On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Arlo Bensinger <[email protected]> wrote:
> [John] > Some in a shallow reactionary way that didn't really go anywhere, but > others in a positive and thoughtful direction that is still working out > today. > > [Arlo] > I don't think you are really in disagreement with Pirsig, except that > perhaps in the general trend of the movement as generalized. I don't think > Pirsig would disagree that many of the contrarian-hippies did move forward. > Indeed, I count Pirsig himself among the contrarian-hippies that went "in a > positive and thoughtful direction". I think Pirsig's comments reflect the > failure of the movement to catalyze a large culture shift. The hippies that > went in the good direction are now exceptions to the overall cultural rule. > John] And even as I hurriedly responded I realized it's almost impossible to get any real clarity on such a dimorphous mob as "hippies". One of the sources of dissatisfaction they expressed was loss of individuality in our corporate-industrial system - thus the "movement" never had much real cohesion and definition to start with. > "History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even > without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that > every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a > long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time - > and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.... And that, > I think, was the handle- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of > Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our > energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or > theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and > beautiful wave... So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a > steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you > can almost see the high-water mark- that place where the wave finally broke > and rolled back." (Hunter Thompson) > > I think this passage by Thompson points to the same turning point as Pirsig > does in LILA. That's one of my favorite HST passages Arlo. It definitely resonates with Pirsig. One big difference in analysis is the way Pirsig showed that in the vaccum of values you get when you overthrow the conservative order, it's natural to degenerate back to hedonistic biological satisfaction - if it feels good do it. Which Thompson definitely exemplified. While not recommending hedonistic pleasure to anyone, I must say it's always worked for me... John the para-phraser > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > -- ------------ There are differing interpretations of Reality, some are just better than others, that's all. ------------ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
