Hi, classmates! I would like to
share this interesting and funny picture taken in 1963; it shows Allen Ginsberg
with a poster that says “Pot is fun.” When I saw the photo, I remembered the
first class when we talked about “The Beat Generation,” why? Because we said
that drugs were relevant for this movement—I do not know if “relevant” is the
correct word, but they characterized this period.
Beat writers wanted to “escape” from
America, where society tried to show a fake image of what reality was. This
group of people—The Beats—were totally disappointed at the situation in the USA
after the World Wars, including materialism, capitalism, the importance of
money, etc. They thought that in this way they could not be able to transcend;
the system gave them neither the freedom they were looking for nor the answers
for their questions. As a result, they realized that the only way to be
independent from their fake country was to release from it; the problem was
that this measure was almost impossible, how can a person release from
everything? I think that is totally absurd, but at least The Beats could give their
minds a “break…”
The idea of feeling free, seeing the
world through different eyes, or seeking new experiences could be possible with
drugs. Drugs gave the chance of being apart from the boring society in which
they were immersed. At this point, it is important for me to say that I am not
suggesting that people should take drugs in order to escape from reality; I am
just saying that The Beats found this way to find other perspectives on their false
nation.
It was important for these writers to
find new ways to see reality and to see the world, and drugs helped them with
that search. The Beats used to write whatever came to their minds, what is
called stream of consciousness, and
this can explain some of the topics in their writings because the liberation
they experienced was also reflected in their works. Ideas that were considered
taboos were found in the Beat Literature: sexuality, sexual revolution, drugs, liberation
from censorship, among others. In simple words, The Beats broke the moral code.
Now, we can connect this with our
reality. Many people take drugs to feel free, to forget problems, or to cope
with stress. It can be understandable since we continue having the same
problems that these writers faced, but is this a solution? I mean, at least
people from The Beat Generation created art under the influence of drugs—making
a very good job, in my opinion. However, we might well wonder: what is the
current society doing under the influence of drugs? Something good? Something bad?
Do they contribute to something?
I will be glad to read your comments
and opinions.
Javiera Francisca Ramírez Cornejo.
Seaching on the internet I found this quote "The desire to achieve spontaneity or to confess was not so much experimental or “a dare,” as it was an obsessional need to find print forms for the continuous racing of the mind, a drug-induced vision, with wild swings of manic and depressive feelings”.
ResponderBorrarThis quiote expresses the need the Beat Generation had about consuming drugs, for them it had a purpose. Unfortunately, nowadays drugs have become more like a style to follow rather than a way to cope with stress or to escape from problems, and in that sense this style brings nothing good with it.
Personally, I am not very fond of drugs because I think there may be other ways of facing problems and having fun, but as you Javiera mentioned at least The Beat Generation created art under the influence of drugs and I totally back up their reason.
Hi, Constanza! Thanks a lot for your comment. I think drugs, in this case, were a sort of help to “The Beats,” which served in a way to increase their creativity, but people—I hope not all the people—who take drugs do not do anything profitable under their effects, which is a real shame since many people fight for making some drugs legal, but what for?
BorrarJust like you, I dislike drugs, but if we cannot avoid their use, at least we could take some advantages of them.
Best!
Hi, Javiera and Constanza! While reading both of your comments, I have to say that I completely agree with you. It's not I'm a pro-drugs, neo-hippie girl or something like that--I actually hate drugs, even though I like what its effects have produced in some (if not all) of my favorite musicians--but I think that the Beats used drugs as a way of broadening their minds in order to fight their enemy: the Post-War reality.
ResponderBorrarAs Constanza said, nowadays drug use has become a thing that people use just to escape, not to find answers and ways of solving the problems they have, or to change the reality their are escaping from. Moreover, they are becoming addicted to a harmful substance that they do not even take advantage of. Maybe some people smoke pot in order to reduce the pain of chemotherapy, but what about those that use it "just to relax" or "to escape to a galaxy far, far away" because they do not want to face reality? Shouldn't they know that the only way to free your mind and soul is confronting the problems by knowing your enemy and attacking it in an original way, just as the Beats did by writing things? Shouldn't they know that they are acting in the same way their enemy is acting? If society is trying to collapse them with so much input, information, images, violence, shouldn't they know that if they just escape, they are letting the enemy win? What is the point in doing drugs, then, if they are now using it to broaden your minds and to think about clever ideas to fight the system that is making them feel miserable?
Kind regards to both of you!