[MD] Hippies (and Humour) in the Middle East

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

Salutations Ian,

I don't think one has to be a political scholar to be able to tease apart, or
problematize, the simplistic and ahistorical snippets being fed to us by media
pundits. Although, I do grant that the complexity can seem overwhelming when
one starts to spend time really looking into the historical details. It is a
failure of our schools (as the conservatives so loudly trumptet) that people
lack the historical, ideological, political and sociological perspectives that
would allow them greater understanding beyond the propagandistic "All Good/All
Evil" dichotomization that is creeping into all areas of discourse in our
nation.

What continues to amuse me (I am far beyond anger and annoyance at this point)
is how the right "blames liberalism" for the rise and success of extreme
fundamental conservativism in the Middle East. If liberalism is "to blame" for
anything, it is for being defeated by theocratic, conservative ideologies that
were allies to American conservatives in their Great War Against Liberalism. A
monocultural ideology (see below) blaming a multicultural ideology for the
success of an extreme monocultural ideology. Ah, the grand absurdity and irony
of life.

For another interesting article on this, check out
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=216, a brilliant piece by an
Aussie writer, which concludes with "The answer to terrorism in Australia is
the secular liberalism of Australian republicanism. Maximum liberty, tempered
by individual rights and bound by inclusive and responsive minimal government
is the best means to defeat terrorism and the environment that breeds and
amplifies extremism."

Here, you see, is an examination of what the author would call the "monocultural
movement", where the heavy hand of the nation-state, under the control of
"conservatives", is a forked tongue, on one hand speaking of individual
liberties and freedoms, while on the other advocating "that the "National
Security State" must be a unitary nation-state with one culture, one central
government; and one purpose - security."

Notice how the message seems to be that the only way to achieve freedom is by
blind faith, and unquestioning obedience to the Nation-State. In his recent
post to Ham, Platt adds to Hams sentiment, "But the freedom of a nation isn't
free. It's bought through the hard-won struggle of enlightened individuals who
know its value and will sacrifice their lives to preserve it." the belief that
this is "Not the Hippies".

As anyone who has read Pirsig know, and as I quoted at length in my last post,
is that the "contrarian" is the reinvigorator of society. In Platt's "not the
hippies" comments is implied that somehow the "enlightened individual" is one
who is "wholly and fully obedient and supportive of the State". I don't lump
all "hippies" into any one description, there were some who of course were more
concerned with getting high, but "hippies" (as the bohemians before them, and
the brujo, and even the reformationists way back), are the ones who, as Pirsig
says, are "the really creative people-the artists, composers, revolutionaries
and the like".

The "hippies" the ones who feel "that if they don't break out of this jailhouse
somebody has built around them, they're going to die. But they're not being
contrary in a way that is just decadent. They're way too energetic and
aggressive to be decadent. They're fighting for some kind of Dynamic freedom
from the static patterns. But the Dynamic freedom they're fighting for is a
kind of morality too. And it's a highly important part of the overall moral
process. It's often confused with degeneracy but it's actually a form of moral
regeneration."

What the Middle East needs is more hippies, more contrarians who advocate a
freedom from static social and intellectual controls, a true free society and
not the proposed "monoculture" being advocated by right-wing elements across
the globe, where if you don't blindly and obediently support your government,
you are an "enemy of freedom"... which is as the author of the aforementioned
article rightly condemns as "authoritarian anti-liberal nonsense at its
absolute worst".

Vive le Hippielution!

Arlo