Always resist
much, obey little
Commentary
by DICK DORWORTH
"Society
is like a stew. If you don’t keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum
on top."
— Ed
Abbey
"To
the States, or any one of them, or any city of The States, Resist much,
obey little;
Once
unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved;
Once
fully enslaved, no nation, state, city, of this earth, ever afterward
resumes its liberty."
— Walt
Whitman
These
four little words, "Resist much, obey little," are identified
in the minds of many with the iconoclastic American writer Ed Abbey, who
died in 1989. They comprised one of his favorite sayings and summarized
his attitude toward and relationship with Western culture, American
society and the U.S (and every other) government. They are the title of
a fine book of essays about Abbey by some of America’s best writers.
They are words to live by, ponder upon, gain inspiration from, and use
as a personal code.
Resist
much, obey little.
While it
is clear that Abbey thought of them more as a private policy than a
group guideline, Walt Whitman had something different in mind when he
addressed them "To the States." Abbey proudly described
himself as "descended from an endless line of dark-complected,
lug-eared, beetle-browed, insolent barbarian peasants." Whitman
celebrated himself. Each produced a large body of great writing that had
an enormous influence on the literature, culture and social/political
consciousness of America. In addition, I believe both men led personally
and socially meaningful, soulful, and, most importantly, raucously
enjoyable lives. Such unusual accomplishment was necessarily accompanied
by a refined crude sense of humor (Abbey in particular) and a constant
adherence to those four little words: resist much, obey little.
"Society
is like a stew. If you don’t keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum
on top," Abbey wrote. And what better way to keep society stirred
up than by resisting much, obeying little. In all cases, in all places,
in all times, in all hierarchical dynamics—secular, religious, civil,
legal, military, familial, governmental, economic and any other man made
entity imaginable—unquestioning obedience leads to a lot of scum on
top. As any serious student of the stew of society knows, once the scum
is in place, further unquestioning obedience tends to solidify and keep
it there. Thus the ethic of all those who call for unquestioning
obedience from others. The strength built from resisting and the
knowledge gained from questioning make the individual (and the States) a
threat to those whose power relies on keeping a scummy lid on things,
which, of course, ruins the stew.
I am in
agreement with Abbey that free people are honor and duty bound to keep
the pot stirred. Resist much, obey little. It makes for a healthier and
better tasting stew. There are many ways to resist much and obey little.
One need not cross legal boundaries by assaulting the gods of private
property through monkey wrenching, as Abbey both did and encouraged a
generation of political/social/environmental activists to do. Nor need
one even resort to being outrageous in stirring the stew and encouraging
people to think, as Abbey did while serving (for one issue) as editor of
the University of New Mexico’s literary magazine. On the front cover
of the magazine was printed "Man will not be free until the last
king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest!" signed,
Louisa May Alcott. Some were not amused. Others were greatly amused. All
were forced to think, and making people think, of course, was Abbey’s
job as editor of an intellectual journal. My old friend Ron Moroni was
(for one issue) editor of the University of Nevada yearbook. In the
section on fraternities, Ron chose to portray a different fraternal
perspective than the traditional one of a generic head shot of each
fraternity boy at his best: groomed, smiling, serious, studious and
responsible, above average in all ways. Ron ran an outrageous photo
taken at one of the more raucous parties inside the house of one of the
more prominent fraternities showing several of the more prominent boys
on campus obviously besotted with beer, disheveled in appearance, and
supporting upon their laps a few naked hookers from Nevada’s legal
brothel industry. Some were not amused. Others were greatly amused. The
process of thinking was stirred in the community.
Resist
much, obey little.
One need
not cross legal boundaries or even be outrageous to resist much, obey
little. In a democratic society where less than half of eligible voters
bother to vote, a country where less than 25 percent of eligible voters
cast their votes for the present President and (with the assistance of
Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris and the U.S. Supreme Court) brought us the
disaster that is our current administration, just the act of voting can
be an act of resistance.
Just
thinking about those four little words stirs the stew. Resist much, obey
little.
Always.