Selling Drugs and Revolution to Children in America

Looking at the Left ^ | June 12 2009 | El Marco

[Milhous]

The Politics of Nihilism at the Denver Art Museum:

... Garcia’s "not thinking about revolution or war" statement is a clear indication of a rift between the R. G. Davis Marxists and the Timothy Leary Drug Utopians. Although the Communist Party (CPUSA) had made a great effort to formulate the 60’s "youth revolution" the drugs and hip philosophy was diverting their efforts in an unforeseen way. CPUSA had used folk music as a tool to attract followers to their labor movement in the 30’s 40’s and 50’s. Now they were continuing that strategy in the 60’s by attracting talented musicians with gigs and then attempting to indoctrinate them and influence the content of their material. Unlike the earlier "folk movement" the "drugs, sex, rock" combination was proving impossible for them to control. These weren’t after all tired depression era workers and unemployed, but young spoiled baby boomers who didn’t want to work at all.

In the early part of the century CPUSA attracted tired workers to union hall dances with "folk" music and "ladies" who were often party members. It’s no coincidence that the the three-day Trips Festival of January 1966 was held in the Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco. ...

"Turn on, tune in, drop out.

I mean drop out of high school, drop out of college, drop out of graduate school". (PBS Transcript)

I had never seen the full text of Leary’s most famous words until I saw the original footage on the PBS documentary. ...

[Milhous]

Much too long of a trip down memory lane to post in its entirety.

Ditto with me seeing the full text of Leary's most famous words for the first time.

This story also made me aware of the schism between CPUSA Marxists and Drug Utopians. Pravada criticizing Obama seems to echo that schism.

Given how forewarned is forearmed it became most interesting to play "spot the Commie" in PBS' Summer of Love.

[Milhous]

ping

[Maine Mariner]

In 1968, I went to a political forum at the state college I attended.
Representatives from the Republican and Demorat parties were there of course. Representatives of several of minor parties were there as well. I remember chatting with a representative of one of the socialist parties along with my professor. It was clear that drug use by members of that party was considered a serious offense and one could be kicked out of the party for its use.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

"Bring it all down, man!"

The 1960s Marxist-Alinsky street rabble and their ideological issue are still trying -- this time they are the Establishment.

Streets or suites, either way it's

“if we don’t like it, it’s our duty to change it; if we can’t change it, we must destroy it.”

Welcome to Obambwe (as a poster on another site named our impending hyper-inflated nation. "Hey buddy, can you spare a trillion?")

[Huck]

The guy who wrote this article gets his facts wrong. Jerry Garcia/Ken Kesey were not a part of the Tim Leary Utopians. They were pretty much the opposite of that. They were “Merry Pranksters.” And Jerry in particular was far from a utopian. If anything, he was a pessimist. He had a deep distrust of power, and didn’t want anything to do with it. He didn’t tell people what to think. The lyrics of his songs, written by Robert Hunter, again and again disavow authority and place responsibility on the listener.

Storyteller makes no choice,
Soon you will not hear his voice,
His job is to shed light,
Not to master.
(Lady with a Fan)

Excerpt from an interview:

Rebecca: You facilitate the potential for an experience. People have full-on religious experiences at your shows; they pass-out, speak in tongues and are even picked up by flying saucers. Are you aware of the impact you have on people’s minds?

Jerry: Not like that. I’ve made an effort to not be aware of it because it’s perilously close to fascism. If I started to think about controlling that power or somehow trying to fiddle around with it then it would become fascism.

Rebecca: Have you ever been tempted to dabble in the power?

Jerry: Oh yeah. For the first eighteen years or so, I had a lot of doubts about the Grateful Dead. I thought that maybe this is a bad thing to be doing, because I was aware of the power. So I did a lot of things to sabotage it, I thought fuck this! I won’t be a part of this. I dragged my feet as much as possible but it still kept happening! So, in that way I was able to filter myself out of it and think well, it’s not me. Phew! What a relief!

Rebecca: When you said before that you weren’t responsible, you were saying it in a very modest way - I’m not responsible for the wonderful experiences people are having - but at the same time you’re also shedding responsibility for the negative experiences.

Jerry: Absolutely. It’s a cop-out. I don’t want to be responsible. But this is also something I learned from my psychedelic experiences, you don’t want to be the king, you don’t want to be the president because then you’re responsible for everybody!

Rebecca: Have you heard of the Spinners? They wear long dresses and do this whirling dervish dance at Dead shows.

Jerry: They’re kind of like our Sufis. I think it’s really neat that there’s a place where they can be comfortable enough to do something with such abandon. It’s nice to provide that. That’s one of the things I’m really proud of the Grateful Dead for, because it’s kind of like free turf.

Rebecca: It doesn’t bother you that they use you as their religious focus?

Jerry: Well, I’ll put up with it until they come to me with the cross and nails.(laughter)

Rebecca: What are your priorities now? Are they very different to what they were twenty years ago?

Jerry: Not very. Basically, I’m trying to stay out of trouble. I’m trying to play well. For me, playing music is a learning experience and it’s satisfying to me to still be learning stuff. Also, my object is to have as much fun as I possibly can. That’s a key ingredient.