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The Lemonade Ocean & Modern Times: A Position Paper by Hakim Bey
1. One More River to Cross
In our _experience_ (that is, not merely in intellectual speculation
but in everyday-life) we have found that "the Ego" can be as much of a
_spook_ as "the Group"--or indeed, spooky as any abstraction which is
allowed to control behavior, emotion, thought, or fate. Deeply as
we've been influenced by Stirner/Nietzsche Tucker/Mackay, we have
never held to any rigid ideological or psychological form of
Individualism/Egoism. Individualist anarchism is lovely dynamite, but
not the only ingredient in our cocktail.
Our position, put quite simply (in the form of a truism): The autonomy
of the individual appears to be complemented & enhanced by the
movement of the group; while the effectiveness of the group seems to
depend on the freedom of the individual.
In the 1980's--thru poverty, terror, mediation, & alienation--the
individual was more & more isolated, while all forms of "combination"
(communes, co-ops, etc.) were eliminated or else reduced to pure
simulation. The pleasures of the isolated ego have begun to pull as
the "self" is gradually reduced to a comm-terminal or funnel for
commodity-fetishes. In the 90's we will demand effective means of
_association_ which depend neither on Capital nor any other form of
representation. We reject the false trance of the Spectacular
_group_--but we also reject the lonely ineffectiveness of the
embittered hermit. Always one more illusion to overcome!
2. Maximizing Marx
"Type-3 anarchism" (a term coined by Bob Black) designates a radically
non-ideological form of anarchism neither Individualist nor
Collectivist but in a sense both at once. This current within
anti-authoritarianism is not a new invention, however (nor has it been
given any final form). One can find versions of it in such works as
_bolo'bolo_, or in the writings of the Situationists. One Situ group
("For Ourselves") went so far as to suggest a synthesis of Max Stirner
& Karl Marx, who in real life were bitter enemies. They pointed out
that Stirner's psychological existentialism does not necessarily
conflict with Marx's economics. Bakunin criticized not Marx's original
critique but rather the solution he proposed, dictatorship.
As for us, Stirner outweighs Marx because psychology precedes
economics in our theory of liberation--but we read Stirner in the
light of Bakunin & the early Marx--the light of the 1st International
& the Commune of 1870--the light of Proudhon.
In order to clarify this position, we'll introduce two more names from
our "family tree," Steven Pearl Andrews (1812-1886) & Charles Fourier
(1772-1837). In a sense we find them a more congenial pair than Max
und Marx, because they both made significant donations to the cause of
erotic liberation (a central concern of the Mackay Society), unlike
say the virginal Bakunin, or Marx or Proudhon--both prudes--or for
that matter Stirner, Nietzsche, or Tucker, who all more or less
avoided the subject. Serious historians of the Social often ignore
Andrews & Fourier because they were "cranks"--utopianists, marginals,
Blake-like visionaries. One needs to be something of a surrealist to
appreciate them. But our appreciation is more than erotic, aesthetic,
or spiritual. We also draw from them a precise picture of our own
position in the "type-3" current of contemporary libertarianism.
3. Lemonade Ocean
Fourier was amazing. He lived at the same time as De Sade & Blake, &
deserves to be remembered as their equal or even superior. Those other
two apostles of freedom & desire had no political disciples, but in
the middle of the 19th century literally hundreds of communes
(phalansteries) were founded on fourierist principles in France, N.
America, Mexico, S. America, Algeria, Yugoslavia, etc. Proudhon,
Engels, & Kropotkin all read him with fascination, as did Andre Breton
& Roland Barthes. But today in America he is forgotten--not one
complete work by Fourier is in print here--a few anthologies came out
in the 70's but have vanished--& only one work about him (a fine
biography by Jonathan Beecher, which may serve to stir some
enthusiasm). Fourier's own disciples suppressed some of his most
important texts (on sexuality), which did not appear in print till
1967. It's about time he was re-discovered again.
To quote Fourier out of context is to betray him. To say for example
that he believed the ocean would turn to lemonade in the future, when
humanity comes to live in Harmonial Association, is to make him a
figure of fun (as Hawthorne did in _The Blythedale Romance_). To
understand the beauty of the idea it must be seen in the context of
Fourier's grand & brilliant cosmological speculations, rivals in
complexity of Blake's prophecies. For Fourier the universe is composed
of living beings, planets, & stars, who feel passion & who carry out
sexual intercourse, so that creation itself is continual. The miseries
of Civilization have deflected Earth & humanity from their proper
destiny in a literal cosmic sense. _Passion_, which we have been
taught to regard as "evil," is in fact virtually the divine principle.
Human beings are microscopic stars, & all passions & desires
(including "fetishes" & "perversions") are by nature not only good but
necessary for the realization of human destiny. In Fourier's system of
Harmony all creative activity including industry, craft, agriculture,
etc. will arise from liberated passion--this is the famous theory of
"attractive labor." Fourier sexualizes work itself--the life of the
Phalanstery is a continual orgy of intense feeling, intellection, &
activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts. When the social life
of Earth is harmonized, our planet will re-join the universe of
Passion & undergo vast transformations, affecting human form, weather,
animals, & plants, even the oceans.
Passion draws humanity into _association_ just as gravity draws
celestial bodies into orbital systems. The phalanstery is a little
solar system revolving around the central fire of the passions. Thus,
altho Fourier always defends the individual against the tyranny of the
_Civilized_ groups (what we've called Spectacular groups, in the
modern context), nevertheless for him the group in its ideal form
takes on a quality of absoluteness. It's been jokingly said of him
that the only _sin_ in his system is eating lunch alone. But
"association" cannot be considered a form of collectivism or
communism--it is not strictly "egalitarian," nor does it eliminate
personal property or even inheritance. Moreover, all the elaborate
titles & ranks Fourier delighted to invent for his Harmonians were
voluntary & purely ceremonial. The Harmonian does not live with some
1600 people under one roof because of compulsion or altruism, but
because of the sheer pleasure of all the social, sexual, economic,
"gastrosophic," cultural, & creative relations this _association_
allows & encourages.
4. The Convivial Individualist
One of Fourier's favorite illustrations of how harmony works even in
Civilization was the dinner party, where wine, wit, & good food are
enjoyed according to a spontaneous order, not subject to any law or
morality. Social Harmony would be like a never-ending party: Fourier
envisioned people leaping out of bed at 3 a.m. to pick cherries as if
they were rushing off to a grand ball.
Steven Pearl Andrews (who also used the dinner-party metaphor) was not
a fourierist, but he lived through the brief craze for phalansteries
in America & adopted a lot of fourierist principles & practices. His
chief mentor was Josiah Warren, first exponent of Individualist
anarchism (or "Individual Sovereignty") in America--altho Warren in
turn inherited much from certain strains of radical democracy &
Protestant "spritual anarchy" which can be traced to the earliest
Colonial period. Andrew was a system-builder, a "logothete" like
Fourier & Blake, a maker of worlds out of words. He syncretized
Abolitionism, Free Love, spiritual universalism, Warren, & Fourier
into a grand utopian scheme he called the Universal Pantarchy.
He was instrumental in founding several "intentional communities,"
including the "Brownstone Utopia" on 14th St. in New York, & "Modern
Times" in Brentwood, Long Island. The latter became as famous as the
best-known fourierist communes (Brook Farm in Massachusetts & the
North American Phalanx in New Jersey)--in fact, Modern Times became
downright notorious (for "Free Love") & finally foundered under a wave
of scandalous publicity. Andrews (& Victoria Woodhull) were members of
the infamous Section 12 of the 1st International, expelled by Marx for
its anarchist, feminist, & spiritualist tendencies.
Like Fourier, Andrews created a "religion" to replace all the corrupt
authoritarian cults of Civilization. We admit that this mystical
tendency in both thinkers interests us a great deal, & again rouses
our sympathies more than the cold atheism (or "fundamental
materialism") of a Stirner of Marx. Type-3 anarchism includes for us
the heritage of the Ranters, Antinomians, & Family of Love, as well as
radical forms of buddhism, taoism, & sufism.
Like Blake, Fourier & Pearl Andrews built systems of their own so as
not to be slaves to someone else's--& these grand structures included
psychological, sexual, & spritual dimensions missing from mere
ideological or philosophical systems. The structural details of
Harmony & Pantarchy are fascinating & inspiring, but for us their
deepest value lies in the daring of their total "radical
subjectivity." Fourier & Pearl Andrews created _poetics of life_, not
merely politics or economics, & it is this aspect of their work we
most admire & wish to emulate.
5. Universal Pantarchy & North American Phalanx
In a more immediate sense, however, we find that Fourier & Pearl
Andrews offer useful arguments & practical hints for the establishment
of a kind of association which seems even more desirable now than
before the age of Late Capitalism, Dead Communism, pure Spectacle, &
the eerie alienation of credit cards & answering machines, polls &
surveys, computer viruses, & immune-system breakdowns. In the 1980's
even the anti-authoritarian "Margin" fell into a spooky state of
communication via the mail, BBSs, xerography, & tape. Physical
separateness can never be overcome by electronics, but only by
"conviviality," by "living together" in the most literal physical
sense. The physically divided are also the conquered & Controlled.
"True desires"--erotic, gustatory, olfactory, musical, aesthetic,
psychic, & spiritual--are best attained in a context of freedom of
self & other in physical proximity & mutual aid. Everything else is at
best a sort of representation. The entire revolt against Civilization
can be seen (at least from one point of view) as an attempt to
recreate the autonomous intimacy of the band, the _free association of
individuals_.
Morbid loneliness is no better than the engineered consensus of the
New World Order--in fact the two are but opposite sides of the coin,
like homelessness & rent: false individualism vs. false collectivism.
In the face of this illusory dichotomy we will continue to propagate
Individual Sovereignty--but at the same time proclaim that our first &
most urgent research of the decade must concern the nature of
association.
Thus we announce our intention to revive & amalgamate both the
Universal Pantarchy & the North American Phalanx, the local (NY area)
manifestations of Andrews' & Fourier's systems. The new Universal
Pantarchy & North American Phalanx (UP/NAP) will be first a society of
appreciation & research (more musty-dusty 19th century obscure
crackpots to venerate & imitate!)--but also & perhaps more importantly
it may become a _nucleus of association_. We plan to make field trips
to the original sites of Modern Times & the Phalanx; we intend to
revive the fourierist tradition of banquets; we plan to construct a
shrine to Fourier & the Pantarch; we may even go so far as to produce
another newsletter!
And perhaps our research will actually lead to further experiments in
the creation of temporary autonomous zones, free times & spaces
excavated in the walls of Babylon--creative autonomy & comradeship in
the no-go areas where power has "disappeared"--& who knows? even in
our lifetimes, the _mutation_..."A crank? Yes, I'm a crank: a little
device that causes revolutions!" (E.F. Schumacher).
Long live Individual Sovereignty! Long live the Pantarchy! Long live
Harmony!
--April 7 (Fourier's birthday) 1991
NYC