Lecture 19Outline of Last Lecture I. LSDOutline of Current Lecture II. Tribal EldersIII. DiggersCurrent LectureTribal Elders, Play, and the Diggers- Extra Credit: Attend hash bash; 7 subculture characters, observe them, analyze eachcharacteristic, is that group qualified as a subculture?; 2 pagesTribal Elders: more important to the hippies than the beatsThey fell into three categories:1. People like:- Allen Ginsberg: made a transition from the Beats to the Hippies; hewas in his 40sBecomes an instant tribal elder- Neal Cassady: in his 40s never became a true hippie, participatedin his events via his association with Kesey2. Tim Leary: educated at west pointe, didn’t have the same fluidity as Allenor Tim, much more rigid, never accepted as a high priest of the hippiescene; early 50s3. The young artists who never wanted the role of Tribal Elder but that labelforced upon them by the movementThe role:They fit into the movement because they have:A knowledge of the scene; proves to the young people that they’vebeen there before you, they’ve been there- Empathy; younger people feel they older people can empathize withthem and the older people can empathize with the young people- The ability and history of going very publicly against themainstream- Being someone you could trustAmcult 208 1st Edition- You use play as a means of community actionPlay is different than games; games are about winning and play is aboutexploration and doing whatever you’re doing, doesn’t have rulesPlay has been described as:- Non-literal orientationo taking something out of its context, transforming realityo Ex: playing with a stick and making it a gun- A suspension of the meaning, purpose or seriousness of social actiono The antithesis of structureo Taking structure and throwing it out the windowo Experimental dialogue with the environmento Ex: when your toys become aliveo Ex: dirt bomb- A mode of organization of behavioro When you invent new rules- The intrusion of unserious mimicry into social interaction- Is fun and resists all analysis and logical investigationso Like Burroughs factualism- It’s harder to play the older you get - Yet we have this innate drive within us to playKids play because it is a natural part of being human, not justbecause they’re kidsPlay was so much the norm, that when you wanted to be serious aboutsomething, you would have to tell someone you were being seriousPlay as ritual: just as society depends upon ritual to maintain its traditionthe Haight used to play to:- Live its life- Continue its growth- Maintain tradition- Inculcate new memberEx: The acid test, music, the shows, concertsThe nature of play is reflective of those traits we associate with thecountercultural lifestyle:- It can deceive- It can beguileo Beguile: charming deception, loving way to put someone on- It can delude- It can bamboozleCoolest way they did this in the Haight: Gray Line Bus Company: HippieHop: “the only foreign country within the US”Older mainstream folks on the busHippies would run up with mirrors so they tourists could only seethemselvesHippie Hop only lasted 2 monthsReturning to a childhood innocence; a lot of what play was aboutHippies were more sophisticated than the beatsThe Diggers:- The social conscious of the Haight- Also called the Levelers- Utilized play better than anyone else in the Haight- They were based on a English subculture that lasted from 1649-1650- They wanted reform and to be free- They were originally from the San Fran Mime Troupe- They created “The Communication Company”o Published broadsides at a moments noticeThe broadside: starts after the printing press; a single sheet which wouldhave news, songs, information, sold on the street of Europe- Provided free meals for anyone who was hungry; took donations from stores- Also started the free frame of reference: collected goods of all kinds and gavethem away for free, but you had to enter the store through the giant pictureframeWhere tie-dye startedOld clothes came in that no one would want to wear and they would dye them and then people thought theywere great- Digger Pranking: bamboozling or deceiving people- Play make life more enjoyable, pisses off mainstream, brings new members to the groupParadox: Its lightness are actually the things that protect its membersIt has to power to overcome some of the hardest obstaclesIt has the ability to disarm the most intense threat, it’s a very strong