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Permanent TAZs
by Hakim Bey
TAZ-theory tries to concern itself with existing or emerging situations
rather than with pure utopianism. All over the world people are leaving or
"disappearing" themselves from the Grid of Alienation and seeking ways to
restore human contact. An interesting example of this-on the level of
"urban folk culture"-can be found in the proliferation of hobby networks
and conferences. Recently I discovered the zines of two such groups, Crown
Jewels of the Hlgh Wire (devoted to the collection of glass electrical
insulators) and a journal on cucurbitology (The Gourd). A vast amount of
creativity goes into these obsessions. The various periodic gatherings of
fellow-maniacs amount to
genuine face-to-face (unmediated) festivals of eccentricity. It's not just
the "counter-culture" which seeks its TAZs, its nomad encampments and
nights of liberation from the Consensus. Self-organized and autonomous
groups are springing up amongst every "class" and "sub-culture". Vast
tracts of the Babylonian Empire are now virtually empty, populated only by
the spooks of MassMedia, and a few psychotic policemen.
TAZ-theory realizes that THIS IS HAPPENING- we're not talking about
"should" or "will be"-we're talking about an already-existing movement. Our
use of various thought-experiments, utopian poetics, paranoia criticism,
etc., aims at helping to clarify this complex and still largely
undocumented movement, to give it some theoretical focus and
self-awareness, and to suggest tactics based on coherent integral
strategies-to act the midwife or the panegyrist, not the "vanguard"!
And so we've had to consider the fact that not all existing autonomous
zones are "temporary". Some are (at least by intention) more-or-less
"permanent". Certain cracks in the Babylonian Monolith appear so vacant
that whole groups can move into them and settle down. Certain theories,
such as "Permaculture", have been developed to deal with this situation and
make the most of it. "Villages", "communes", "communities", even
"arcologies" and "biospheres" (or other utopian-city forms) are being
experimented with and implemented. Even here however TAZ-theory may offer
some useful thought-tools and clarifications.
What about a poetique (a "way of making") and a politique (a "way of
living-together) for the "permanent" TAZ (or "PAZ")? What about the actual
relation between temporariness and permanence? And how can the PAZ renew
and refresh itself periodically with the "festival" aspect of the TAZ?
THE QUESTION OF PUBLICITY
Recent events in the US and Europe have shown that
self-organized/autonomous groups strike fear into the heart of the State.
MOVE in Philadelphia, the Koreshites of Waco, Deadheads, Rainbow Tribes,
computer-hackers, squatters, etc., have been targeted for varying
intensity-levels of extermination. And yet other autonomous groups go
unnoticed, or at least unpersecuted. What makes the difference? One factor
may be the malign effect of publicity or mediation. The Media experience a
vampiric thirst for the shadow-Passion play of "Terrorism", Babylon's
public ritual of expiation, scapegoating, and blood-sacrifice. Once any
autonomous group allows this particular "gaze" to fall upon it, the shit
hits the fan:-the Media will try to arrange a mini-armageddon to satisfy
its junk-sickness for spectacle and death.
Now, the PAZ makes a fine sitting target for such a Media smart-bomb.
Beseiged inside its "con-pound", the self-organized group can only succumb
to some sort of cheap pre-determined martyrdom. Presumably this role
appeals only to neurotic masochists??? In any case, most groups will want
to live out their natural span or trajectory in peace and quiet. A good
tactic here might be to avoid publicity from the Mass Media as if it were
the plague. A bit of natural paranoia comes in handy, so
long as it doesn't become an end in itself. One must be cunning in order to
get away with being bold. A touch of camoflage, a flair for invisibility, a
sense of tact as a tactic...might be as useful to a PAZ as a TAZ. Humble
suggestions:-Use only "intimate media" (zines, phonetrees, BBSs, free radio
and mini-FM, public-access cable, etc.)-avoid blustering-macho-
confrontationist attitude-you don't need five seconds on the Evening News
("Police Raid Cultists") to validate your existence.
Our slogan might be:-"Get a life, not a life-style."
ACCESS
People probably ought to choose the people they live with.
''Open-membership" communes invariably end up swamped with freeloaders and
sex-starved pathetic creeps. PAZs must choose their own membership
mutually-this has nothing to do with "elitism". The PAZ may exercize a
temporarily open function-such as hosting festivals or giving away free
food, etc.-but it need not be permanently open to any self-proclaimed
sympathizer who wanders by.
THE EMERGENCE OF A GENUINELY
ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY
Once again, this is already happening-but it still needs a huge amount of
work before it comes into focus. The sub-economies of "lavoro nero",
untaxed transactions, barter, etc., tend to be severely limited and
localized. BBSs and other networking systems could be used to link up these
regional/marginal aeconomies ("household managements") into a viable
alternative economy of
some magnitude. "P.M." has already outlined something like this in
bolo'bolo-in fact a number of possible systems already exist, in theory
anyway. The problem is: -how to construct a true alternative economy, i.e.
a complete economy, without attracting the IRS and other capitalist
runningdogs? How can I exchange my skills as, say, a plumber or moonshiner,
for the food, books, shelter, and psychoactive plants I want-without paying
taxes, or even without using ally State-forged money? How can I live a
comfortable (even luxurious) life free of all interactions and transactions
with CommodityWorld? If we took all the energy the Leftists put into
"demos", and all the energy the Libertarians put into playing futile little
3rd-party games, and if we redirected all that power into the construction
of a real underground economy, we would already have accomplished "the
Revolution" long ago.
THE "WORLD" CAME TO AN END IN 1972
The hollowed-out effigy of the Absolute State finally toppled in "1989".
The last ideology, Capitalism, is no more than a skin-disease of the Very
Late Neolithic. It's a desiring-machine running on empty. I'm hoping to see
it deliquesce in my lifetime, like one of Dali's mindscapes. And I want to
have somewhere to "go" when the shit comes down. Of course the death of
Capitalism needn't entail the Godzilla-like destruction of all human
culture; this scenario is merely a terror- image propagated by Capitalism
itself. Nevertheless it stands to reason that the dreaming corpse will
spasm violently before rigor mortis sets in-and New York or LA may not be
the smartest places to wait out the storm. (And the storm may already have
begun.) [On the other hand NYC and LA might not be the worst places to
create the New World; one can imagine whole squatted neighborhoods, gangs
transformed into Peoples' Militias, etc.] Now, the gypsy-RV way of life may
be one way to deal with the on-going melt-down of Too-Late Capitalism - but
as for me, I'd prefer a nice anarchist monastery somewhere-a typical place
for "scholars" to sit out the "Dark Ages". The more we organize this NOW
the less hassle we'll have to face later. I'm not talking about
"survival"-I'm not interested in mere survival. I want to thrive. BACK TO
UTOPIA.
FESTIVALS
The PAZ serves a vital function as a node in the TAZ-web, a meetingplace
for a wide circle of friends and allies who may not actually live fulltime
on the "farm" or in the "village". Ancient villages held fairs which
brought wealth to the community, provided markets for travelers, and
created festal time/space for all participants. Nowadays the festival is
emerging as one of the most important forms for the TAZ itself, but can
also provide renewal and fresh energy for the PAZ. I remember reading
somewhere that in the Middle Ages there were one hundred and eleven
holidays a year; we should take this as our "utopian minimum" and strive to
do even better. [Note: the utopian minima proposed by C. Fourier consisted
of more food and sex than the average 18th century French aristocrat
enjoyed; B. Fuller proposed the term "bare minimum" for a similar concept]
THE LIVING EARTH
I believe that there exist plenty of good selfish reasons for desiring the
"organic" (it's sexier), the "natural" (it tastes better), the "green"
(it's more beautiful), the Wild(er)ness (it's more exciting). Communitas
(as P. Goodman called it) and conviviality (as I. Illich called it) are
more pleasurable than their opposites. The living earth need not exclude
the organic city-the small but intense conglomeration of humanity devoted
to the arts and slightly decadent joys of a civilization purged of all its
gigantism and enforced loneliness-but even those of us who enjoy cities can
see immediate and hedonic motives for fighting for the "environment". We
are militant biophiles. Deep ecology, social ecology, permaculture,
appropriate tech..we're not too picky about ideologies. Let 1000
flowers bloom.
PAZ TYPOLOGY
A "weird religion" or a rebel art movement can become a kind of non-local
PAZ, like a more intense and all-consuming hobby network. The Secret
Society (like the Chinese Tong) also provides a model for a PAZ without
geographic limits. But the "perfect case scenario" involves a free space
that extends into free time. The essence of the PAZ must be the
long-drawn-out intensification of the joys-and risks-of the TAZ. And the
intensification of the PAZ will be....Utopia Now.
Hakim Bey
D R E A M T I M E, A U G U ST 1 9 93
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