(Revolution for the Hell of it, is a 1968 publication, written by
Abbie Hoffman, but published under the pseudonym “Free.” It is essentially a
roughly written manual for revolution).
Based on the title of
the book alone, I knew the author’s political attitude would be radical. I was
right. I was prepared for something out of the ordinary, and I received what I
was prepared for. This book is like none other I have ever read. The diction
reads almost like an unedited though-track—the direct musings of the author—spilled
on to paper. At times, the ideas expressed are so absurd a rational reader can’t
possibly take them or the author
seriously. Yet, the book has so much to offer.
As I read, I couldn’t
help but take the ideas Hoffman supplied and manipulate them to fit my own ideological
view of the world; this is really the point of reading. I read books like Revolution for the Hell of it for the precise
reason that they make me think. When I read Abbie Hoffman’s words, pleading for
people to, “Do your thing,” I consider what that meant in the sixties, but also
what it means today.
“Do your thing,” is a
powerful phrase. Do what you want to? Do what you are good at? Do what feels
right? Do what you feel you were born to do? Do something because it is
possible? Do something because people say it is impossible? “Do your thing” is
a powerful phrase. What is my thing? That makes me think; I consider myself.
One of Hoffman’s main
points is to escape the system—to dismantle and discredit it at every turn. “Don’t
let them make a machine out of you,” he writes (page 35). This is not the first
time I’ve considered “the system.”
System: It is
political, it is economical, and it is social. The system exists on so many
levels. Years ago, when I first read Marx, I began to understand and consider “the
system.” I don’t like the hold it has on me. The system has so many boxes. It
is made of boxes. Some of us don’t fit as nicely into those boxes as is
requested of us. Some of us want to carve out new spaces within the system,
perhaps even on the edge of the system.
Another subject I find fascinating
and thought provoking within Hoffman’s book is the idea of “street-drama.” A
good deal of the book is focused around not relying on words, but rather on
acts. Hoffman operates with the theory that traditional speeches—spoken rhetoric—
no longer hold anyone’s attention. “Get their attention,” he writes. “Leave a
few clues and vanish” (30).
This book has so many
layers to offer. Hoffman is considered a leader of the Yippie movement, yet he
rejects hierarchy, ideologies and even, it seems, the existence of the Yippie
movement.
To Hoffman, the myth
seems more useful than the truth.
There is so much more
in this book which I could write about, but I think I’ll just leave off with a
few quotes which will hopefully get someone else thinking and possibly reel in
a few readers into reading this book.
“We are living contradictions”
“Words
can
be
used
to
create”
“Ideology is a brain disease.”
“Competition leads to war. Cooperation leads to productivity.”
“If the country becomes more repressive we must become Castros. If it
becomes more tolerant we must become Warhols.”
Hoffman, Abbie. Revolution for the Hell of It. New York: The Dial Press, 1968. Print.
