Hakim Bey Makes the World Beautiful
From his essay “Against the Reproduction of Death”:
Existence itself may be considered an abyss possessed of no meaning. I do not read this as a pessimistic statement. If it be true, then I can see in it nothing else but a declaration of autonomy for my imagination & will– & for the most beautiful act they can conceive with which to bestow meaning upon existence.
This is my spiritual philosophy in a nutshell. This is why I can’t believe in gods or saviors. But it’s difficult to get this across. In all my rampaging deconstructions I am sometimes accused of being a nihilist. People watch me tear apart the worlds and stories of others and misinterpret this as rage at the emptiness inside me. Not so. It is that emptiness which allows me to fill myself with new and better narratives. For we badly need them. (Who here is truly satisfied with the story of the War on Terror, or the old insulted honors of Israel versus Palestine?)
My only mistake is not being good enough at what I want to do, not being able to write compelling enough new and healthy myths. (And science and learning come into my stories because true myths are healthier than false ones.) My chief failing is that the world I can envision isn’t yet beautiful enough to be more convincing than all the old hurts.
Bey again:
Art can never mean as much as a love affair, perhaps, or an insurrection. But . . . to a certain extent . . . it works.
