larger and grander?
The nomadic urge is upon me again. I feel the need to leave this place and head to new lands, new people, new surprises. Surprises are the essence of life and liveliness.... gotta open up space for those magic synchronicities. Right now? No space... just day after day of study and movies. Not being surprised by anything or anyone anymore. The thick sludge of routine covers my every action. Its not unpleasant really. Im not miserable. But routine of any sort isn't for me.... I'm a nomad... a Skald.... and I'm built to ramble. I've moved since I was 7 years old and that urge just keeps getting stronger. South America calls to me. Japan calls. Eastern Europe calls. France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal call. Africa calls. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica call. The world calls.
My feet itch. My legs bounce nervously. I long to be on the move. How I love it! I love the thrill and hum of the airport. I love the smell of the planes. I love the rush of touts at the arrival gate. I love the look and feel of strange currency. I love the exhaustion at the end of the day. I love the bewilderment of a new city-- the unexpected encounters--- the weird strangers--- the unknown surprises lurking at the end of every unexplored alley. I love the whiff of new foods... the sight of bright clothing.... the Alice-In-Wonderland feeling as I wander aimlessly. Moving is a form of meditation: Sacred Drift.
Moving keeps the world, and the mind, fresh and new.... brilliant and unveiled. I love to awake with no idea about what the day will bring.... and to put my head on a new bed every night! For those of us who are hooked, nothing can replace the magic of the open road.
by Skald
So here I sit in the Coffee Shop-- another day of the same old routine.... that vague itch getting worse. Restless stirrings getting stronger.
Time for a road trip? A long weekend at the beach perhaps? Or hop a bus to a random destination? Or maybe something larger and grander?
The nomadic urge is upon me again. I feel the need to leave this place and head to new lands, new people, new surprises. Surprises are the essence of life and liveliness.... gotta open up space for those magic synchronicities. Right now? No space... just day after day of study and movies. Not being surprised by anything or anyone anymore. The thick sludge of routine covers my every action. Its not unpleasant really. Im not miserable. But routine of any sort isn't for me.... I'm a nomad... a Skald.... and I'm built to ramble. I've moved since I was 7 years old and that urge just keeps getting stronger. South America calls to me. Japan calls. Eastern Europe calls. France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal call. Africa calls. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica call. The world calls.
My feet itch. My legs bounce nervously. I long to be on the move. How I love it! I love the thrill and hum of the airport. I love the smell of the planes. I love the rush of touts at the arrival gate. I love the look and feel of strange currency. I love the exhaustion at the end of the day. I love the bewilderment of a new city-- the unexpected encounters--- the weird strangers--- the unknown surprises lurking at the end of every unexplored alley. I love the whiff of new foods... the sight of bright clothing.... the Alice-In-Wonderland feeling as I wander aimlessly. Moving is a form of meditation: Sacred Drift.
Moving keeps the world, and the mind, fresh and new.... brilliant and unveiled. I love to awake with no idea about what the day will bring.... and to put my head on a new bed every night! For those of us who are hooked, nothing can replace the magic of the open road.
Fahrenheit 9/11
by Callan Bentley
Yesterday afternoon, I waited for an hour in a line that stretched out
of
the theater and into the parking lot for a sold-out showing of the new
film
"Fahrenheit 9/11." The show before was sold out as well, and the one
after.
The film has already broken the previous box office records for
documentary
films. Its opening-weekend revenues are projected to surpass the TOTAL
revenue from director Michael Moore's previous film, the Academy Award
winning "Bowling for Columbine." No documentary has ever gotten this
sort of
attention, and after seeing it, I can see why. When it ended, there was
stunned silence for about five seconds, and then the entire theatre
erupted
in applause, which was sustained for about a minute. I haven't ever
seen
people applaud a movie before.
Here's a review from a Republican who saw the film:
"I am a Republican and I came to see this film with my wife so that I
would
have some intelligent criticism to level at the Michael Moore fans I
work
with. I was expecting a sloppy, fuzzy, highly manipulated treatment.
Instead, Bush Administration damns itself through its own actions, its
own
words, its own lies...all documented for prosperity. Is the film
biased?
Hell, yes. But I can't see how any reasonable person would call this
propaganda. It is documentary fact told by a man with a specific agenda
in
telling it. But there it is on the screen. Fact. It can't be explained
away.
And as for criticism that the film is disrespectful to President Bush;
well,
after what we did to Clinton I would expect W. to take the heat like a
man.
The only problem is that the Clinton issue was nothing to the moral
breach
of this administration. Every Republican should see it before he casts
his
vote this November. It changed my vote."
So: people who are 'on the fence' before seeing it may be persuaded to
vote
against Bush in the fall election. But me? Moore's preaching to the
choir. I
didn't learn anything new in this film -- it's all facts that have been
well
documented in the media in the past four years. And being of an indignant
liberal frame of mind, I've spent much of my time reading books and
media
articles about these topics during that period, and so learned about
the
same facts Moore displays in the film. However, some of the people I
went to
see the movie with did not know about the Bush family connection to the
Saudi royal family, Bush's connection (via James R. Bath) to Osama bin
Laden's half-brother, and Cheney's company's profits from the Iraq war.
In
some of its most chilling scenes, the film also documents the
incredible
level of carnage that the Iraq War has wrought on both the people of
that
country and on our own soldiers fighting there. So the film does a good
job
bringing out the facts for those of us who haven't delved into the
topic
already. And, amazingly, it does it in an entertaining way. For those
who
don't have the time or inclination to read "House of Bush, House of
Saud,"
"Gas War," "Against All Enemies," or "Dude, Where's My Country?", this
movie
puts the facts in a line, and you can absorb it all in two hours while
you're scarfing a jumbo bucket of popcorn.
So -- while I didn't need any conversion, the film definitely got me
riled
up. I will be working hard to de-seat Bush in November. I am motivated
to do
everything in my power to get Mr. Bush voted out of the White House,
and
thereby begin the process of undoing the damage he has inflicted on the
U.S.'s international reputation.
Regardless of your political persuasion, I'd urge you to seek out the
truth
about our nation's current political situation, and engage in
respectful
dialogue with your neighbors. One way to get some of the facts is to
see
this film. This film is an opinion piece -- but the facts that support
that
opinion are irrefutable. As the Republican viewer above noted, "the
Administration damns itself through its own actions, its own words..."
If there is any Republican out there who wants to arrange a "trade"
with me
(e.g. I'll listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity for two hours if you
see
"Fahrenheit 9/11"), then I will be willing to do so -- and then we can
talk
afterwards. If there are any Republicans (or Independents, or whoever)
who
either cannot afford to see the film, or who do not want to pay their
money
to Michael Moore, I will buy your ticket. In exchange, the deal is that
we
would need to have a conversation about the movie afterwards.
I will also be happy to take any questions about the movie, or after
you've
seen it, about the facts of our government's actions. You can e-mail me
or
call me. Let's talk about what's going on.
Referring to the responsibilities of citizens under a corrupt regime,
the
Declaration of Independence states, "...when a long train of abuses and
usurpations... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it
is [the citizens'] right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government,
and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Such is our duty in the months ahead.
by Callan Bentley
Yesterday afternoon, I waited for an hour in a line that stretched out
of
the theater and into the parking lot for a sold-out showing of the new
film
"Fahrenheit 9/11." The show before was sold out as well, and the one
after.
The film has already broken the previous box office records for
documentary
films. Its opening-weekend revenues are projected to surpass the TOTAL
revenue from director Michael Moore's previous film, the Academy Award
winning "Bowling for Columbine." No documentary has ever gotten this
sort of
attention, and after seeing it, I can see why. When it ended, there was
stunned silence for about five seconds, and then the entire theatre
erupted
in applause, which was sustained for about a minute. I haven't ever
seen
people applaud a movie before.
Here's a review from a Republican who saw the film:
"I am a Republican and I came to see this film with my wife so that I
would
have some intelligent criticism to level at the Michael Moore fans I
work
with. I was expecting a sloppy, fuzzy, highly manipulated treatment.
Instead, Bush Administration damns itself through its own actions, its
own
words, its own lies...all documented for prosperity. Is the film
biased?
Hell, yes. But I can't see how any reasonable person would call this
propaganda. It is documentary fact told by a man with a specific agenda
in
telling it. But there it is on the screen. Fact. It can't be explained
away.
And as for criticism that the film is disrespectful to President Bush;
well,
after what we did to Clinton I would expect W. to take the heat like a
man.
The only problem is that the Clinton issue was nothing to the moral
breach
of this administration. Every Republican should see it before he casts
his
vote this November. It changed my vote."
So: people who are 'on the fence' before seeing it may be persuaded to
vote
against Bush in the fall election. But me? Moore's preaching to the
choir. I
didn't learn anything new in this film -- it's all facts that have been
well
documented in the media in the past four years. And being of an indignant
liberal frame of mind, I've spent much of my time reading books and
media
articles about these topics during that period, and so learned about
the
same facts Moore displays in the film. However, some of the people I
went to
see the movie with did not know about the Bush family connection to the
Saudi royal family, Bush's connection (via James R. Bath) to Osama bin
Laden's half-brother, and Cheney's company's profits from the Iraq war.
In
some of its most chilling scenes, the film also documents the
incredible
level of carnage that the Iraq War has wrought on both the people of
that
country and on our own soldiers fighting there. So the film does a good
job
bringing out the facts for those of us who haven't delved into the
topic
already. And, amazingly, it does it in an entertaining way. For those
who
don't have the time or inclination to read "House of Bush, House of
Saud,"
"Gas War," "Against All Enemies," or "Dude, Where's My Country?", this
movie
puts the facts in a line, and you can absorb it all in two hours while
you're scarfing a jumbo bucket of popcorn.
So -- while I didn't need any conversion, the film definitely got me
riled
up. I will be working hard to de-seat Bush in November. I am motivated
to do
everything in my power to get Mr. Bush voted out of the White House,
and
thereby begin the process of undoing the damage he has inflicted on the
U.S.'s international reputation.
Regardless of your political persuasion, I'd urge you to seek out the
truth
about our nation's current political situation, and engage in
respectful
dialogue with your neighbors. One way to get some of the facts is to
see
this film. This film is an opinion piece -- but the facts that support
that
opinion are irrefutable. As the Republican viewer above noted, "the
Administration damns itself through its own actions, its own words..."
If there is any Republican out there who wants to arrange a "trade"
with me
(e.g. I'll listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity for two hours if you
see
"Fahrenheit 9/11"), then I will be willing to do so -- and then we can
talk
afterwards. If there are any Republicans (or Independents, or whoever)
who
either cannot afford to see the film, or who do not want to pay their
money
to Michael Moore, I will buy your ticket. In exchange, the deal is that
we
would need to have a conversation about the movie afterwards.
I will also be happy to take any questions about the movie, or after
you've
seen it, about the facts of our government's actions. You can e-mail me
or
call me. Let's talk about what's going on.
Referring to the responsibilities of citizens under a corrupt regime,
the
Declaration of Independence states, "...when a long train of abuses and
usurpations... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it
is [the citizens'] right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government,
and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Such is our duty in the months ahead.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Crisis of Meaning
by Hakim Bey
The author was in NYC from Sept. 9th to Sept. 15th and this piece was written in the week after the attack.
A few days after the events of 9/11, the New York Times ran an interesting article on the advertising "industry" and its crisis. Not only zillions of dollars a day etc. etc., but a weird effect: suddenly it seems impossible to have advertising at all. It seems massively "inappropriate" to move product as per usual with shrieking & insinuating, mocking & sneering, prurience & peeping; with hate & envy masked as fashion, with greed thinly disguised as freedom of choice.
Death and tragedy occur every day, every minute, not only in the former Third World, even in New York, even in America. Why hasn't advertising ever seemed shameful to anyone ever before? The media - which cannot utter a sound without puking up a clichÈ - speaks now of the waking of a sleeping giant (meaning that we will no longer evade terrorism etc.) - but what was this sleep? And what does it mean to wake into a feeling of shame?
In the past, it seems we were willing to admit that our highest social values could be expressed in price codes (the "mark of the Beast" as the cranks say, the "prophets of doom"). Now we feel shame. In a Times interview a fashion designer expressed doubt that her work had any significance and wondered if she could go with it.
The fashion industry is also ashamed; Hollywood is ashamed; even the news media expressed some fleeting longing for decorum & dignity & decency.
Are we supposed to feel this shame over our triviality, our meanspiritedness, our PoMo irony, our consumer frenzy, our hatred of the body and of all nature, our obsession with gadgetry & "information", our degraded pop culture, our vapid or morbid art & lit, & so on & so on? - or should we defend all this as "freedom" and our "way of life"?
Our leaders tell us to return to normal routines (after a decent period of mourning) in the assurance that they will assign significance to the event, they will embody our hate & desire for revenge, they will mediate for us with the forces of "evil". But what exactly is this normal life to consist of? Why do we feel this shame?
Schoolchildren (again according to the Times) ask their teachers what it means that the terrorists were willing to die, to kill themselves; and their teachers evade the question, saying that "we don't understand." And the ad execs, they don't understand either - they're bewildered. Awake but confused by a crisis of meaning. Last week all meanings could be expressed in terms of money. Why should 5000 murders change the meaning of meaning?
A hyper-fashionable Italian clothing company uses death to sell its products. Photographs - even huge billboards - showing people dying of AIDS or waiting to be executed - designed to sell woolly jumpers. Is this life normal? Should we return to it?
For a few days no music was heard in the streets. No thumping bass speakers rattled the air, no chants of hate for women & queers, no "Madison Avenue Choirs" hymning the celestial delites of commodities or vacations in the midst of other peoples' misery.
For a few hours or days there appeared no official spin on the event, no slogan/logo in the media, no interpretation, no meaning. We watched the cloud drift around the city, first to the East over Brooklyn then up the west side of Manhattan, finally over the east side as well. With the smell and the poisonous haze around the moon came a nightmare about the occult significance of the cloud: - angry bewildered ghosts in a vast white cloud. And we breathed that cloud into us. We'll never get it out of our lungs. What the cloud wanted was an explanation, a meaning.
But next day the spin was in, the media had found or been given its a answer - "Attack On America", our freedom, our values, our way of life, carried out by "cowards" who were nevertheless not "physical cowards" (as some official explained in the Times). Perhaps they were moral cowards? He didn't explain and couldn't say.
Why do they hate us? A few people have asked but received no coherent answer. Do "they" hate "us" because we use 75% of the world's resources even though we only constitute 20% of its population? because we bomb Baghdad & Belgrade without risking even one American life? because we export a vapid sneering meanspirited culture to the world, video games about death, movies about death, TV shows about death, commodities that are dead, music that kills the spirit? because we've made advertising copy our highest artform? because we define "freedom" as our freedom to rule & be ruled by money?
The politicians have told us that "they" envy us and our way of life and therefore wish to destroy it. Envy - yes, why not? The whole system of global capital is based on envy. It has to be. No envy, no desire. No desire, no reason to spend. No reason to spend, implosion of global capital, q.e.d. But then why should the ad execs & fashion designers & sports teams & entertainers feel this strange unaccountable shame?
And why should the terrorists have been willing to die just because they envy our wealth & our way of life & our freedom to buy, and spend, and waste? What does it mean?
After the Holocaust (or Hiroshima, or the Gulag) certain philosophers said that there could be no more art or poetry. But they were wrong apparently. We have poetry again. It may not mean the same thing it meant before. It may not mean anything. But we have it. And who could have dreamed at the gate of Buchenwald or Treblinka that one day we would have - Nike ads or sitcoms about lawyers?
Is any meaning going to emerge from the 9/11 event? Without meaning tragedy ends not in catharsis but simply depression, endless sorrow. Our leaders "seek closure" - perhaps by killing many Afghan children - perhaps by a new Crusade against the Saracens - and of course by a return to normal. We'll show "them" - by refusing meaning. We will sleep because it is our right not to awake to confusion & shame.
Our sleep will be troubled. We'll have to "sacrifice a few freedoms" to protect Freedom. We'll have to fear & hate. But within a few weeks or months we will have buried even the fear & hate, rather we will have transformed all that emotion to the Image, to the Evil Eye of the media, our externalized unconscious. We'll have sitcoms again and gangster rap and arguments about our right to download it all for free into our home computers. We'll get those airplanes flying, once again polluting "our" skies with noise & carcinogens. We'll overcome our shame. And that will constitute our revenge. That will be our meaning. Our morality.
by Hakim Bey
The author was in NYC from Sept. 9th to Sept. 15th and this piece was written in the week after the attack.
A few days after the events of 9/11, the New York Times ran an interesting article on the advertising "industry" and its crisis. Not only zillions of dollars a day etc. etc., but a weird effect: suddenly it seems impossible to have advertising at all. It seems massively "inappropriate" to move product as per usual with shrieking & insinuating, mocking & sneering, prurience & peeping; with hate & envy masked as fashion, with greed thinly disguised as freedom of choice.
Death and tragedy occur every day, every minute, not only in the former Third World, even in New York, even in America. Why hasn't advertising ever seemed shameful to anyone ever before? The media - which cannot utter a sound without puking up a clichÈ - speaks now of the waking of a sleeping giant (meaning that we will no longer evade terrorism etc.) - but what was this sleep? And what does it mean to wake into a feeling of shame?
In the past, it seems we were willing to admit that our highest social values could be expressed in price codes (the "mark of the Beast" as the cranks say, the "prophets of doom"). Now we feel shame. In a Times interview a fashion designer expressed doubt that her work had any significance and wondered if she could go with it.
The fashion industry is also ashamed; Hollywood is ashamed; even the news media expressed some fleeting longing for decorum & dignity & decency.
Are we supposed to feel this shame over our triviality, our meanspiritedness, our PoMo irony, our consumer frenzy, our hatred of the body and of all nature, our obsession with gadgetry & "information", our degraded pop culture, our vapid or morbid art & lit, & so on & so on? - or should we defend all this as "freedom" and our "way of life"?
Our leaders tell us to return to normal routines (after a decent period of mourning) in the assurance that they will assign significance to the event, they will embody our hate & desire for revenge, they will mediate for us with the forces of "evil". But what exactly is this normal life to consist of? Why do we feel this shame?
Schoolchildren (again according to the Times) ask their teachers what it means that the terrorists were willing to die, to kill themselves; and their teachers evade the question, saying that "we don't understand." And the ad execs, they don't understand either - they're bewildered. Awake but confused by a crisis of meaning. Last week all meanings could be expressed in terms of money. Why should 5000 murders change the meaning of meaning?
A hyper-fashionable Italian clothing company uses death to sell its products. Photographs - even huge billboards - showing people dying of AIDS or waiting to be executed - designed to sell woolly jumpers. Is this life normal? Should we return to it?
For a few days no music was heard in the streets. No thumping bass speakers rattled the air, no chants of hate for women & queers, no "Madison Avenue Choirs" hymning the celestial delites of commodities or vacations in the midst of other peoples' misery.
For a few hours or days there appeared no official spin on the event, no slogan/logo in the media, no interpretation, no meaning. We watched the cloud drift around the city, first to the East over Brooklyn then up the west side of Manhattan, finally over the east side as well. With the smell and the poisonous haze around the moon came a nightmare about the occult significance of the cloud: - angry bewildered ghosts in a vast white cloud. And we breathed that cloud into us. We'll never get it out of our lungs. What the cloud wanted was an explanation, a meaning.
But next day the spin was in, the media had found or been given its a answer - "Attack On America", our freedom, our values, our way of life, carried out by "cowards" who were nevertheless not "physical cowards" (as some official explained in the Times). Perhaps they were moral cowards? He didn't explain and couldn't say.
Why do they hate us? A few people have asked but received no coherent answer. Do "they" hate "us" because we use 75% of the world's resources even though we only constitute 20% of its population? because we bomb Baghdad & Belgrade without risking even one American life? because we export a vapid sneering meanspirited culture to the world, video games about death, movies about death, TV shows about death, commodities that are dead, music that kills the spirit? because we've made advertising copy our highest artform? because we define "freedom" as our freedom to rule & be ruled by money?
The politicians have told us that "they" envy us and our way of life and therefore wish to destroy it. Envy - yes, why not? The whole system of global capital is based on envy. It has to be. No envy, no desire. No desire, no reason to spend. No reason to spend, implosion of global capital, q.e.d. But then why should the ad execs & fashion designers & sports teams & entertainers feel this strange unaccountable shame?
And why should the terrorists have been willing to die just because they envy our wealth & our way of life & our freedom to buy, and spend, and waste? What does it mean?
After the Holocaust (or Hiroshima, or the Gulag) certain philosophers said that there could be no more art or poetry. But they were wrong apparently. We have poetry again. It may not mean the same thing it meant before. It may not mean anything. But we have it. And who could have dreamed at the gate of Buchenwald or Treblinka that one day we would have - Nike ads or sitcoms about lawyers?
Is any meaning going to emerge from the 9/11 event? Without meaning tragedy ends not in catharsis but simply depression, endless sorrow. Our leaders "seek closure" - perhaps by killing many Afghan children - perhaps by a new Crusade against the Saracens - and of course by a return to normal. We'll show "them" - by refusing meaning. We will sleep because it is our right not to awake to confusion & shame.
Our sleep will be troubled. We'll have to "sacrifice a few freedoms" to protect Freedom. We'll have to fear & hate. But within a few weeks or months we will have buried even the fear & hate, rather we will have transformed all that emotion to the Image, to the Evil Eye of the media, our externalized unconscious. We'll have sitcoms again and gangster rap and arguments about our right to download it all for free into our home computers. We'll get those airplanes flying, once again polluting "our" skies with noise & carcinogens. We'll overcome our shame. And that will constitute our revenge. That will be our meaning. Our morality.
Tribe and Village
by Hakim Bey
The traditional tribe had room for everybody. So if you are an intellectual then you become a shaman, if you are an artist you might become a maker of spoons or painter of the outside of the tent or whatever. If you are a violent son of a bitch you get to be the war-chief, when there is a war. And if there is not a war everyone make sure - keep that guy out of trouble. There is room for every kind of marginal person in the tribe. It's not true that the tribe is restrictive to the individual.
But the point is, it's true for the modern world where the village or the tribe is in fact under attack by the center. The little village in east Tyrol or wherever - if any intellectual was born in one of those villages of course he would move to Vienna - no question about it. Because this village is under attack from Vienna. Vienna sucks out all its energy, takes all the taxmoney. I mean I assume this is true, because it's true in every other country I have ever been in. So I am simply using Vienna as an example. I say that Iran is an example. Teheran just sucks all the money and energy and all the artists, intellectuals. And anyone got to be nineteen years old and had two ounces of brains - went to Teheran.
So the village is a bad place to be now, because the village is under attack. On the other hand there is of course a reaction against this. People are leaving the city and not wanting to go to the suburbs, because the suburbs that's a failure, a historical failure, and so they go to the village. As someone also pointed out, with the net you don't have to be so isolated in the village. It's not the same as having a brilliant coffeehouse where you can go and meet all the people and really interact in the real world. But it's something anyway. I know people in Wisconsin, Wyoming or places like that who have gone back to the village but they are on the net - a sort of "satisfactory balance" between what the village is good for and the village is not good for.
Consider the Zapatistas as a tribe doing something very postmodern and also the Winnebagos in Wisconsin (that I happen to have some knowledge about).... Or a tribe of Indians who have a casino and make a lot of money so instead of spending a lot on booze they got organized and they have a 100% employment in their tribe and they are using the net - Their language has never been a written language so they are using the net to become literate in their own language. So they are leaping over the whole imperialist alphabetical stage of literacy and jumping - maybe, I don't know - over the whole industrial age into the postindustrial age in some strange way. So the net can be very good for tribal activists.
And these Zapatistas are also very much represented on the net. They don't put it up themselves, because they don't have the machines,but people in Mexico City will do it and translate all their stuff into English - instantly the same day that it came out -and put it on the net. So the North American press wasn't doing shit , wasn't covering the story at all. If you wanted to know the story you had to go into the net. That was interesting. The situation is going on in Mexico. I don't know what's happening with the net. I mean now the books are coming out, some serious assassment of what is going on, but for a few weeks the net was the only source, in North America. On my radio show I was putting as much as I could on the air.
by Hakim Bey
The traditional tribe had room for everybody. So if you are an intellectual then you become a shaman, if you are an artist you might become a maker of spoons or painter of the outside of the tent or whatever. If you are a violent son of a bitch you get to be the war-chief, when there is a war. And if there is not a war everyone make sure - keep that guy out of trouble. There is room for every kind of marginal person in the tribe. It's not true that the tribe is restrictive to the individual.
But the point is, it's true for the modern world where the village or the tribe is in fact under attack by the center. The little village in east Tyrol or wherever - if any intellectual was born in one of those villages of course he would move to Vienna - no question about it. Because this village is under attack from Vienna. Vienna sucks out all its energy, takes all the taxmoney. I mean I assume this is true, because it's true in every other country I have ever been in. So I am simply using Vienna as an example. I say that Iran is an example. Teheran just sucks all the money and energy and all the artists, intellectuals. And anyone got to be nineteen years old and had two ounces of brains - went to Teheran.
So the village is a bad place to be now, because the village is under attack. On the other hand there is of course a reaction against this. People are leaving the city and not wanting to go to the suburbs, because the suburbs that's a failure, a historical failure, and so they go to the village. As someone also pointed out, with the net you don't have to be so isolated in the village. It's not the same as having a brilliant coffeehouse where you can go and meet all the people and really interact in the real world. But it's something anyway. I know people in Wisconsin, Wyoming or places like that who have gone back to the village but they are on the net - a sort of "satisfactory balance" between what the village is good for and the village is not good for.
Consider the Zapatistas as a tribe doing something very postmodern and also the Winnebagos in Wisconsin (that I happen to have some knowledge about).... Or a tribe of Indians who have a casino and make a lot of money so instead of spending a lot on booze they got organized and they have a 100% employment in their tribe and they are using the net - Their language has never been a written language so they are using the net to become literate in their own language. So they are leaping over the whole imperialist alphabetical stage of literacy and jumping - maybe, I don't know - over the whole industrial age into the postindustrial age in some strange way. So the net can be very good for tribal activists.
And these Zapatistas are also very much represented on the net. They don't put it up themselves, because they don't have the machines,but people in Mexico City will do it and translate all their stuff into English - instantly the same day that it came out -and put it on the net. So the North American press wasn't doing shit , wasn't covering the story at all. If you wanted to know the story you had to go into the net. That was interesting. The situation is going on in Mexico. I don't know what's happening with the net. I mean now the books are coming out, some serious assassment of what is going on, but for a few weeks the net was the only source, in North America. On my radio show I was putting as much as I could on the air.
Introduction to the Sufi Path
by Peter Lamborn Wilson
Of all the strands of thought, tradition, and belief that make up the Islamic universe, Sufism in its doctrinal aspect stands out as the most intact, the most purely Islamic: the central strand. Opponents of Sufism often charge it with having originated outside Islam, but a close study of the various schools of philosophy and theology, and a comparison with "primordial" Islam as revealed in the Koran and hadith (authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), will vindicate the Sufis' claim of
centrality, of strict adherence to the original purity of the Revelation.
In the context of the history of thought, in fact, Sufism - always insisting on a return to the sources of the Tradition - can be seen to have functioned at times as a positive and healthy reaction to the
overly rational activity of the philosophers and theologians. For the Sufis, the road to spiritual knowledge - to Certainty - could never be confined to the process of rational or purely intellectual activity, without sapiential knowledge (zawq, "taste") and the direct, immediate experience of the Heart. Truth, they believed, can be sought and found only with one's entire being; nor were they satisfied merely to know this Truth. They insisted on a total identification with it: a "passing away" of the knower in the Known, of subject in the Object of knowledge. Thus, when the fourth/tenth century Sufi Hallaj proclaimed "I am the Truth" (and was martyred for it by the exoteric authorities), he was not violating the "First Pillar" of Islam, the belief in Unity (tawhid), but simply stating the truth from the mouth of the Truth. So the Sufis believe.
This insistence of total involvement in "mystical" realisation, and on a participative understanding of religious doctrine, sharply distinguished Sufism from other Islamic schools of thought. In fact, considering themselves the true core of Islam, Sufis appeared as outsiders not only to the philosophers and theologians, but even to "ordinary" Muslims. Their peculiarity, their distinctness, manifested itself in every aspect of their lives: their daily activities, their worship, social relations,
and even style or means of expression. Like mystics in all Traditions, they tended to remake language and form for their own purposes, and as in all Traditional civilisations, the potency and directness of their expression tended to flow out and permeate other areas not directly
related to mysticism in the narrow sense: literature, the arts and crafts, etc.
†
Leaving This World Behind
Buddha founded his Path on the human fact of suffering. Islam gives the basic situation in which we find ourselves a slightly different interpretation: man in his ordinary state of consciousness is literally
asleep ("and when he dies he wakes," as Mohammad said). He lives in a dream, whether of enjoyment or suffering - a phenomenal, illusory existence. Only his lower self is awake, his "carnal soul." Whether he feels so or not, he is miserable. But potentially the situation can be changed, for ultimately man is not identical with his lower self. (The Prince of Balkh, Ibrahim Adham, lost in the desert while hunting, chased a magic stag, which turned on him and asked, "Were you born for this?") Man's authentic existence is in the Divine; he has a higher Self, which is true; he can attain felicity, even before death ("Die before you die," said the Prophet). The call comes: to flight, migration, a journey beyond the limitations of world and self.
†
Awakening
Imprisoned in the cage of the world (the world in its negative, "worldly" sense, not in the positive sense of the world-as-icon or Divine Manifestation), man is exiled and forgetful of his true home. To
keep his part of the Covenant, to be faithful to his promise, he must set out on the Path from sleep to awakening. It is only the blessed few for whom this Path lasts no longer than a single step, although in theory all that is needed is to "turn around" or "inside out" and be what one is. For most seekers the Path is long; one Sufi speaks of "a thousand and one" different stages.
"Everything perishes save His Face"; the first step on the Path is to begin to contemplate the futility of the world of dust, the world in which one's lower self is doomed. The seeker must renounce it all,
including his own self, and seek that which is Everlasting. He must travel from things to Nothing, from existence to Nonexistence.
How does one get lost on purpose? Our present state is one of forgetfulness toward the Divine - the true Self - and remembrance of worldly affairs and the lower self. The cure for this is a reversal:
remembrance of the true Self, the Divine within, and forgetfulness toward everything else.
In Sufism the basic technique for this is invocation or "remembrance" (zekr) of the Divine Name, which is mysteriously identical with the Divine Being. Through this discipline the fragments of our directionless minds are regathered, our outward impulse turned inward and concentrated. This is the act of a lover who thinks of nothing but his beloved.
by Peter Lamborn Wilson
Of all the strands of thought, tradition, and belief that make up the Islamic universe, Sufism in its doctrinal aspect stands out as the most intact, the most purely Islamic: the central strand. Opponents of Sufism often charge it with having originated outside Islam, but a close study of the various schools of philosophy and theology, and a comparison with "primordial" Islam as revealed in the Koran and hadith (authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), will vindicate the Sufis' claim of
centrality, of strict adherence to the original purity of the Revelation.
In the context of the history of thought, in fact, Sufism - always insisting on a return to the sources of the Tradition - can be seen to have functioned at times as a positive and healthy reaction to the
overly rational activity of the philosophers and theologians. For the Sufis, the road to spiritual knowledge - to Certainty - could never be confined to the process of rational or purely intellectual activity, without sapiential knowledge (zawq, "taste") and the direct, immediate experience of the Heart. Truth, they believed, can be sought and found only with one's entire being; nor were they satisfied merely to know this Truth. They insisted on a total identification with it: a "passing away" of the knower in the Known, of subject in the Object of knowledge. Thus, when the fourth/tenth century Sufi Hallaj proclaimed "I am the Truth" (and was martyred for it by the exoteric authorities), he was not violating the "First Pillar" of Islam, the belief in Unity (tawhid), but simply stating the truth from the mouth of the Truth. So the Sufis believe.
This insistence of total involvement in "mystical" realisation, and on a participative understanding of religious doctrine, sharply distinguished Sufism from other Islamic schools of thought. In fact, considering themselves the true core of Islam, Sufis appeared as outsiders not only to the philosophers and theologians, but even to "ordinary" Muslims. Their peculiarity, their distinctness, manifested itself in every aspect of their lives: their daily activities, their worship, social relations,
and even style or means of expression. Like mystics in all Traditions, they tended to remake language and form for their own purposes, and as in all Traditional civilisations, the potency and directness of their expression tended to flow out and permeate other areas not directly
related to mysticism in the narrow sense: literature, the arts and crafts, etc.
†
Leaving This World Behind
Buddha founded his Path on the human fact of suffering. Islam gives the basic situation in which we find ourselves a slightly different interpretation: man in his ordinary state of consciousness is literally
asleep ("and when he dies he wakes," as Mohammad said). He lives in a dream, whether of enjoyment or suffering - a phenomenal, illusory existence. Only his lower self is awake, his "carnal soul." Whether he feels so or not, he is miserable. But potentially the situation can be changed, for ultimately man is not identical with his lower self. (The Prince of Balkh, Ibrahim Adham, lost in the desert while hunting, chased a magic stag, which turned on him and asked, "Were you born for this?") Man's authentic existence is in the Divine; he has a higher Self, which is true; he can attain felicity, even before death ("Die before you die," said the Prophet). The call comes: to flight, migration, a journey beyond the limitations of world and self.
†
Awakening
Imprisoned in the cage of the world (the world in its negative, "worldly" sense, not in the positive sense of the world-as-icon or Divine Manifestation), man is exiled and forgetful of his true home. To
keep his part of the Covenant, to be faithful to his promise, he must set out on the Path from sleep to awakening. It is only the blessed few for whom this Path lasts no longer than a single step, although in theory all that is needed is to "turn around" or "inside out" and be what one is. For most seekers the Path is long; one Sufi speaks of "a thousand and one" different stages.
"Everything perishes save His Face"; the first step on the Path is to begin to contemplate the futility of the world of dust, the world in which one's lower self is doomed. The seeker must renounce it all,
including his own self, and seek that which is Everlasting. He must travel from things to Nothing, from existence to Nonexistence.
How does one get lost on purpose? Our present state is one of forgetfulness toward the Divine - the true Self - and remembrance of worldly affairs and the lower self. The cure for this is a reversal:
remembrance of the true Self, the Divine within, and forgetfulness toward everything else.
In Sufism the basic technique for this is invocation or "remembrance" (zekr) of the Divine Name, which is mysteriously identical with the Divine Being. Through this discipline the fragments of our directionless minds are regathered, our outward impulse turned inward and concentrated. This is the act of a lover who thinks of nothing but his beloved.
Passivity
by Alan Watts
From a superficial point of view I would suggest that a certain amount of passivity would be an excellent corrective for our kind of culture, because we are always causing trouble by doing good to other people. We wage wars for other peopleís benefit and attempt to help those living in ìunderdevelopedî countries, not realizing that in the process we may destroy their way of life. Economies and cultures that have co-existed in ecological balance for thousands of years have been disrupted all around the world, with often disastrous results.
Quantification
by Alan Watts
When we say of something ìIt is immaterialî, ìIt doesnít matterî, that means it has no quantitative measure. It doesnít amount to anything; it doesnít add up to anything. It is unquantified. But what we need in life is not so much quantity as quality. Mere quantity is absolutely abstract. Itís the quality, the essential taste, the flavor of life, the meaning of it, that is the important thing.
by Alan Watts
From a superficial point of view I would suggest that a certain amount of passivity would be an excellent corrective for our kind of culture, because we are always causing trouble by doing good to other people. We wage wars for other peopleís benefit and attempt to help those living in ìunderdevelopedî countries, not realizing that in the process we may destroy their way of life. Economies and cultures that have co-existed in ecological balance for thousands of years have been disrupted all around the world, with often disastrous results.
Quantification
by Alan Watts
When we say of something ìIt is immaterialî, ìIt doesnít matterî, that means it has no quantitative measure. It doesnít amount to anything; it doesnít add up to anything. It is unquantified. But what we need in life is not so much quantity as quality. Mere quantity is absolutely abstract. Itís the quality, the essential taste, the flavor of life, the meaning of it, that is the important thing.
Video Review
by Skald
A long dry spell.... a hiatus from writing for Hobopoet. I needed a break... too much academic writing-- that blessed and accursed Masters degree!! As a break from written words, Iíve been finding amusement in the visual realm: with the shared purchase of a video camera. And so Three Amigos productions recently rolled out its first video: ìA Typical Day in Bangkokî..... a video postcard for friends and family back home....
This stunning cinematic success follows our heroes through their ìtypical dayî (thus the brilliant title) as they wake up, go to school, eat, and do other incredibly exciting things.
Of course, the process of making the video was alot more fascinating and interesting than watching it.... which is the point after all. I have Luddite tendencies at times but some aspects of new technology are quite engaging. For example, the fact that it is now possible for a group of friends to buy a video camera and laptop and produce their own videos and documentaries.... for a very cheap price....I find that exciting. Film-making..... especially budget documentary film-making... is now firmly in reach of almost anyone (almost anyone in N.America & Europe at least).
For now the three amigos are focusing on video postcards and the like while we teach ourselves the ins and outs of shooting and editing.... but the skyís the limit and this is a whole lot more fun than sitting in front of the goddam boob-tube like fucking lobotomized zombies. What weíve embarked upon is the joyful process of a collaborative/creative project.... what Hakim Bey calls an ìimmediatist projectî--- a creative group undertaking whose primary goal is the process of shared imagination and camaraderie (and not the end ìproductî).
Video, of course, is an ideal medium for this sort of thing as a great many talents can be involved in the areas of writing, storyline, lighting, sound, on-camera performance, directing, interviewing, editing, music selection, etc... But video isnít the only immediatist possibility. There are many media that suit the needs of an immediatist project-- anything from making a movie, to playing a role-playing game, to collaborating on a painting, to forming a band, to hosting a costume or dinner party, to making a quilt...... all are prime candidates for shared imagination.
Iím all for moments of lonely solitude--- writing haiku in silent reverie--- meditating atop an isolated mountain, etc..... but we humans are also social creatures and Mr. Bey is right: itís time to break the grip of bitter loneliness and alienation that characterizes so many lives. Must we spend all of our time at work and recovering from it (vegetating in front of the tube, working at recreation)? Must our social lives necessarily wither away after we pass 30? Must we abandon shared play, shared imagination, shared creativity,...... genuine (not work related or consumption related) camaraderie? Is it truly necessary to become sensible, reasonable, and dreadfully boring when we become 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90.....? I donít think so.
So this is a call for shared play and social creation... whatever form it takes. This is a call for active engagement instead of lonely and passive consuming--- letís play games together, letís act and role play together, letís paint and draw and sew and make movies together. Sitting alone, night after night, eyes stuck to the corporate blue-screen--- that is the way of degradation and death. Reach out. Connect. Play. Imagine.
Create together.
by Skald
A long dry spell.... a hiatus from writing for Hobopoet. I needed a break... too much academic writing-- that blessed and accursed Masters degree!! As a break from written words, Iíve been finding amusement in the visual realm: with the shared purchase of a video camera. And so Three Amigos productions recently rolled out its first video: ìA Typical Day in Bangkokî..... a video postcard for friends and family back home....
This stunning cinematic success follows our heroes through their ìtypical dayî (thus the brilliant title) as they wake up, go to school, eat, and do other incredibly exciting things.
Of course, the process of making the video was alot more fascinating and interesting than watching it.... which is the point after all. I have Luddite tendencies at times but some aspects of new technology are quite engaging. For example, the fact that it is now possible for a group of friends to buy a video camera and laptop and produce their own videos and documentaries.... for a very cheap price....I find that exciting. Film-making..... especially budget documentary film-making... is now firmly in reach of almost anyone (almost anyone in N.America & Europe at least).
For now the three amigos are focusing on video postcards and the like while we teach ourselves the ins and outs of shooting and editing.... but the skyís the limit and this is a whole lot more fun than sitting in front of the goddam boob-tube like fucking lobotomized zombies. What weíve embarked upon is the joyful process of a collaborative/creative project.... what Hakim Bey calls an ìimmediatist projectî--- a creative group undertaking whose primary goal is the process of shared imagination and camaraderie (and not the end ìproductî).
Video, of course, is an ideal medium for this sort of thing as a great many talents can be involved in the areas of writing, storyline, lighting, sound, on-camera performance, directing, interviewing, editing, music selection, etc... But video isnít the only immediatist possibility. There are many media that suit the needs of an immediatist project-- anything from making a movie, to playing a role-playing game, to collaborating on a painting, to forming a band, to hosting a costume or dinner party, to making a quilt...... all are prime candidates for shared imagination.
Iím all for moments of lonely solitude--- writing haiku in silent reverie--- meditating atop an isolated mountain, etc..... but we humans are also social creatures and Mr. Bey is right: itís time to break the grip of bitter loneliness and alienation that characterizes so many lives. Must we spend all of our time at work and recovering from it (vegetating in front of the tube, working at recreation)? Must our social lives necessarily wither away after we pass 30? Must we abandon shared play, shared imagination, shared creativity,...... genuine (not work related or consumption related) camaraderie? Is it truly necessary to become sensible, reasonable, and dreadfully boring when we become 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90.....? I donít think so.
So this is a call for shared play and social creation... whatever form it takes. This is a call for active engagement instead of lonely and passive consuming--- letís play games together, letís act and role play together, letís paint and draw and sew and make movies together. Sitting alone, night after night, eyes stuck to the corporate blue-screen--- that is the way of degradation and death. Reach out. Connect. Play. Imagine.
Create together.
Pep Talk
by Skald
Letís go.... hit the road and see the world..... a cornucopia of possibilities awaits us. Just imagine the opportunities. For the rest of my life I can travel the world- live abroad--- even work decent jobs when I need to: teaching in universities, or private lessons, or set up my own programs. I can continue learning new languages. I can travel with my friends. I can see the world
Im on the right track... straight towards my dreams of freedom, travel, lifelong learning and exploration. Right now is a brief, boring time of academic papers, class observations, and the like... but not an indefinite one. Iíll be done at the end of the year and free!! Maybe Iíll all work in Thailand and keep learning the language and make more friends and explore the region and SCUBA dive... and save money......
And from here.... with a wad of cash! ...... anywhere..... to Spain to study and live and maybe even work. To Ecuador. to South America.... to Mexico.....to Eastern Europe. To Turkey. My friends and I on a wild ride around the world. We can alternate working with travel.... spend time learning languages and drifting around. See Italy and France and Greece. Visit Morocco. Go to Brazil..... Paraguay.... Argentina..... Venezuela,..... Mexico,..... Guatemala!!!! Should we need a big infusion of Cash there is always Japan, Taiwan, Korea, & Saudi Arabia.
We can save and buy motorcycles and tour around Europe. We can drift around Peru & Chile and climb mountains and explore jungles and paddle around swamps and dive coral reefs and munch on mushrooms.
Learn Thai. Learn Spanish. Learn Japanese. Learn French. Learn Italian. If Im fortunate Iíve got another 36-65 years of my life. Why not spend it seeing the world-- live in a new country every 2-5 years..... learn a new language and meet new people and make new friends and go with my friends--- my nomadic tribe.
Patience man, patience. These last few months are a short blip. Good things are happening. Ive got contacts at Thammasat university now. Iíve got 500 hours of Thai at AUA. Iím almost 2/3rds of the way through a TESOL Masters. Im a certified SCUBA diver. I am VERY confident about teaching now... have several effective techniques to draw from,.... have a sound theoretical foundation to my teaching methods..... have clear ideas about teaching all different levels..... have a set of guiding principles and ideas. All in all, once I get some practice with these techniques.... my teaching effectiveness will make an exponential leap.
So Banzai!!! Just need to remember why Im doing what Im doing.... what it will enable me to do in the future and what it is enabling me to do now. I imagine last year in Gainesville.... lonely and miserable and among the super-cool redneck Republicans of that foul shit-hole. Impoverished for months-- living off free food, free coffee, and Taco Bell. Bored, depressed and friendless. Shackled to an evil job at DFACS for two weeks. Mind and creativity utterly drained by the bland conformity of that place. Now THAT was misery! Patience patience. Things are evolving more slowly and subtlety than I prefer (what's new!!), but evolving they are. Here I am, after all, living and studying in Bangkok Thailand.
So patience and persistence are the order of the day. Ive got a travelogue video to shoot. Ive got a clan to build. Ive got a language to learn ( And goddam it, Im gonna learn it!). This is a time of tremendous potential and change but much is happening under the surface that I don't usually realize.... Another year or two here and very deep changes will settle in--- the nomadic international life finally takes hold. Then its on to South America or Europe or Japan or wherever. Fuck America and fuck Americans and their arrogance and wilful ignorance.... but most of all fuck the cowardice and boredom and bland sterility of that awful place. No more fucking strip malls for me. No more obsession with safety and cleanliness. America is the fucking Godhead of boredom. No more America.
by Skald
Letís go.... hit the road and see the world..... a cornucopia of possibilities awaits us. Just imagine the opportunities. For the rest of my life I can travel the world- live abroad--- even work decent jobs when I need to: teaching in universities, or private lessons, or set up my own programs. I can continue learning new languages. I can travel with my friends. I can see the world
Im on the right track... straight towards my dreams of freedom, travel, lifelong learning and exploration. Right now is a brief, boring time of academic papers, class observations, and the like... but not an indefinite one. Iíll be done at the end of the year and free!! Maybe Iíll all work in Thailand and keep learning the language and make more friends and explore the region and SCUBA dive... and save money......
And from here.... with a wad of cash! ...... anywhere..... to Spain to study and live and maybe even work. To Ecuador. to South America.... to Mexico.....to Eastern Europe. To Turkey. My friends and I on a wild ride around the world. We can alternate working with travel.... spend time learning languages and drifting around. See Italy and France and Greece. Visit Morocco. Go to Brazil..... Paraguay.... Argentina..... Venezuela,..... Mexico,..... Guatemala!!!! Should we need a big infusion of Cash there is always Japan, Taiwan, Korea, & Saudi Arabia.
We can save and buy motorcycles and tour around Europe. We can drift around Peru & Chile and climb mountains and explore jungles and paddle around swamps and dive coral reefs and munch on mushrooms.
Learn Thai. Learn Spanish. Learn Japanese. Learn French. Learn Italian. If Im fortunate Iíve got another 36-65 years of my life. Why not spend it seeing the world-- live in a new country every 2-5 years..... learn a new language and meet new people and make new friends and go with my friends--- my nomadic tribe.
Patience man, patience. These last few months are a short blip. Good things are happening. Ive got contacts at Thammasat university now. Iíve got 500 hours of Thai at AUA. Iím almost 2/3rds of the way through a TESOL Masters. Im a certified SCUBA diver. I am VERY confident about teaching now... have several effective techniques to draw from,.... have a sound theoretical foundation to my teaching methods..... have clear ideas about teaching all different levels..... have a set of guiding principles and ideas. All in all, once I get some practice with these techniques.... my teaching effectiveness will make an exponential leap.
So Banzai!!! Just need to remember why Im doing what Im doing.... what it will enable me to do in the future and what it is enabling me to do now. I imagine last year in Gainesville.... lonely and miserable and among the super-cool redneck Republicans of that foul shit-hole. Impoverished for months-- living off free food, free coffee, and Taco Bell. Bored, depressed and friendless. Shackled to an evil job at DFACS for two weeks. Mind and creativity utterly drained by the bland conformity of that place. Now THAT was misery! Patience patience. Things are evolving more slowly and subtlety than I prefer (what's new!!), but evolving they are. Here I am, after all, living and studying in Bangkok Thailand.
So patience and persistence are the order of the day. Ive got a travelogue video to shoot. Ive got a clan to build. Ive got a language to learn ( And goddam it, Im gonna learn it!). This is a time of tremendous potential and change but much is happening under the surface that I don't usually realize.... Another year or two here and very deep changes will settle in--- the nomadic international life finally takes hold. Then its on to South America or Europe or Japan or wherever. Fuck America and fuck Americans and their arrogance and wilful ignorance.... but most of all fuck the cowardice and boredom and bland sterility of that awful place. No more fucking strip malls for me. No more obsession with safety and cleanliness. America is the fucking Godhead of boredom. No more America.
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