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ESSAY_ON_THE_UNDERGROUND

   
"The Essay on the Underground" was a
long set that I played on the radio
in the mid-90s.  I was attacking the
concept of the TAZ which was popular
back then, at least in some circles.
       
   The concept TAZ ("Temporary Autonomous    
   Zone") was introduced by Hakim Bey (aka       
   Peter Lamborn Wilson).  I've always         
   assumed that "TAZ" was a generalization of  
   the "rave": a brief moment when a period   
   of freedom can exist in a certain place,   
   before the authorities step in to shut it    
   down.                                      
                                              
   Hakim Bey rants ecstatically                 
   about seizing what freedom                   
   can exist in the cracks in      But look again: isn't
   the structure.                  it a very bleak,     
                                   better-than-nothing  
                                   solution?            
                                                        
                   Wouldn't it be better if you     
                   could change the structure,     
                   create a world where real   
                   freedom exists?             
                                                
      The TAZ is the enemy              
      of the Revolution.                   
                                        In later writings,        
                                        ("Immediatism") Bey/Wilson    
   "The Underground" once called up     tentatively creeps back to
   images of the Free French            the idea of revolution    
   resisting tyranny, fighting to                         
   over-throw it.  In hipster      
   paralance, "underground" seemed     
   intended to be a permanent      
   condition.  A way of life.        
   
   
At the moment I'm not sure what I played 
in this set... in lieu of the playlist, 
here's what I remember:
   
   
   Lead:                                                              
   "Poetic Terrorism" on the Hakim Bey cd (with music by Bill Laswell)
                                                                      
   In the middle things like:                                         
   "Subway Culture" by the local punk band Cone of Silence.           
                                                                      
   And at the close:                                                  
   "Niggers are Scared of Revolution" by the Last Poets.              
                                                                      
   



But there's an appeal of the TAZ:
you don't *need* to "win".

You can live a life worth 
living, in whatever world 
exists. 





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