Well its a bit like that, since many of these groups are competing for the same space and for one reason or another unable or unwilling to work together in any practical capacity they really go for each others jugulars. Sure sometimes it can be very boring when all the two or more sides do is through quotes and made up terms at each other. But you'd be surprised what else gets brought up in these squabbles. Everyone whose anyone has had their dirty laundry aired from affairs, convictions past associations to weird speeches,I've seen some proper train wrecks unfold. Take for example the CPGB's Weekly Worker some have accused of being nothing more that a rumour rag. Currently all four of its featured stories are about the Socialist Workers Party, three about the ongoing feud over that scandal of a CC member sexually harassing and raping female members only for his mates on the Central Committee to back him up. And the other is about the failures of the Stop the War Coalition a movement closely associated with the SWP whom is also blamed for its failure and breakdown.
However while incidents like the above infighting in the SWP show sometimes an event can be notable and interesting whilst still being cringing and awful to watch unfold. As much as I dislike the SWP I'd rather wish the sexual harassment didn't occur and I certainly wish that once it did and came out in the open the Parties leadership had more backbone then to cover for a mate.
Still as rotten as that episode is there is something far worse bubbling away on the radical fringe. Like a disease it goes by several names, sometimes he goes by the name Peter Lamborn Wilson though he's more commonly known as Hakim Bey (and for brevity I'll be referring to him by that name).
That he's a Paedophile and still able to come and go as he pleases without some form of monitoring when many of his ilk are is quite strange, the fact that his prestige has given him a pulpit to publicly air his views is dangerous as well as very sickening. Anarchists get a bad press, the typical image of an Anarchist is either a fuse lit bomb wielding lone nut, a head butting punk rocker, or a teenage vandal, as such they really don't need creeps like Bey adding friends of child molesters to the list.
Now of course every group, organisation and tribe over a certain size is bound to have a few crackpots and creeps within them but what sets Bey above the usual (I don't want to say common) paedophile is that he uses the language and beliefs of the group he claims to belong to and represent -in this case Anarchism- to justify his perversion and even give it some respectability. That means he's muddying the image of the group by his association. Had he been an Anarchist (or whatever) lecturer or thinker whom it emerged was paedophile that would still be terrible but it would not or at least should not have negative consequences for anyone but himself.
If your sceptical of the dangers that people like Bey (whom use other groups and movements to cloak them) represent then look at the example of the LGBT community. What was one of most common accusation hurled at Gay's and less often Bi's to justify why their sexualities were wicked and sick? Paedophilia. For a long time it was assumed all Paedo's were Gay, and that was all the proof needed to justify its criminalisation and its stigma in public. In Britain we have two slang terms, Ponce and Nonce, Ponce means homosexual and Nonce means Paedophile though the terms were often interchangeable.
And of course the association of Gay=child molester was actively encouraged by Paedophiles since the Gay rights movement started organising in the West in the late Seventies in order to gain sympathy and acceptance for their own activities. To this day you can still find bigots trotting out the old "Queers rape kids" argument, usually to oppose the formal entry of homosexuals into organisations like the Scouts.
Now paedophilia is a very serious accusation and I wouldn't be comfortable making that accusation even when others already have without proof. Fortunately I have plenty.
Now before I continue I'm warning you now, some of the stuff quoted and linked from this point on will be graphic descriptions of sexual activity with or about children. It's very sickening stuff. Leave now if you don't think you can handle it.
Probably Bey's most famous work is the clumsily titled The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism (T.A.Z.)
You can read it in full on his website now looking at the first few sentences you may wonder where's the issue well I did too when I was first made aware of Hakim's ways. Some said that TAZ was mainly a justification for Paedophilia since its about establishing temporary zones were laws and social boundaries no longer apply but it seemed like a bit of reach. Then someone showed following quotes
"Many people assume that because I sometimes express myself as an anarchist boy-lover, I must also be "interested" in other ultra-postmodern ideas like serial child-murder,"The above is taken from the sixth paragraph of the one of the later sections called "Against the reproduction of death". He quite clearly admits to being a "boy-lover" but also an "Anarchist Boy-lover" clearly confirming his attempts to link the two. I and others have brought this up with supporters of Bey (and yes he has supporters) the only answer I've ever received is to claim misinterpretation or taken out of context. The latter is simply false the passage is fully in context he admits to being a boy lover then denies that he's also into child murder. And how can you interpret " I sometimes express myself as an anarchist boy-lover," to be anything other then an admission of paedophilia? the term Boy lover is a euphemism for the molestation of young males, NAMBLA (Which I remind you all stands for North American Man Boy Love Association) is an organisation designed specifically to abolish age of consent laws to make sex with young boys legal.
The only other possible explanation is that Bey isn't a Paedophile (which is false) but for what ever reason chooses to identify as one. Remember he said "I sometimes express myself" not "I am often smeared with insults and false allegations as" and if that is the case as weird as it may be you need to prove it to be the case.
Two paragraphs further down in the same section we have this worrying admission
"Sometimes I've used dangerous stupifiants like religion, marijuana, chaos, the love of boys."I hope for his sake and those who turn a blind eye to his ways that by "Used the love of boys" he means tried being attracted to boys and not what I fear is an admission of actual sexual congress with a child.
The above is abhorrent but its only a few passages in a long rambling work, perhaps we could give Mr Bey the benefit of the doubt? Can we hell I have plenty more. A group that Bey is very closely linked to is Ontological Anarchy (remember it being in the title of T.A.Z.) and his website(s) maintain a lot of info on the work and ideas of Ontologicals. On a page titled Communiques of the Association of Ontological Anarchy http://www.t0.or.at/hakimbey/taz/taz2a.htm we have a list of proposed propaganda idea number three was and I quote
3. Paste up in public places a xerox flyer, photo of a beautiful twelve-year-old boy, naked and masturbating, clearly titled: THE FACE OF GOD.I which this was the end of it but it just keeps on going. Most of Bey's works including the aforementioned T.A.Z were published by NAMBLA either in its bulletin or Gayme a members only magazine and as the title hints another attempt to link Paedophilia and homosexuality. Source
Some Bey supporters when confronted with Bey's sordid publication history have come up with the poor and completely unsubstantiated claim that NAMBLA published his work without his knowledge. This is easy to disprove as even the partial list compiled so far as the period in question stretch from 1985 to 1997 and in addition Bey submitting author notes to accompany many of his pieces appearing in those publications. In particular his poetry.
I gave a warning before but I'm going to give one again I'm about to reproduce one of Bey's poems in full. It is without a shadow of a doubt the sickest thing I've ever read (and I've read Mein Kampf, and other other tracts about race murder and rape) and I'm thankful for the computers ability to copy and paste because there is no way in hell I'd type it out.
It's called My Political Beliefs (we'll get to why afterwards)
barelegged on his bicycle in the park he rides beneath
a children's fountain droplets catch his hair which
the afternoon makes somewhat bronze, beaded with molten dew
--the sunset over Jersey like an industrial krakatoa:
Newark Gold, Secaucus Red, East Orange.
The button on his blazer: Anarchist Bicyclists
he's in the bathtub, I see
him through a crack in the door playing with himself, he calls me in, shows me
underwater push-ups and sit-ups, except for his gallic buttocks his skin is gilt as the air over the Hudson. The touch of his wet, bath-wrinkled fingers in my hand... but then...
one of his parents clumps down the hall... I suppose to make sure neither of us is raping the other...
[chorus of groans] Ohhh! for a
Buster-Keaton-bomb all spherical & black as coaldust with sweet sparkling with sweet sparkling fuse a mindbomb to
Drop on the Idea of the Family! O for a libertarian isle of runaways! O goodnight
Moon, I am lost, actually lost without him
But I didn't want this to be
Just another poem about hopeless love. Pretend it's a manifesto instead. Down with School! Boy Rule OK! In the land of dreams
No governance exists
But that of anarchs and kings, for dreamers have not yet learned to vote or think past the unfurling of the moment. He touches my cheek, runs delicate fingers through the hairs on my arm.
My liege shatters all Law for a triple kiss.
--Hakim Bey
For the record I first stumbled upon that vile tract when googling the title after hearing so much about it from his critics. I found it here and the articles author claimed the poem first appeared in the June 1986 edition of NAMBLA's bulletin. Returning to this list for a moment we see that it does indeed appear in the list, same title same edition.
Why was it called "my political beliefs" well according to the last stanza's were Bey starts talking to the reader he
"didn't want this to beNo governance hey, were have I heard that before I wonder? I rest my case.
Just another poem about hopeless love. Pretend it's a manifesto instead. Down with School! Boy Rule OK! In the land of dreams
No governance exists"
Just a few more things before I wrap up, one finally argument I've known Bey supporters to declare (sadly even after that poem was thrown in their faces) that its all a big media conspiracy. This is again false, I was actually surprised when I realised I had heard of Bey before I discovered his paedophile activism, when interviewed or asked for comment in my experience the media treated him like any other counter cultural type, a bit eccentric but that was it. And you at home can prove this claim to false too, simply go to google (or any search engine of your choice) and type in Hakim Bey plus any combination of Paedophile/NAMBLA/boylove etc. and see who comes up. In my experience there's only two types of people seriously talking about Bey's paedophilia and his attempts to link it to Anarchism. They are Anarchists themselves who are understandably appalled at Bey's merging of their ideals and worried about being associated with him, and anti paedophile activist groups. For example you may of heard of the campaign to boycott online retailers of books (especially amazon) for there allowance of a mostly second hand market for pro paedophile literature (no not Lolita the real deal) guess who happens to be on the "watch out" list? That's right Mr Bey they've also dug up some interesting reviews that lend credence to the fears that Bey is actively causing harm for the groups he claims to belong.
these books are now out of print, many of them can be found for sale on Amazon.com. And just who is buying them?Now I haven't read "Boycott Cop Culture" so I have no idea what its about, it doesn't appear in the list of works published by NAMBLA/Gayme, so it could be a standard Anarch critique of the police, but given his track record I'm doubtful.
tj
perhaps not the "greatest poet", which is terminlly hubristic at worst and utterly naive at best, but certainly among the most beautifully and toically relevant poets of all time here at bC...Anacreon
In case you haven't seen it, I highly recommend Hakim Bey's extremely relevant essay "Boycott Cop Culture." It's from the 90's, but still perfectly valid.
HumanistAt least one of his fans (Aztram AKA Harold Spurling) was convicted of sexually abusing children (one of whom was just three months old) not don't misunderstand me as loathsome as Bey and his work is he didn't force Harold Spurling to commit his crimes, Spurling is the main culprit, however Bey's "non standard" poetry clearly help normalise Harold's sickness, he even borrows a quote by Bey in explaining his love of boys.
A number of anarchists, most notably Hakim Bey, are quite open about their pedophilia, and anarchist bookstores and infoshops are often sources of literature supportive of childlove.Itinerant giggle
I'm seeking possible leads for a girllove equivalent of the writings of the antinomian mystic boylover Hakim Bey (aka Peter Lamborn Wilson).Enochian
Writer Hakim Bey was a well known individual in both the Anarchist and BL communities.
Another one of Wilsons pedophile readers, Harold Spurling is currently in trial, facing charges for sexually abusing a three month old baby and numerous other children:Now one final point before I finish (and I hope never to have to return to this sorry subject) some have argued that while Bey's attractions are deplorable can we not separate a man/woman from his work? In general I agree with this view but have two big reservations with this argument applying to Bey. First a work can only stand alone if the author gives it the ability too, Beys in my opinion (at least a lot of it) doesn't because he's intertwined his Anarchism with his Paedophilia T.A.Z. his most political work was about creating a space were laws and societal norms no longer existed (if only for a time) were the individual can do what to them feels good. And what by his own admission in that very text makes him feel good "Loving boys" which means he conceived of T.A.Z. At least in part to create some sort of "safe zone" for Paedophiles. I don't have to bring up the fact it was published in NAMBLA again do I?
Aztram AKA Harold Spurling
Personally, I'm well beyond the point of needing to ask myself WHY boys, to me, are "the shining gems in an otherwise lustreless world." [Thanks to Hakim Bey for that exquisite line.] I don't care why.Aztram AKA Harold Spurling
He's my fave, too. Especially, shall we say, his "non-standard" poetry. Maybe that comes off as redundant.
It is possible to have good politics while being a terrible person, sticking with Anarchism Proudhon the first man to call himself an Anarchist was a vicious Anti-Semite. I don't mean he made a few non PC jokes about them being greedy, he called them the enemy of mankind and advocated their destruction.
Demand its expulsion from France with the exception of those individuals married to French women. Abolish synagogues and not admit them to any employment. Finally, pursue the abolition of this religion. It’s not without cause that the Christians called them deicide. The Jew is the enemy of humankind. They must be sent back to Asia or be exterminated. By steel or by fire or by expulsion the Jew must disappear.So why then are the works of Proudhon so easily available when arguably his position as the first Anarchist (self identifying anyway) would make his views even more dangerous to Anarchism? Because it kept those views private, the quote above is from his private journal his actual published works were separate from his rather worrying hatred.
But lets say I'm wrong I freely admit I haven't read everything by Bey some works my have value and be detached from his obsessions. And if thats the case shouldn't they be fine to read and discuss? Sure, but if that is the case there is something incredibly important you need to do if dealing with his work. And that is to acknowledge his many problems and criticise him for it. Every work or piece by him should have a big disclaimer disavowing Bey's more questionable activities and beliefs. Letting him get away with publishing his dross without comment or challenge is akin to enabling those activities and contributing to their normalisation to a wider audience.
You might have heard about Jimmy Savile a prolific paedophile who for years got away with abusing and raping many young girls whilst being a very prominent and well known celebrity often lauded for his work for children. From his backstage dressing room to boarding schools and children's wards he victimised many teens. There were rumours for a very long time that he was a paedophile due to some very odd and very public behaviour so why then was he able to get away with it until his death? That's a very complex question some claim he was protected by both his bosses at the BBC and friends in the press and government but I think it also had something to do with the fact that no one really challenged or questioned him about his dodgy behaviour. The closest he got to a grilling was years after the fact on a Louis Theroux documentary.
When people fail to confront shall we call it a "bad habit" in a friend or acquaintance it gives it room to develop and go further, whether it be Alcohol addiction, theft, bigotry, or in this case paedophilia. That's why its very important to confront these things when they occur. Keeping silent does nothing but help things get worse.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.The quote is quite worn but its truth like that of Bey's paedophilia is undeniable.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to know your thoughts on Hakim Bey.
Robert Helms