Morning Comrades and welcome back to another dispatch in this series. Of course, timing is as always, everything and there is and was a good reason to publish this one today.
Most, if not all of you will know who Hunter S. Thompson was and I am sure there are many varying opinions of him, his actions and works, mine included. Aside from the antics, however, there exists a time when the journalist became a revolutionary activist, for U.S. standards in any case, and decided
Hunter S. Thompson went to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago as a journalist and returned home disgusted, yet motivated by what he'd just seen: violently suppressed protests, riots, corrupt politicians, and abusive cops. Back in Aspen, he finds more of the same. The local police and sheriff's departments are targeting young people, harassing and charging them with absurd crimes and trying to push them out of town. Hunter decides he has to do something to change the police brutality that has become the norm. Hunter builds his own political movement, which grows from a local sheriff's race to a national media sensation. He creates a radical platform in which he envisions completely reforming the sheriff's office by disarming the police, focusing on environmental crimes and legalizing marijuana. As Hunter and his friends grapple with the challenges of trying to transform the political landscape in Aspen, they become ensnared in the corruption and cronyism of the political establishment. During an era when the police and FBI were hunting down activists and jailing or assassinating them, Hunter's campaign puts him in the cross-hairs of J. Edgar Hoover and the forces that are under the thumb of Nixon. Soon there are death threats, bombings, an agent provocateur and Aspen becomes a ideological battleground for what "The American Dream" really means and how powerful interests often coalesce to undermine democracy.
On election night, Hunter loses by several hundred votes. Though he seems disheartened by his defeat and never runs for public office again, the tide is turning in Aspen. By 1976, one of Hunter's likeminded friends becomes sheriff and Aspen's elected officials begin to reflect the population of one of the most liberal counties in Colorado, enacting many of the policies that Hunter had fought for.
As so often, these type of political subversions are accompanied by art and this movement was no different. Obviously we mostly associate Ralph Steadman most when it comes to Hunter’s work, and he did contribute a few pieces of work to the election campaign, however, most artwork, and definitely all artwork shown here is by Thomas W. Benton, also from the U.S. Benton mostly gave up architecture in 1964 to devote time to his art, though he did design a select few buildings later. He became very involved in local and national politics, creating his first anti-war "peace" poster in 1965 and becoming a charter member of the Aspen Liberation Front, a loose-knit group of peace activists. He used quotes to make sure no one missed the message in his work and occasionally added a straight line to his pieces as representing the "hand of man".
This is a rather in-depth story, with several books and a film dedicated to that time and I can only recommend them all. For the time being, enjoy some of this most wonderful art and catch a few clips at the end of this dispatch.
Be sure to visit the official website with links to the 2020 documentary on it all here.
As always, thank you for your time, support and attention.
Yours, agitating power from below,
V.