Illumninatus! Author Needs Our Help

Criceratops writes, "Almost every fringe-geek worth their salt has read 'The Illuminatus! Trilogy,' or at least the 'Principia Discordia,' and much of the enlightenment therein came from Robert Anton Wilson. On the eve of 'Xena' being officially named Eris, Douglas Rushkoff's blog reveals that the extremely ill Mr. Wilson can't make his rent. Another testimony to how our society refuses to reward those who enrich it... but not if we can help it!"

Comments

I Don't Know, Man

[eldavojohn]

...the extremely ill Mr. Wilson can't make his rent. Another testimony to how our society refuses to reward those who enrich it... but not if we can help it!

Well, this post will be modded as flamebait but it can be as much flamebait as the above. First off, I will argue that our society does not, in fact, "refuse to reward those who enrich it." Enrichment turns out to be subjective and relative of how many people you enrich. I think we rewarded The Beatles and Stephen King quite handsomely. It is true, however, that authors produce art that is becoming less and less appreciated by the general populace daily so it does not surprise me that a fringe Sci-Fi author has fallen on hard times.

Second, I don't know what he spent his money on or what he will spend my money on. When I give money to people on the street asking for it, I take them into the nearest restaurant and order them up a meal and leave. That's so I know my money isn't spent on drugs. I'm not saying he's a drug addict, I'm just concerned he might not be able to afford his rent in the first place for a particular reason. I pay my rent just fine, it was harder in college but I've made ends meet, what makes him so special?

Lastly, he's lived in Brooklyn his whole life. Fine. I would like to point out, however, that there are many other spots where rent and living is cheaper. I know quite a few small peaceful towns in Minnesota where rent for an apartment is $200/month everywhere. Get a job as a stocker at WalMart and stop being an anarchist/conspiracy theorist (hey, that's what it says on the linked Wikipedia page) refusing to do actual work for money in our 'system'.

I haven't read any books by him, so maybe I'm really missing out on something. But instead of sending him money, I'd rather send him a letter advising him on how to live a better life throw a steady income job.

Re:I Don't Know, Man

[eldavojohn]

Did you miss the bit where the article says he's extremely ill?

I don't see that anywhere in the 'article.' Now I see it in the Slashdot summary but the article only says he was in an extremely pitiful flesh suit.

Go ahead and quote the part in the article where it says this. If he is ill, I am extremely sorry for him. I'm sorry for making a suggestion to get a job but, you know, Robert Jordan of Wheel of Time Fame is also extremely ill and I don't see him making the front page of Slashdot asking for rent or medical bill money.

I apologize for sounding coarse but people go through hard times. I sincerely hope that the last months of Robert Anton Wilson's life are enjoyable and that he spends time with his family and friends.

Re:I Don't Know, Man

[eldavojohn]

No, sir, you are the one who is the liar.

Nowhere on the Wikipedia page does it say "polio" I just did a search for it. I read most of it and did not see anything that said he was ill.

I apologized for saying these things many posts ago, yet you still, for some reason think it's important to call me a liar and a "sad, sad, excuse for a human being." I did not know he was ill. Only the summary explicitly says that and I will stand by it. Nowhere on the article did the author come out and say he was "ill." I apologized, I was wrong, human beings are wrong.

I'm not on a high horse. I've taken homeless people to restaraunts, I really have. Sure they were McDonalds, but I also hand out water to homeless people if I see them baking in downtown D.C.

It does not shock me that my post is modded as flamebait but the fact that yours isn't stuns me even more.

Cue all the anarcho-capitalists....

[gentimjs]

Cue all the anarcho-capitalists about how people "deserve" poverty for some reason if they have difficulty performing economically, and how they are "sure" he could work at mcdonalds or something...

/me rolls his eyes

How about some of us who havent read his books consider buying a copy?

Wilson

[Threni]

Can't he write another 5 books or something, containing another..uh..stimulating cut'n'pasted bunch of crap from whatever psuedoscientific crap he's into these days?

Re:Payment for his copyrighted work?

[ScentCone]

You posted that on Slashdot, where every third post is a complaint about the tyranny of copyright and payment for the use of intellectual property?

How naive.

Excellent observation. But I think instead of "naive" you might be looking for "contextually hypocritical." No one that hangs out here for long would be foggy on the way this audience treats the concept of making more money, down the road, for something you did yesterday (to say nothing of 30 years ago). Especially when what you did was produce some information (which wants to be free, blah blah blah). What the folks looking to send this guy money really want is to reward him, with cash, for his slightly loopy world view.

I started reading the Illuminatus! Trilogy a...

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

...few weeks ago. After about 200 pages I gave up. I never give up on books. Well, almost never. But this was the worst written crap I have ever read in my life. I was so let down. This book is a modern icon that has had so many cultural influences. I've had the book on my shelf for many many years. But it was unreadable. It was so bad I could't bear to keep it around the house and sold it again. So here's my recommendation: the idea of the Illuminatus! Trilogy is wonderful. Whatever you do, don't ruin the idea by actually reading the book.

Besides being bad literature it does a terrible job of building up a believable conspiracy theory. This book may have helped create the conspiracy theory genre, but later authors have done so much better with the idea. Even Dan Brown's writing looks good by comparison.