DO IT!: Scenarios of the Revolution

by Jerry Rubin

VG/-, hardcover no dj but nice 1st edn copy, essay by Eldridge Cleaver, Rubin claims to be leader of 850 million Yippies, 256pps, ill, stamp of feminist activist Natalie Sokoloff on fep.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, The United States Of America, Philosophy, Counter Culture, Sociology

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1970

About the author

Jewish-American radical social activist during the 1960s and 1970 and founding member of the the Youth International Party.

Jerry^Rubin

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to be in seventies mode today, listing all of Abbie Hoffman and now Jerry Rubin. People considered Abbie and Jerry to be birds of a feather, well, they weren't. They may have shared a nest, but where Abbie was insightful and funny, Jerry was scary. I think this was the book wherein he suggested we kill our parents. I devoured this, but it left me queasy. Jerry eventually went on to Wall Street. Abbie went underground after a drug bust, organized while in hiding, surfaced to take on the CIA with Amy Carter - and therein lies the difference twixt the two: Jerry was in it for himself, Abbie believed.

[Mark Lages · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read this book when it first came out. I wasn't missing much. A lot of good things came from the sixties, but Jerry Rubin was responsible for very few of them. Truth is that this book made me think of a little three year old throwing a temper tantrum and then holding his breath until his face turned blue. I think it's hilarious that this guy became a multi millionaire stockbroker later in his life. I would've given the book only one star, but I added a star for the book's nostalgic value.

[Randy Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've adapted this book into a play and performed it over a dozen times. It's fast, funny, insightful, stupid, utterly self-important, and really fun. It's a time capsule for a generation and a very specific group of people. Many of them I've come to know over the years. It's as inspiring as it is silly.

[Jeff B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This came out in 1970 - a year before I was born. I had read a lot of Abbie Hoffman back in the '90s. I really like that guy and his witty quotes. I had heard of Jerry Rubin as Abbie's partner-in-crime, but I never thought he was as cool - probably because I was from the future of 1993 and knew Jerry became a Yuppie, Wall Street Capitalist. But I always wanted to read this book. I ordered it thru my library and I liked it. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. Here are my thoughts:

1. It's an interesting book. It's kind of a book of essays, kind of a manifesto, kind of a guide to running a movement, kind of a memoir, and kind of him just ranting about stuff and telling stories. It's also a "Yippie's greatest hits" where many of their most famous antics are told from the inside. There are 43 chapters or essays, most are between two and eight pages.

2. Artistically, it is really well done in that guerrilla-art kind of way. A lot of the images are crudely cut out collage-style or big images across a page. It makes it a bit more of an art piece and definitely adds to the package. A kindle edition of this book probably wouldn't be able to capture the art-style.

3. The essays or chapters have fun titles like "A Movement That Isn't Willing To Risk Injuries, Even Death, Isn't for Shit" or "Our Leaders are Seven Year Olds" or "Every Revolutionary Needs a Color TV". They often have a message to help you form your own revolutionary movement. Stuff like: Make it fun. Be inclusive. Take risks. Go Big. No Rules. You get the idea. A lot of it is funny. Like I chuckled when his communist Aunt is begging him to cut his hair. It was a funny story, but had a point that while they were somewhat on the same side, she was set in her ways and couldn't understand any other way.

4. A lot of these ideas should be considered by modern movements like BLM. I see some stuff in here and I think of the circus-like environment of a Trump rally - maybe the right used some of these ideas better than the left. Much of this book is more applicable now than any time since it was written. There's also some radical ways of looking at life and our conditioning that I really appreciated. There are also plenty of profound moments in this book - like when he says that MLK was only as powerful as the man with a Molotov cocktail behind him. I read that as non-violent protest being one side of a good cop, bad cop relationship. That seems kind of deep to me, even at 49 years old.

5. It is clear how media-savvy Jerry Rubin was. He recognized the power of the fairly new medium of television - How a boring six hour protest looked so exciting in a two minute story. He also recognized how important your opponents are in getting your message out. Kind of like how subscriptions to liberal media skyrocketed when Trump was elected.

6. A lot of this book is understandably dated. Like there are a lot of organizations and abbreviations that I wasn't familiar with. I also had no idea that the house un-american activities committee was still around in the late '60s. I thought it died along with McCarthy. Also, I guess long hair really meant something in the '60s.

7. Of course the elephant in this review is that for all that is written in the book, ten years after this book was published, Jerry became a stock broker. Honestly, that is fine - but it does color some of the writing in this book. He takes plenty of pot shots at Wall Street and capitalism which are much more hollow in hindsight. And there is one particularly insightful and prophetic quote in chapter 15 (Don't Trust Anyone over 40):
But soon "Don't trust anyone over 30," the proud radical slogan, was taken over by the conservatives. The over-30's said: "Wait till you reach 30; you'll be just like us" They saw the movement as an adolescent stage one passed through on his way to the suburbs.

7. I have to point this out: In chapter 23 (I Agree With Your Tactics, I Don't Know About Your Goals), at one point he writes, "Walk on red lights. Don't walk on green lights.". Don't take this literally. Jerry Rubin was killed from being struck by a car while trying to cross the street. Rest In Peace.

Anyway, this was a decent book, but I think I enjoy the writings of Abbie Hoffman a bit more. I am going to to re-read some Abbie to confirm.

[Rafael Toledo Plata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo primero que tengo que decir de este libro es que es completamente opuesto a mis creencias. No obstante, considero muy valioso no sólo poder ver una visión del mundo diferente a la mías (eso siempre enriquece) sino que además es interesante poder rescatar reflexiones que sí bien surgen de un contexto diferente al que vivimos hoy en día, resultan ser plenamente aplicables.

Tristemente, no tengo muy claro que acabo de leer. Si un libro con 43 ensayos sobre los ideales y fines mismos de la revolución o un manual para tratar de derrocar un sistema o un diario con ideas sueltas del autor sobre lo que estaba pasando en Estados Unidos y en el mundo en el año 68.

Absolutamente rescatable del libro y quizá es lo que lo permite leer de manera agradable, es la edición. Las fotos, las caricaturas y toda la parte gráfica en este libro juegan un papel fundamental para poder entender con más precisión todas las ideas que de manera suelta se presentan. Así, la parte gráfica sirve de cohesión entre el texto y las ideas.

[Georgia Roybal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can use lots of words to describe this book: outrageous, fascinating, inspirational, funny, irreverent, full of sex/drugs/rock and roll/revolution.

I have a few takeaways from reading this book. One is that it makes me remember that as bad and polarized as we are now, the 60's were worse. The change was harder to bring about and was much more of a break from tradition than what is happening now. Another takeaway is that many of Jerry Rubin's dreams have not been realized and are worthy of re-considering. A final takeaway is that Jerry Rubin's teenage years must have been rough for his parents.

[Lytle]

O pious custodians of (counter) culture, art historians above all! Wait not for your professors to authorize yet another inquiry into the Situationists, but hasten rather to the as yet unexamined instances of media freaking close by.

[Anthony Stillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book whose back cover sells itself by saying, "DANGER! This book will become a Molotov cocktail in your very hands," it sure does disappoint. It's a very artistically cool book and a window into the yippie movement, but if anything the real takeaway you'd get from this book is a better understanding of why the yippie and hippie movements ultimately failed.

Although he raises quite a few interesting perspectives and quotes that I found truthful enough to save, such as "A society which makes eating a privilege, not a right, has no right to exist," much of what he says lacks substance. An excruciating example of this is when he went to a leftist meeting and started burning money. The response of the crowd was that this was an irresponsible action, as that money could have been used to help the poor, but Jerry's only takeaway from this interaction was that the left are as corrupted by money as the right because they cannot free themselves from caring about money like he does, which is completely ignoring the fact that his burning the money has no impact on those currently suffering within the poverty of the capitalistic system.

When a movement is founded solely on the position of being a "youthful rebellion" without any real solutions, it comes off exactly like that: a kid throwing a tantrum for something to change. When your only solution to society's problems is to just choose to live outside of it, get high, and make a lot of noise, you're not going to enact any real change.

[Andreu Amoros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curioso manifiesto psicodélico, antisistema y belicista-antibelicista de Jerry Rubin, cofundador de los Yippies.

Evolución de los hippies pacifistas en melenudos marxistas que van de la mano de los Panteras Negras y de las alas más radicales de la izquierda. Contracultura que levantó ampollas en la sociedad americana, no solamente conservadora (también entre la izquierda tradicional y la progresía intelectual).

Idealistas, subversivos, guerrilleros y drogadictos, una combinación explosiva.

Revolución, propaganda, represión mezclados con LSD y sexo. Aunque a veces soñador en exceso o iluso, demuestra una irreverencia y lucidez (ácida como he leído por ahí) que le permitió ser un referente de muchas causas perdidas. Para luego abrazar el capitalismo y convertirse en empresario de Wall Street, qué triste ironía.

Las definiciones que presenta me parecen sublimes:

"Los yippies somos marxistas. Seguimos la tradición revolucionaria de Groucho, Chico, Harpo y Karl".

"El cometripis marxista. El bolchevique psicodélico. Un fumeta politizado."

"Un pendenciero pasota con una pistola al cinto. Tan feo que su aspecto asusta a la clase media. Un pedazo de cabrón melenudo, piloso y chalado cuya vida es un teatro ".

[Frank McGirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised by this one.

I expected it to be as rambling as the intro from Eldridge Cleaver, but while it was not a consistently logical argument for action, it did make me think more deeply about whether standing up for what I think is right (even in the more banal arena of the workplace) is worth the strife it causes to all involved.

[Sarah Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry has his charms, and he makes a good point or two. He's just...a lot.
Pigasus for President 2024

[Evan Dellaera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throughout the whole book, I found myself going back and forth between thinking he is a genius or an idiot. I still don't have an answer...

[K A G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book could easily be a hit or miss depending on who you ask. To me, it’s closer to a high 3 star/low 4 star rating at this time. It’s not a bad book by any means, but it reads a bit like someone ranting, but the value is that many of the things Rubin says still ring true today. There is value to this book, and I really enjoyed reading it, but I think at times I found it hard to focus on what the core meaning was because of the way Rubin wrote it. I’m definitely planning to reread it at some point in the future!

[Kiersten · Rating 4 out of 5]

It scares me how much this book is still relevant to today and how little has really changed. If you over-look the general drug-induced immaturity, some of the fundamental ideas in this book are extremely thought-provoking. The Yippies may have been extreme, but their determination to change the whole system is really admirable, and something I wish I would see more from people today.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started well, but by about the halfway point, I found it increasingly tiresome and struggled to finish it.

The chapters about events in the sixties are fairly good. (I lived in Berkeley/Oakland for eight years in the 80's and 90's and know some of the historical record.) Rubin's recounting of struggles with U. C. Berkeley, actions by the Vietnam Day Committee, the creation and protests surrounding People's Park, and the theatricality of the Chicago Democratic Convention are all interesting perspectives.

But many of the chapters read like Rubin being the arch-dogmatist of Yippism. (It's strange to find someone so serious about being absurd.) There's always a clear path for all issues (weed, sex, capitalism, long hair) and Rubin will tell you about it again and again. And it's not as if I disagree with much of what he's saying (although he's far too fond of chaos - even violent actions - spurring on revolution). I concur with much of what he says about racism, policing, and the corrupting influences of money. But I found it hard to be inspired by someone so rigidly insistent.

There is a good chapter near the end that focuses nicely on his philosophy (and the title of the book) --- the idea that action is always more important than language or methodical process when focusing on change. But I would not recommend this unless you are highly interested in Rubin himself. I felt like I got a better sense of many of these issues from reading Abbie Hoffman.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book at a recent local library sale. Boy, did it bring me back decades.
I'd forgotten that Rubin forsook his Yippie Beliefs within a decade of publishing this memoir/call to revolution/methods of revolution that supposedly work in order to do Wall Street Work. And he who advised walking on the green light was smashed by that advice. My, my....
The introduction by Eldridge Cleaver doesn't help much. Meanders too much.
And I liked many of the illustrations and pictures that march throughout the book.
In "standing up for Amerika," Rubin advises all sorts of tactics and techniques to "get the pigs and capitalist fuck-ups."
I think "fuck" is his favorite word.
And I think it's a good idea to read this book. Really gives you a sense of how violent and important events of fifty years ago were.
And here we live in a time of overt authoritarianism with Trump and Company. I don't know if I'll survive this one...

[Paquito Salsero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Independientemente de hacer pequeñas bromas sobre las drogas,el sexo y la política, considero que es un gran libro para entender un movimiento contracultural que sucedió en el siglo XX en Estados Unidos.

Pero no por eso es un producto Yankee sino que habla desde lo mas personal de uno mismo y te hace visualizar que un hippie no era un vago.
Entender la presión a la que exponían a una generación de jóvenes que lo único que buscaban era mejorar el mundo para todos y como muestra de rebeldía se dejaron el pelo largo y escuchaban a los Beatles

[Noe Clarx · Rating 5 out of 5]

De Jerry Rubin, cap de la guerrilla hippie, conspirador i alborotador de professió i revolucionari vocacional, fundador del Vietcong de Berkley, íntim del Che i un dels 8 de Chicago. Un manual de com tocar els collons a les estructures de poder. Tenim alguns amics en comú, però què pensaria Lenin de nosaltres, Jerry? Francament, no vull ni pensar-ho. A mi, això de posar LSD en el subministrament d'aigua no em sembla mala idea.

[Point P · Rating 4 out of 5]

genuinely one of the funniest books i've read.
some of the political ideas presented in it have some value, but generally i find it to just be a fun read for radicals interested in 1960's radicalism.
and although entirely biased and entrenched in Rubin's perspective, i think it offers a lot to help one understand that period.

[antonio.lcass · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hacer un examen es como sentarse a cagar, pasas semanas reteniendo y llegado el momento, te sientas ante un profesor y lo sueltas en la taza”

“Era uno mas de esos ciudadanos anonimos, desposeídos de dinero, ambiciones o sueños, de los que solo sabemos cuando cometen un magnicidio”

De mayor quiero ser Jerry Rubin

[Roman Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it a 4 merely because of how unique it is. It’s like a slice of the hippie student movement psyche displayed in a quick read. That said, this is not an affirmation of support for any of the ideas or ways he communicated them in the book. But if you are not familiar with the 70s radical student culture this is a deep dive.

[Gilles Douaire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content is on-par with what I'd expect from revolutionary litterature from the era, but one thing to note - Quentin Fiore designed the book layout & I found that awesome. Check out Fiore's "The medium is the massage" too.

[Daniel Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I wasn't alive in the 60s or 70s, I have found myself interested in the history. Rubin, and his kind, have some very interesting ideas, and this book is a great mix of stories and personal essays for his ideology

[Maria Wroblewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread this. Of course saw it with a different perspective........very funny, silly and should be read with a mind to the era.

[Jeffrey Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written for another place in another time but that time may be returning again.

[ACampagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pour l’intérêt historique.

[LookingGlass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly and fun, and a great first-hand look into the crazy, wonderful counterculture of the 60s. Also amazing art and very funny.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 2 out of 5]

El libro es aburridísimo. Lo salva el abundante material gráfico y la edición que lo hacen visualmente atractivo, porque el texto se cae a cada momento.

https://liblit.com/jerry-rubin-hazlo/

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought back memories. Where are the revolutionies of today?

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old school Jerry Rubin is always inspiring. “Politics is how you live your life, not whom you vote for”.