Go Further and Steal This Book: Books by Ken Kesey and Abbie Hoffman

Ken Kesey and Ken Abbie Hoffman are two of the most well known figures of the sixties and seventies. Each strove to end what they saw as oppression, conformity, and an ill-functioning society. Each had a different approach, and the activities of each produced vastly different results. There are even those who, growing up in this time, were affected by the activities of both men. By looking at the successes and failures of each, it is possible to produce a guide for those wishing to make changes in the present and in the future.

Ken Kesey, the revolutionary behind the acid movement and the leader of the Merry Pranksters, advocated the taking of acid as a way to open doors in the mind that those in the white middle class society held firmly closed. Once these doors into a new "realm of consciousness" (Wolfe, 40) were open, and one had learned to walk through into the new and often bizarre world that was revealed, Kesey's rallying cry was "furthur." It was necessary not only to walk through this figurative door, but to live on the other side forever and to "emerge as Superheroes." (Wolfe, 323)

Kesey was described as "a glorified beatnik up on two dope charges" (Wolfe, 6) by police, but he was in reality a charismatic and likeable leader. He led his followers onward, always seeming to know the next step, all while claiming to be the "non-navigator." (Wolfe, 267) Kesey's method for inducing change was to throw monstrous parties which he called "Acid Tests." These tests would simulate the effects of acid through lighting and sound, while also providing acid to those who wished to experience it. At this point, acid was still legal, and Kesey was within his rights to spread his message in this fashion.

Through acid, Kesey hoped that people would learn to stop playing the games of others, and to live in their own "movies". He hoped that each person would be "up front" and allow others to live this way as well. Kesey also realized that for this to ultimately be productive, "it was time for the psychidelic movement to go 'beyond acid'" (Wolfe. 8) He began, instead of hosting acid tests, to plan an Acid Test Graduation. His ultimate goal was always to move "furthur," and though there were many who claimed that all of the progress made had been due only to the drugs, Kesey was convinced the altered state could be reached outside acid.

This movement beyond acid was prompted by Kesey's return from Mexico. He said that there was no real progress while he was gone, and that "(He) saw the same stuff when (he) got back as when (he) left. It was just bigger" (8) In San Francisco, especially, the movement had expanded from a group of friends and acquaintances to a lifestyle. Kesey says that "all of a sudden it was like the acid Tests had taken root and sprung up into people living the Tests like a whole lifestyle" (353) Although Kesey's goals were reaching fruition, he was not happy with his loss of the power to direct and control the movement.

There were at this time opposing factions within the acid movement, and Kesey no longer had control. He was merely along for the ride, guiding the Merry Pranksters and watching as the movement exploded into a culture of its own. As he began to advocate going beyond acid, those who had thus far held him almost as a god began to doubt him. And then, when he held the Acid Test Graduation and failed to provide the vital next step, he and the Pranksters became virtual outcasts.

The group began to fall apart, though the acid movement continued to grow. The general feeling among the Pranksters was that "WE BLEW IT" (Wolfe, 411) The Warehouse was emptied of the "Prankster Debris" (Wolfe, 405) which rested outside like trash for some time, until those in the community began to see it as an eyesore and cleaned the area. Kesey retreated to Oregon to begin writing again, even though he had claimed in the past that he'd "rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph." (8) Unfortunately, because Kesey had made promises which he was unable to keep, he was forced to return to the role of the seismograph.

In the eyes of the world, Ken Kesey could be described as either a complete success and a revolutionary, or completely and utterly mad. From these standpoints or from others, it cannot be denied that Kesey and the Pranksters affected the lifestyle of Americans in the sixties. Things changed, and the changes continue in a cascading fashion even today. The Acid Movement is a failure only through the eyes of Kesey himself, who always felt as though the movement should go further, and who finally reached a point where he could not communicate the next step to those waiting patiently to take it.

Abbie Hoffman, a contemporary of Kesey's who was mostly active in the seventies and eighties, worked in another way. Although he advocated the use of marijuana, he claimed that "The only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon." (Hoffman, 99) Also, Hoffman recommended the opposite of Ken Kesey's "turn away and say fuck it" (Wolfe, 225) policy. Hoffman presented information that could be used actively, to steal, make bombs, attend demonstrations, and many other practical activities. In describing Abbie Hoffman, Al Giordana says that "he wasn't bigger than life, or better than it. He was, in a word, alive." (Giordana, Introduction)

Abbie Hoffman wanted to end oppression and "to test the limits of free speech." (Hoffman, Introduction) He felt that there must be a better way to live than through the current paper money system, and he advised readers of his book to live "free," in both a monetary and intellectual sense of the word. He wanted his books, especially Steal This Book, to be a sort of survival guide for the American people. The fact that this book seems like mere common sense to many modern readers argues for the success of the book in previous decades. As Giordana comments, "There was no Bart Simpson. But there was Abbie Hoffman, without whom Bart would not have been possible." (Giordana, Introduction)

Hoffman worked toward his goals in various ways. He was an activist, and worked on the issues of civil rights and the defense of youth countercultures, such as Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. Hoffman also wrote several books other than Steal This Book, one of which, Revolution for the Hell of It, presented an alternate economic theory. Hoffman was repeatedly arrested for his participation in protests and riots, and believed that if the people did not actively participate in democracy, then democracy would fall apart.

Hoffman also believed that a demonstration was not only about numbers. He said that "those who believe that a demonstration should be concerned with education rather than theater don't understand either," (Hoffman, 147) implying that it requires a bit of excitement and entertainment to get your point across. One method of doing so, prior to the demonstration, is to set off a bomb of one sort or another. Other, more covert methods, such as a "Flush for God" campaign, can be highly effective as well.

When discussing things such as thievery and bombing, Hoffman insists that no individual person, especially another member of the Free Nation, be harmed. In the case of bombs, he is specific about timing and placement. His instructions are to "Never use anti-personnel shrapnel bombs. . . Direct them away from any area in which there might be people. . . Operate in the wee hours of the night and be careful you don't injure a night watchman or a guard. . .Telephone in warnings." (Hoffman, 178) When it comes to theft, he admonishes "To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To NOT steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral." (Hoffman, XXII) These guidelines are reminiscent of Kesey's communal lifestyle.

Hoffman also provides methods for getting the word out, many of which are low cost, low risk ventures. One such method is to place a piece of dark cellophane over a flashlight with a message cut into the cellophane, and to flash this message onto the walls of a theater. Also, it is possible, with some bravery and good timing, to spray-paint your message on walls. These methods of free advertisement provide "Community within our nation, chaos in theirs." (Hoffman, XXII) Without an identity as a group, it is impossible to accomplish much of anything.

The accomplishments of an activist such as Abbie Hoffman may not always be many. However, by not only living the life of an activist, but by providing others with a handbook for easily doing the same, Hoffman immortalized himself and his Free Nation. Steal This Book, originally thought to be impossible to publish, was in fact published and was a massive success. Hoffman continued his activities almost until the moment of his death, a suicide attributed to bipolar disorder and the news that his mother had cancer.

Both Abbie Hoffman and Ken Kesey have helped shape the world we live in today, and especially the youth counterculture which still exists (though whether this counterculture has been absorbed by the white middle class in a discussion in itself). Rules were broken and often destroyed, policies were changed, an new forms of expression through literature and music were born. The effect of these two men upon our society is very clear, both through their actions and the books they have published, and through the works of others, such as Tom Wolfe.

Ken Kesey laid the groundwork for breaking free from the oppression laid upon the people around him by the strict society of the fifties and early sixties. Through acid and other drugs, Kesey helped to free the minds of his followers from the confinement they could not break free of on their own. For those who were not content with white middle class society, he provided a group to belong to and a cause to work toward. This group was entirely outside the white middle class society, and worked mainly to ignore and distance themselves from government, police, and their representatives. Ken Kesey's failing was only that, in his never-ending push onward, he finally reached a point when he was not able to provide the next step he so adamantly proclaimed must be taken.

Abbie Hoffman worked, alternatively, in a fashion that directly involved the police and government. He believed that the solution to the problems he saw was not to ignore society, but to reform it. Hoffman worked to achieve this through rioting, demonstrations, and various other methods of deviance. Although his personal actions may or may not have forced change from what he called the Pig Empire, he was able to produce this change with the assistance of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who read his book, and continue to do so. Lisa Fithian says, in a letter to the dead Hoffman, that his "spirit is alive and well," (Fithian, Forward) and that his book lives on to provide us with his words, even after his death.

Although the method of living outside the culture and the method of actively changing it are both valid, it seems that there is a clear choice between them when looking to provide a better life for those who come after. Ken Kesey is what sociologists would call a charismatic leader. After he lost power, it was difficult for those following him to continue the movement in his stead, and the movement broadened and transformed into the Hippie culture. Abbie Hoffman, however, an authoritative leader, worked to see real, lasting changes in policy and behavior. In this way, the changes he made are more permanent, and the effects of his work are much easier to observe.

Neither man can be said conclusively to have either failed or succeeded based on the goals they held in their own minds. But based merely on the physical changes one can witness in the society around us from what we know of how things were in the fifties and early sixties, it is clear that progress has been made. It is also clear that in order to promote further change, we must first break free of the society that is holding us back, so that we can see the changes that must be made, and then we must actively make those changes.