Comments on: Talking about Rexroth — from Ken Knabb http://www.dietsoap.org/2009/05/18/talking-about-rexroth-from-ken-knab/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:13:25 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Doug Lain http://www.dietsoap.org/2009/05/18/talking-about-rexroth-from-ken-knab/comment-page-1/#comment-526 Doug Lain Thu, 21 May 2009 16:27:16 +0000 http://www.dietsoap.org/?p=582#comment-526 Hi seasontoseason! Thanks for the comment. It is nice to know that you're out there getting something out of these posts. You might want to check out Ken Knabb's website for more of his essays on Rexroth: http://bopsecrets.org Hi seasontoseason!

Thanks for the comment. It is nice to know that you’re out there getting something out of these posts.

You might want to check out Ken Knabb’s website for more of his essays on Rexroth:

http://bopsecrets.org

]]> By: seasontoseason http://www.dietsoap.org/2009/05/18/talking-about-rexroth-from-ken-knab/comment-page-1/#comment-524 seasontoseason Tue, 19 May 2009 16:25:33 +0000 http://www.dietsoap.org/?p=582#comment-524 This was a very interesting read. It made a few good points that seem especially important to me: the anti-intellectual attitude of much of the 60's ("the sixties" = the american phenomenon). In some ways i think that this, more than just people's desires to purchase radical-seeming identities in malls, is what allowed historical radical movements (anarchism, e.g.) to be reduced to identity symbols and shallow countercultures ( "circle A" and commercial "punk," for example [I for one still find DIY punk inspiring, but that's a side note]). I often see young activists in portland sort of praying (praising) at the altar of the black panther party or the weather underground. I am happy that this 'new' generation wants to learn about the history of struggle in its many forms, but I want them to actually LEARN about it, not simply valorize it. There were many flaws, not the least of which was an ignorance about struggles abroad and in history. But, most glaring of all, i think, is the theoretical barrenness of the (again, american) sixties. The interview makes the point that our history is being lost to us, and I feel this with the people I know and the scene(s) I run in. There are definitely people who dedicate themselves to learning and immersing themselves in history, but there are many who don't. I can't tell you how sad I think it is for us to try to reinvent the wheel in the middle of a war. Not to mention to lose a connection to the history that complicates, illuminates, and adds beauty to what's happening to us... In the current milieux it seems like there is a compartmentalization & specialization contrary to the spirit KK attributes to the Situationists and other (european, notice) art movements of the earlier generation. This is important for us now, in my opinion. We need to see that there is a need to live revolutionary lives rather than to be either activist workers, lifestylist 'artists' (that's being generous, for some), or armchair theoreticians. I just feel that there's a need to reintegrate the productive energy the fuels all of these areas, the cultures that have been spawned by each. I also think that theory could help us to do this because it allows us to understand the connections and relations among them, and to truly justify our decisions in a variety of areas of life with a common language. ps hi doug *waves* This was a very interesting read. It made a few good points that seem especially important to me: the anti-intellectual attitude of much of the 60’s (”the sixties” = the american phenomenon). In some ways i think that this, more than just people’s desires to purchase radical-seeming identities in malls, is what allowed historical radical movements (anarchism, e.g.) to be reduced to identity symbols and shallow countercultures ( “circle A” and commercial “punk,” for example [I for one still find DIY punk inspiring, but that's a side note]).

I often see young activists in portland sort of praying (praising) at the altar of the black panther party or the weather underground. I am happy that this ‘new’ generation wants to learn about the history of struggle in its many forms, but I want them to actually LEARN about it, not simply valorize it. There were many flaws, not the least of which was an ignorance about struggles abroad and in history. But, most glaring of all, i think, is the theoretical barrenness of the (again, american) sixties.

The interview makes the point that our history is being lost to us, and I feel this with the people I know and the scene(s) I run in. There are definitely people who dedicate themselves to learning and immersing themselves in history, but there are many who don’t. I can’t tell you how sad I think it is for us to try to reinvent the wheel in the middle of a war. Not to mention to lose a connection to the history that complicates, illuminates, and adds beauty to what’s happening to us…

In the current milieux it seems like there is a compartmentalization & specialization contrary to the spirit KK attributes to the Situationists and other (european, notice) art movements of the earlier generation. This is important for us now, in my opinion. We need to see that there is a need to live revolutionary lives rather than to be either activist workers, lifestylist ‘artists’ (that’s being generous, for some), or armchair theoreticians. I just feel that there’s a need to reintegrate the productive energy the fuels all of these areas, the cultures that have been spawned by each. I also think that theory could help us to do this because it allows us to understand the connections and relations among them, and to truly justify our decisions in a variety of areas of life with a common language.

ps
hi doug *waves*

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