Arnold Jansen op de Haar was inspired by Allen Ginsberg poem Howl this week and here are a few of the gems this produced:

Ginsberg’s ‘best minds’ were also the very first hippies. For the vast majority of adolescents it was simply 1955 and rather boring. Howl was a pamphlet against consumerism and conformism, it pitched the individual against the group.

Fifteen years on, at universities up and down the country, not being a hippy was the exception. I think that these former hippies are now law abiding grandparents busy taking their grandchildren to a theme park.

Howl is a magnificent poem. When reading it, just for a moment, you become a bohemian. It may well not be so good for society but it fortifies the mind.

Down with generations! Howl!

As usual you can read Arnold’s column Beyond Madness in full on the Holland Park Press website