A group spurred on by their own inner motivation, the Beats paved the way for the American mindset we have today. Rebellious in nature, The Beats' influence reached so far that words such as "hip" and "cool" became part of our everyday vocabulary. They took everything with a grain of salt, and insisted on seeing the world for what it really is. Rejecting material goods, they go with the flow, and roll with the punches, making for a very dynamic, vibrant social group.Many Beats wished to open their minds to the world and experience new sensations. For this reason, recreational drug use became inextricably linked to the Beat Generation. Poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs regarded drug use as an important part of life, meant to allow you to exist in multiple mental states and stimulate you beyond your imagination. Now when speaking about drugs it's best to understand what the Beats considered to be drugs. William S. Burroughs explains best his stance on drug use in a commentary on his novel Naked Lunch (1959):
"When I speak of drug addiction I do not refer to keif, marijuana or any preparation of hashish, mescaline, Banisteriopsis caapi, LSD6, Sacred Mushrooms or any other drugs of the hallucinogen group... There is no evidence that the use of any hallucinogen results in physical dependence"
Burroughs, receiving a monthly allowance of $200 from his parents, was able to forgo employment and have complete freedom for twenty-five years of his life. During this time, he left Harvard University, traveled throughout Germany and Austria, aided a Jewish refugee in coming to the United States, enlisted in the United States Army and was discharged, eventually landing him in New York City selling heroin to support a morphine addiction. All in all, though, a pretty normal life. Burroughs had several turbulent periods in his life (did I mention he killed his wife?), and serious drugs seemed to be an everyday occurrence, although he managed to keep his life together until the ripe age of 83, dying of a heart attack in Kansas.
Allen Ginsberg, the Jewish leftist homosexual of the group, highly valued his drug experiences. In 1948, Ginsberg claims to have heard the English poet William Blake reciting poetry that he had written. Although it is unclear whether Ginsberg was actually "tripping balls" at this point, he does explain that his subsequent "drug experimentation in many ways was an attempt to recapture that feeling". It is, after this experience, that Ginsberg thinks there to be an "interconnectedness of all existence". Also, Ginsberg works to bring drug use into the mainstream. With passionate ideas regarding politics and personal freedoms, Ginsberg sought to legalize marijuana and promote more common use of LSD. In his poem, Put Down Your Cigarette Rag (Don't Smoke), he brings to light the dangers of smoking tobacco, and juxtaposes that with drug use. "30 thousand die of coke or
Illegal speed each year
430 thousand cigarette deaths
That's the drug to fear"
Finally, we have Jack Kerouac, the one poet that could write of sex, drugs, and other worldly sins so matter-of-factly that critics would think it to be a mistake. Kerouac, in an interview, tells that "Poem 230 from Mexico City Blues was written purely on morphine" and that "every line in this poem was written within an hour of one another...high on a big dose of M". Kerouac uses the effects of drugs to place himself in a different mindset and write poetry. Unfortunately, the psychedelic drugs commonly used throughout the 50's and 60's were quickly demonized by the establishment, bringing about their government recall and classification as dangerous substances.William S. Burroughs once said that "Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use of any other drug with special horror". It is true that, unlike drugs, alcohol related accidents account for a significantly inflated number of deaths in the United States. While alcohol and tobacco are pinned as the cause of over 500,000 annual deaths, the number of marijuana related deaths remains stagnant at zero. Now, I may be nuts, but considering the statistics...what's wrong with weed?
FURTHER READING:
Excellent post jezza! Incredible info, and great reflection on what you read about! Love the doors movie, excellent addition to what you wrote!!! Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteJezza--I think this is a wonderful blog post. It really delves into the lives of the beat poets, and what they liked to do. We know about their poetry but we don't know much about their activities including their illegal drug activities. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteJezza, this post is truly very good. The historical value of the beats, and their drug use has had an impact on the decades following the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.
Jezza,
ReplyDeleteI love this post. The topic of drugs can be made into an entirely inappropriate post, but you executed it very well with valid information. The way you made drugs a part of the beats and their poetry (even though we know that occurred) made it more real, for me at least. It made an actual connection and understanding of the 1950's and the movement after reading this. This is my favorite post. Goood job.