The Legacy of Timothy Leary, Part Two

Any serious discussion about Timothy Leary must admit that on some level Leary was a walking paradox. First there is the issue of the West Point Grad/Harvard PHD turned loopy LSD guru; the classic square/hippie dichotomy that made him such a dynamic person to begin with. Without the West Point discipline and the Harvard smarts the LSD guru would have had no credibility at all. And yet, without the LSD the PHD square would have most-likely lived a life of merely academic aspirations. These two forces of his personality, when combined, created something the world had never seen before: A Doctorate in the field of Head Trippin'. He was a shaman for the New Age, the Good Doctor, instantly ready to apply medicine to the masses because it was good.

Leary's second major paradox comes from his teachings. While exhorting the values of self-realization and freeing your mind, Leary unwittingly molded a new belief system based on the cynical central tenets of nihilism and hedonism. Tune in; question authority; turn on; do what you want; drop out; create your own reality... These are empowering koans sent from the High Priest himself, also very much like those espoused by Crowley in "The Book of Lies", though I doubt Leary would claim Crowley as an influence. However, when I look back at Leary's teachings I can almost feel an undercurrent of hipster peer-pressure hitting the young adults of the day: You must free your mind, NOW! The authoritarian will for everyone to have free minds is just as fascist as the authoritarian will for everyone to think the same, but with a slightly different agenda. The fascist dictator seeks order, the fascist liberator seeks fun.

And really, when you dissect Leary down to the core, cut away all the books and catch phrases and loopy politics, what you find is a man trying to have some fun with reality. He had no problem re-inventing himself over and over, why not re-invent the rest of the world too? Let's turn America into a new Eden! A never-ending party! Free drugs and sex for everyone! Can you possibly imagine a more catchy sales pitch than that? Who could say no to such temptations?

But when viewed from the staid distance of sobriety, Leary's revolution was dirty. It was nasty. It was filthy and unclean. An abomination. Dangerous. Criminal. Corruptive and corrosive to the moral fiber of the youth. An outrage against society. Yet these were the very same things that were said about Socrates before they had him whacked, and Leary was smart enough to realize this. Leary viewed himself as an heir to Socrates, but unlike Socrates Tim was never martyred by the system, he was broken by it. And in terms of legacy, this difference, though subtle, makes all the difference in the world.

And this, of course, may be the saddest paradox of Tim Leary. For all the amazing world-shattering things he accomplished, the Authority he railed against was still able to hunt him and cage him; send him spiraling into insanity and paranoia; turn him into a desperate fugitive (after a daring jail break); and leave him at the mercy of podunk revolutionaries looking for quick and easy power. It is even rumored that Leary turned rat to clean up his legal problems, a rumor that -- even if not true -- tarnishes his legacy as a freedom fighter. In hindsight it is clear why Leary wasn't assassinated; if he was martyred his legacy would be sealed, and he would be forever remembered as a counterculture hero. But, in the wake of personal tragedy, mauled by the legal system, Leary comes off looking like a chump. The once-golden champion of freedom now folds like a burnt-out drug-addled phony. It was a total knockout; after years of taking glancing blows and walking away with a smile, this time Leary was down for the count.

And the world quickly forgot all about him.