Sixties and Oldies

[Paul Mackin]

On Tue, 6 Feb 1996, Chris Stolz wrote:

> 
> Notes on the '60s---
> 
> 1)  we are freer, wealthier, more liberated now than then.
> 
> 2)  important to distinguish between symbolic importance of a
> period and what actually happened
> 
> 3)  '60s were only made possible by the massive conservatism of
> the times.
> 
> 4)  it is ironic-- and Pynchon knows this well-- that the same
> decade that produced the most important social movements in
> canada and the u.s. which have fundamentally transformed society
> was also the decade that saw the birth of the
> counter-counterforce.  the '60s' symbolic excesses were fuel for
> conservative americans in the '80s.  in the sixties, the process
> of media agglomeration began.  this would eventually make it
> impossible for the left to get heard in the u.s., one of the
> reasons why the right has done so well considering the stupidity
> of many of theiur ideas.  viet nam in a strange way paved the way
> for an american military renaissance under reagan, and, as
> chomsky points out, taught th americans to really listen to
> roosevelt by walkign much more softly in the carribean and
> carrying a much bigger stick-- witness the covert wars fought in
> latin america by the americans scared of getting mired in another
> viet nam.  

I suspect a lot of us probably agree with much from Chris's notes
on the sixties.

His ideas sound a lot like those of Hakim Bey, an underground
folk philosopher of the Web.

Check out the following sites for more on Hakim Bey:

http://www.directnet.com/Crash/ScreamsAndWhispers/HakimBey/Lowind
ex.html
                                   
http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/Misc/Hakim_Bey/
                                                      
http://www.euro.net/mark-space/Hakim
                                                    
http://www.vpro.nl
                     
Hakim thinks the Right is too strong to be defeated by direct
attack. The Left needs to gather strength (and practice it's
craft) in what he calls "Temporary Autonomus Zones" (TAZ). Small
very tight cells like the old-time revolutionaries. And what goes
on in these cells (TAZ)? Everything from orgies, to political
action and hashish manufacture. Hakim says the key is to not
appear in the media: no talk shows! And stay mobile. Be very
selective about who you admit to keep out police agents. 
Hakim uses the old Chinese Tongs as a model.
                           
He has a Pynchonesque sense of humor.
                                                        
				P.