Summary

David Susskind: Do you fellas have any religion of any kind? Do you Ed Do you believe in anything any god Ed Sanders 0:48 I believe that the universe is run by forces which we barely understand and as a physical entity it's something to be revered and as a as a you know, a mystical phenomenon to be experienced in terms in periods of enlightenment and I think you know as you know as a as a religious as a formal religion I don't I don't have any but as as as terms of having incredible respect for the universe I guess it is religion David Susskind 1:15 Dr Larry's said on many occasions that he finds in LSD a mystical experience that he comes closer to the Divinity through the use of LSD if you find that to be true, Ken? Ken Weaver 1:31 I find I found myself personally I found an innocence and with sprinkled with I don't know magical qualities and I suppose you could say that divinity divinity I don't know it's just a word Ed Sanders 1:53 What did God look like, Ken? what does she look like? Ken Weaver 2:01 I don't know sort of get along it Shazam that's who he is really Billy Batson buddy And you're familiar we're familiar with Captain Marvel Comics we're, there's there's a quite often a scene where Billy Batson gets lured down into the subway, tunnel by man in a flop hat and he takes him takes him into a long chamber with statues on each side with greed and avarice and bigotry And there's all Shazam sitting down at the end He's really a great looking cat He's got long white hair and big beard, but that's a comic book God, I don't know I don't know if they're real And if there is one looks like that might be hermaphrodite, I suspect it is David Susskind 2:49 Do you pause or perform under the influence of drugs? Does it help you as an artist? Tuli Kupferberg 2:55 Well, it helps me relate to people I get under an under an ecstatic experience I get very affectionate And that's always helpful, you know, helps you grow man that's we could use more or affection David Susskind 3:11 Is marijuana and an affection inducing drug? Ed Sanders 3:14 Yes Helps you a blip Tuli Kupferberg 3:18 Yeah, this is this is what this is what people who have opposed drugs like even coffee and tobacco down through the ages, you know, used to be able to be executed for drinking coffee in Turkey The beginning, and I think you're executed if you don't drink, drink coffee, and smoking to in some of the European countries I think this is one of the this is one of the accusations that's been thrown against all drugs I think what drugs do essentially is to break up your patterns And this can happen without drugs too Of course, it happened in the blackout It happened in depression It happens in wars Unfortunately, this is one of the attractions of wars And most people lead lives of quiet desperation That's what the Rose said others not so quiet And if whenever you're thrown out of your routine, you can realize how miserable you've been And you can start, you know, reconstructing the world to a certain extent Of course, the danger is always to fall back That's why during the blackout, I wasn't here But I understand people were very friendly There was lower crime rate, and it was considered a great experience by many people David Susskind 4:38 We take a question Yes, ma'am Audience Question 4:40 I'd like to know what happens to you when you go outside of the village or outside of macdougal street You're preaching peace and nonviolent activities But what kind of harrassment do you face on the part of say local authorities or police in New York or in Podunk or Ed Sanders 4:57 we we don't face very much harassment because like we're Our concern is not really to shock people we don't want to go up to somebody and just completely devastate their brain what we are presenting you know we do sing songs using language that has great strengths and force but we don't we're not instead of just like blitzing somebody so we have we have on a very measured and balanced program we put where we have elements of great social redemption and qualities of you know, really higher qualities and our shows if a person comes to our show only to hear a blip words then that he's the one is at fault We're not Tuli Kupferberg 5:34 there also people all over the country by now Ready for to hear what we're seeing And there's a peak there as a group in between, we'll look around at the performances to see how everyone else is reacting And if it's okay, they'll start to enjoy it Audience Question 5:52 You're not bugged like someone like Leary might be or you know, by the police Tuli Kupferberg 5:57 Well not yet David Susskind 5:58 they love us sir Do you have a question? Audience Question 6:01 Why don't you guys come right out and say what you're trying to do which as far as I can guess is to is to educate kids in small fry about about things that perhaps the best ought not know about things like barbiturates and LSD and and oddball sexual practices, that it's going to take a world what seems to be a whole brainwashing thing and hear from you isn't, isn't that really what you're after? Ed Sanders 6:29 And to brainwash people? You can't be you don't want to brainwash if you want to present people with logical alternatives to the behavior patterns You know, you want to be able to you want to the The issue, of course, is freedom We have the right to say what we're saying under any circumstance But we have our primary concern is to say things that offer alternatives and offers actually what we're engaging in the bugs are engaging on block broad philosophical concern called the Zionist marijuana conspiracy, we, we want to we want to engage in spiritual exultation and this guy knows guy he's my Scoutmaster David Susskind 7:09 Do you object to what they're doing? Because you think they're violating every convention that you hold sacred and important? Audience Question 7:17 I think they're not coming right out and saying what their intent is and I think I think their intent is a far reaching plan to get it the to get it the week still unformed minds of kiddies, Ed Sanders 7:30 well we just want everybody to live in a big polyethylene bag full of Vaseline That's all we want, if everybody will do that, and well, Tuli Kupferberg 7:35 I think No, I've never denied that I'm a revolutionary I've been a revolutionary longer than I've been a fug because the society needs revolutionary changes I'm also a pacifist so that makes it easy for me to get beat up quite so hard i don't think