Why Hakim Bey?

According to Robin:

We have included Hakim Bey in our website for a variety of reasons--easy reading and light entertainment are not among them. In fact, I find him annoyingly difficult and gratuitously obscure. So why bother? Because he is the only visionary I have read lately that seems to have a grasp of the current day state of affairs in our culture. In the 50's I read Jack Kerouac (On the Road, The Subterraneans, The Dharma Bums, etc.) which seemed like a good preparation for the 60's. During the 60's I didn't find any visionaries I could relate to, so I winged it on my own. In the 70's I found Harry Browne (How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World), which served me well on a day to day basis. But as the 80's approached I became increasingly confused about the changes taking place around me. I maintained an energy and creativity throughout this period, but found fewer and fewer people of like mind. Practically everyone I knew had resigned themselves to "getting by" and "fitting in". What I remember of the 80's could be summed up in "He who dies with the most toys, wins!" and I considered that a very bad joke, indeed. In spite of the cultural climate (or lack thereof) around me, I lived through the 80's in communal settings (Vanguard Group & Orion Community). A couple of years ago I discovered the writings of Hakim Bey (Temporary Autonomous Zone or simply T.A.Z.). It was such a difficult read I didn't finish it until after I discovered another of his works--Immediatism.

Hakim Bey offers a unique viewpoint from which to observe today's culture. Is he right? I think so, but it doesn't really matter. I'm not looking for answers--I'm more interested in a viable perspective to explore, a jumping-off point to experiment in my own life. I think Bey makes a good filter--if someone can't comprehend the gross passivity and the lack of immediacy in our culture, then they will probably have problems comprehending me.

Acording to Kathy:

For me, Hakim Bey is a real easy read and highly entertaining. That's because there is hardly a syllable in Bey's stuff that, for me, doesn't ". . . ring true and glow like burning coal, pouring off of every page like it was written in my soul . . ." [Dylan, of course, "Tangled Up In Blue."] I really dig his voice. I know what most of his arguably obscure references mean--and when I don't, I usually go find out and am usually delighted with what I discover he discovered. The only thing that annoys me about Bey is that he got it all written down and published before I did. He's also gone and used a lot of my favorite metaphors, affectations and conceits--coconspiracy, pirates, those/we who watch like poets, listen like thieves. In short, if you like Bey, you might like me--if you really hate him, well, . . .

Not that I am Bey's minion or fan. We just appear to have the same take on the subjects he's addressed in print so far. He's not the only angel-headed hipster I've got that kind of connection with. But he's one of a handful that lived in this century, let alone that are still alive . . . so he affords the extra kick of being a visionary whose visions I can watch unfold in a social context I am experiencing myself, . . . and that's far out, a trip, a real blast.

And now, on to Hakim Bey himself . . .

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