Discussion of Gert Heilbrunn's Article, How “Cool” is the Beatnik?

Let me tell it like it really is.

Let me tell you who it is we speak of.

There are perhaps a score of recognizable and distinct groups, all of which would be classed together by the too-casual observer, and nearly all of which would—and justifiably—resent it. They “all look alike” to the superficial observer, but they wear very obvious marks, easily distinguishable by themselves. They are all thought to behave alike, and “everybody knows” how that is. Actually, group activities vary from beer parties to poetry readings, from pot-smoking to modern dance—and often those who indulge in one wouldn't touch the other. They are all believed to think and feel alike, yet they range from anarchists to communists to those politically indifferent, from violent revolutionaries to those who reject violence altogether, both as a political weapon and as a personal way of life.

All of them do have one thing very much in common—a tremendous tolerance, both for personal hang-ups and for philosophical differences. In great part because of this tolerance, there is great overlap of groups; that is, there are many people who reflect characteristics of two or more of these distinct groups.