We were surprised by your letter of the 27 November. Vaneigem assumed and so did we all that Beatrice and Murray [Bookchin] would have told you exactly why Vaneigem refused to meet you in New York.
To start with, Vaneigem was introduced to [Allan] Hoffman (The Totalist) by Beatrice. A few minutes of discussion left no doubt in his mind that there was a mystical shithead if ever there was. He turned out, whats more, to be a proselyte of an astrological reading of Vaneigems writings! The situationists have always refused to have anything whatsoever to do with mystics.
Beatrice presented you, as a close friend and collaborator of The Totalist, and the fact that you had signed a poster with him did nothing to dissipate that impression. And the situationists have always refused to have anything to do with those who collaborate with mystics. We recognize and have always approved BMs[2] disgust with mysticism. What is this collaboration if not the behavior of a specialist of theory fearful of its practice.
Moreover, it is very cheap to defend a tactical position by saying that anyone who disagrees is a coward. And such an old-fashioned argument doesnt need [Wilhelm] Reich to back it up.
We shall of course be very glad to hear your explanation of all this, and to know what you intend to do about it.
On a tactical level, you would seem to overemphasising head-on activism as a be-all & end-all. Naturally, we are opposed neither to demonstrations nor to violence.
Until Vaneigems visit, there were no situationists in the U.S. Now that there are ([Robert] Chasse & [Tony] Verlaan), they shall react to these problems in the same way as situationists everywhere else.
Further dialogue between us must depend on a written reply to the questions raised above. Please send it to both Paris and London. Paris: Alice Becker etc.; London: Brenda Gravelle, 13, Redcliffe Road, London S W 10.
For the SI,[1] Letter drafted in English. [Note by NOT BORED!: we have not corrected any of the typographical errors in this text.] A summary was sent to J.V. Martin on 22 December 1967.
[2] Note by NOT BORED!: BM = Black Mask, Moreas group and publication.
[3] Signatures follow the stamp of the Situationist International.
(Published in Guy Debord Correspondance, Vol "0": Septembre 1951 - Juillet 1957: Complete des "lettres retrouvees" et d l'index general des noms cites by Librairie Artheme Fayard, October 2010. Footnotes by the publisher, except where noted.)