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Sclorch
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Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T.
#638418 - 05/20/02 07:44 PM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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A post in another thread led me to this:
For those of you who have read the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe... At the end of the book, when the remaining Merry Pranksters had their last meeting of sorts... when Kesey said that drugs weren't needed, many of the people (of the time) thought he was copping out and covering his ass. I don't think he was covering his ass, does anyone else think differently? If so, why?
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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skaMariaPastora
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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: Sclorch]
#638708 - 05/21/02 04:34 AM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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I haven't read the book but I am family with Kesey and his pranksters. I don't think its unreasonable to assume that he simply moved beyond drugs. Drugs can only open your doors, but once they're open, you have to do the walking through.
In the beginning, the growing enthusiasm over psychedelics led people to believe that they were the answer. However, this was slightly on the naively optimistic side. With time came wisdom and people realized drugs can only take you so far. Kesey was a smart enough man to reach this conclusion, but its not surprizing that his psychedelic-loving followers didn't believe him.
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Eightball
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Drugs can only open your doors, but once they're open, you have to do the walking through.
exactly. people can't operate their lives living in the bliss of acid and certainly they can't influence the government beyond protesting. kesey knew that acid brought a clairty to the concious and this lasted beyond the effects of the drug. to work in their visions of the perfect world or whatever they were aspiring to attain, people need to take the knowledge that acid brought them and to expand that into the world around them. unforunately, sobriety is required to earn the respect of the masses and to actively go out there and change things. i don't think kesey was saying "stop using acid", but rather trying to rally all the heads to use their idealistic visions to make the world a better place.
-------------------- If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on.you'll see devils tearing your life away.
But...if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels
Freeing you from the earth.
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gnrm23
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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: Sclorch]
#638826 - 05/21/02 06:50 AM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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the last happening (while kesey was on the lam) was called the acid tests graduation... for a more personal telling, check out _kesey's garage sale_ & of course, _the further inquiry_ ...
-------------------- old enough to know better
not old enough to care
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Sclorch
Clyster


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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: gnrm23]
#639190 - 05/21/02 11:26 AM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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So nobody thinks differently then???
Good.
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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GRTUD
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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: Sclorch]
#639525 - 05/21/02 04:56 PM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yes, Kesey did cover is ass but I now believe it is possible to both cover your ass and do or say something that forwards a "radical" movement. I think we would (most of us here) rather change not destroy society. As a younger person I didn't really think about change in those terms but as I grew older I saw where I was wrong.
I thought I quoted Keasy from Electric Koolaid Acid Tests when I first wrote this post. I can't find what I quoted in the text and may have read it from something about Albert Hoffman or someone else. The steel trap of my mind isn't what it used to be so I deleted the quote so as not to offend anyone. I originally put it there because I felt it depicted the way Keasy viewed psychedelics. This (I felt) shed light on why he might be inclinded to cover his ass without being totally negative on the issue of psychedelics.
-------------------- "New shit has come to light..."
Edited by GRTUD (05/22/02 04:05 PM)
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Sclorch
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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: GRTUD]
#639945 - 05/22/02 04:57 AM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yes, Kesey did cover is ass I meant did Kesey merely cover his ass...
"Humans needed proof in God so they were given psychedelics." This post has nothing to do with god... don't start a fight where there doesn't need to be one.
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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gnrm23
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Re: Ken Kesey and the E.K.A.T. [Re: Sclorch]
#639976 - 05/22/02 05:25 AM (22 years, 8 months ago) |
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i think that kesey said elsewhere that he was mouthing an ambiguously anti-drug spiel so as to get out from some of the heat he was feeling due to the busts he had to cope with... he was still planning on tripping when the time and place was right... but some of the prankster crew (stewart brand comes to mind) did in fact view the acid tests graduation as on opportunity to move beyond acid... and some of them did just that... (see kesey's drug recommendation in _the last supplement to the whole earth catalog_ ..."good old marihuana" hehheh... oh yeah, and check out the pic of kesey & krassner rubbing cornstarch on their balls, heh...)
-------------------- old enough to know better
not old enough to care
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