Hippies of Today
 

A friend on facebook wrote today, "Never trust a hippie." He then got many responses back from people who either identify as hippies or who like hippies. He later apologized and said he'd recently been hurt by people he considered good friends.

This led me to a question: What cluster of attributes do you think defines hippies of today?

I don't define myself as a hippie, but I do feel a kinship with much of the hippie movement and a debt of gratitude for the contributions hippies have made to our culture in terms of challenging conformity in many realms - including the areas of gender and sexuality.

OMG! Due to the usual definition of the term... I am too old to be a hippie!

Definition of HIPPIE
: a usually young person who rejects the mores of established society (as by dressing unconventionally or favoring communal living) and advocates a nonviolent ethic; broadly : a long-haired unconventionally dressed young person

This is so weird- my generation were the hippie flower children of the 1960's Now we cannot be hippies due to age??!

Yes- redefining and reclaiming must occur!!

Eeyore's Birthday, Austin, TX
 

I don't think hippies should at all be defined by age - especially as a person who grew up around original austin hippies. Plenty people are no longer hippies, but plenty still are.

The kids I work with all call me 'old hippy' hmmmm

To me, when I think of a "hippy," I think of the folks who embodied the term back in the mid to late 60's/early 70's. The folks who defined modern counter-culture ideology and refused to conform to societies preconceived notions of what citizenship should look like. The rebels (so to speak) but rebels who touted free love, world peace and thinking for ones own self.

Today there are still hippy minded people...take a look at the Burning Man community. If that doesn't harken back to Woodstock days I don't know what would!

Back when I followed the Grateful Dead, I thought of myself as a flower child. Because of my age and identity at that time, it seemed to fit me quite nicely. :bouquet:

LOVE LOVE LOVE Burning Man...I was so sad to miss it this year.
I did watch the streaming video a few times, but made me homesick.

I am a little young to be a real hippy. But not by much. I saw it and knew what it all meant.

People wearing those military vietnam war jackets with peace signs sewn onto them. That was a bold statement. It was not to disgrace to military.
It was to protest the war. The Kent State massacre comes to my mind.
Every May 4th, it is mentioned. Maybe because it is very near here.

The National Guard randomly shot into a crowd of college sudents at Kent State University in Ohio, who were protesting the war. Four were killed and 9 were injured. Students across America went on strike. This was 1970.
Many Colleges and Universities shut down. This had a significnt impact on politics in America. Young people were posturing. The Nixon Administration began sliding. Then came WATERGATE. America had deep politcal social divisions. (Funny, history does repeat itself) Younger people today feel our music was all about drugs. Some may have been. Most was about political ramifications.

If ever freedom to speech and expression was exercised. It was then. The
shootings at Kent State backfired. Those Hippies were smart and underestimated.

Hippies!
 

My parents have said I'm a hippie, my brothers say I'm a dirty hippie and I know a big ol hippie named Day. I personally do not think I am one.

I don't know if true hippies like back in the day are out there, but I sure would of loved to hang out with them.

My dad was one, then he drank some kool aid and now he's all conservative and shit, sometimes though when we are all kickin' it he lets it go and it's pretty cool.

Every generation had their bohemians and beatniks. What was different about my generation (the Hippies), was we were the most vocal about change on a massive scale. From the music, clothes, cars, design, a whole new consciousness raising on a massive scale. For me it all started when Kennedy got shot and Johnson came in with Vietnam and Strawberry Fields Forever.. There was always some protest going on in the streets (before internet), and every Sunday there was a Love-in in Lincoln Park.:rainbowAfro: I have'nt seen anything like the "hippy movement" since. Maybe I have amnesia? Then I came out playing in a feminist band.

Been thinking.....

Something that might set apart the "hippies" of the 60's from youth movements in the US was the effect we really did have on social policy and the Vietnam War. This was mainly due to the military draft being in place. I often wonder if we would be in Afghanistan (or gone into Iraq) if our military still had a draft. Or if these wars would have gone on as long as they have.

I visit this web site quite often www.ukhippy.com It has some great articles.

ALH; All I know is We have'nt fought a legitimate war since WWII.:(

My name is Tamara aka Sachita and I am a hippy! No doubt. I don't normally like labels but I'll claim this one.

Yes, I hear that phrase placed on others who were hippies during the 60's and 70's. "Oh, he is one of those old hippies". Not said in a derogatory way, just a way to describe a person. When referring to a younger person I just hear the term "hippy" applied (or "hippy type person" is used).

We must be the same age. I was also a Freshman. I had a Problems of Democracy teacher who was very caught up in the political movement. I'm glad he was. He encouraged us to read and talk about what was going on.
There was alot of fear then. I applaud those students for striking. The National Guard, as we knew it, was to protect us, not shoot us. Don't forget, in America, you are allowed to protest. And yes, just as you said, not only was a peacful demonstration taking place, innocent, non involved
students were MURDERED.

I often wonder why demonstrations about Iraq (prolonged Iraq) and now Afganistan have not happened.

From the Urban Dictionary

hippy:

someone who has a bright outlook on life and cares about the world instead of trying to ruin it. they are often member of groups such as greenpeace and antiwar groups that care about the environment.
they reject the established culture and are a subculture originating in San Francisco in the 1960s who advocated universal love and peace, usually had long hair and used soft drugs, usually listen to acid rock and progressive rock music, reggae music such as that of bob marley.
make love not war

This is the way that I tend to define hippy. I think nowadays people define "hippies" almost exclusively more by their style of dress and long hair...their external selves (and the sterotypical cannabis use, as indicated by the term "soft drugs", above... FYI - I am not using the term stereotype in a negative way, here).

What do others think? Is there is shift in how we define hippy in regards to it being an external presentation only/mainly?

Just random thoughts...

This was posted on another thread:

http://usdayofrage.org/public-announ...pydc-oct6.html


I am thinking of going to D.C., but want to read more about it, first.

CSNY- Deje'Vu See, the music wasn't all about drugs.

I don't think hippie can really be totally defined. It's more a state of being and not all hippies use drugs. Todays hippies are different, IMO but the agendas and level of consciousness are about the same. I think more of us are hippies then we even realize. I'm a product of the 70's and have stepped in and out of how active I was as a hippie but was heart was always there.

I'm a tree hugging, government hating, love & peace, earth conscious human hippie. Yippee

Every generation had their bohemians and beatniks. What was different about my generation (the Hippies), was we were the most vocal about change on a massive scale. From the music, clothes, cars, design, a whole new consciousness raising on a massive scale. For me it all started when Kennedy got shot and Johnson came in with Vietnam and Strawberry Fields Forever.. There was always some protest going on in the streets (before internet), and every Sunday there was a Love-in in Lincoln Park.:rainbowAfro: I have'nt seen anything like the "hippy movement" since. Maybe I have amnesia? Then I came out playing in a feminist band. (popcorninthesofa said this)


Exactly. I think of my self as a hippie too. I really do not conform. I'm all of the above, add music loving. If I wasn't so afraid of going to jail, I'd be 420. I love the word Beatnik!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Hippies ROCK!!!!!

My brother who i lost last Nov was a full fledged, harley ridin, long haired, pot smokin and free-lovin hippy. I remember when he had that old vw van with bright colors all over it. He drove that thing until it was completely dead and i remember he cried when he had to let her go, lol. I miss him so much and i miss being around someone who was so carefree and loving.

I migrate to hippies and totally have some of that in me.

I'm even thinking of making my den into a 60s theme. It just all warms my heart.

ROCK ON HIPPIES!!!!!!!

http://dl7.glitter-graphics.net/pub/...qv7tocuq7v.gif

This is me, too. :)

it's a groovy kind of bump

I am going to take recycling to a new high. I am siding my house with soda cans. :)

http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/...-can-house.jpg

Curious, what is everyone's take on the term "hippie"? I attend Burning Man every year and have had people call me a hippie. Yes, I may have some traits of a classic hippie, but for the most part, I am far from it.

My favorite definition comes str8 from the dictionary:
someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle.

The thing is that the "established culture" is always changing. Maybe not in a good way, but it is changing.

There is also the dance. The all important hippy space dance.

Except that demonstrations against Iraq and Afghanistan have occurred. Repeatedly. Around the western world. When the invasion of Afghanistan by allied western forces began in 2001 I was 16 years old and partook in a massive demonstration in downtown Toronto consisting of activists and individual groups of many stripes, that (as any good protest does) shut down the entire downtown core. It was the first of many. Since then there have been tons of protests across Canada against the Canadian military's participation in the invasion of Afghanistan as well as against the west's support for the American invasion of Iraq. Young people and youth organizations have been hugely influential as prime movers in these demonstrations.

There have been tons of similar demonstrations across Europe, and I know for a fact that I've read of them happening in the US as well. They do happen, but does one really expect Fox news and other similar sources to report on them?

One thing that I've noticed, though, is not that there is a lack of demonstrations, but that the media (and particularly with US media sources, though it happens in Canada to some degree as well) does not cover them...so unless you happen to be in the vicinity, you likely won't know anything happened unless some kind of damages occurred at which point the media will lap it up and talk about how the "evil anarchists" went about destroying things all willynilly-like.

Unlike in the past, North American media tries to focus less and less on social dissent in the form of protests than it did in the past. Look at the way the media passed off the various youth riots in Britain over police brutality, racism, poverty and tuition hikes/anti-austerity, as simple "hooliganism." It's very much a part of the government maintaining people's lukewarm contentedness with "the way things are." We have this notion today in North America in particular, that we have no reason to rock the boat about anything, and that no one has any reason to speak out about anything. Kind of like the G20 summit riots in Toronto that resulted in the largest number of arrests in a single riot in our history...and yet at first Torontonians bought the media's garbage about how "disgraceful" it all was...a year later and, surprise surprise, people's perspectives have changed. But if we went back, they'd still say the same damned thing and wag their little fingers.

I also disagree that university students don't care. At my own university there are tons of youth groups, from young socialist groups, young marxist groups, young trotskyists and so on. The number of politically charged groups at the university is in the hundreds.

The whole notion that "oh young people these days blah blah blah, they don't do anything anymore" is...kinda bullshit and is something people have said about young people for time immemorial. I would look, instead, to the media who really doesn't report so much anymore on what exactly goes on on the streets as far as demonstrations that criticise the government/military too much. I've been a part of demonstrations that have included hundreds of people, yet you hear not a peep about it in the major newspapers the next day.

I agree with you about tv/radio coverage of any protests. Rupert Murdock (fox) has largely taken control of media in the US. When I was in Michigan for the summer I got just the very lowest basic cable TV coverage (basically so I could have interenet access) It included 22 channels. Five of these had Fox ties (fox news, fox sports, and fox owned local channels.) To get CSpan you had to go up one level, to get MSNBC you had to get the full cable package. Same is true here in Central FLorida with Brighthouse cable, and also with direct TV and the other satelite company which I can't think of the name of right now.

People are deluged with conservative viewpoints all day and all night. A few black owned and operated radio stations are pretty liberal, though often anti-government as well. Other than NPR which, or course, lost it's government funding in December, you have to go to pay radio to get any liberal viewpoints. Yet Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk are on almost every talk radio station.

For most of my growing up years, Michigan, where I lived until ten years ago, was a liberal leader in the country. Lots of union jobs, highly paid state employees, also union. Strong interest in civil rights, etc, etc. Now after many years of Fox and other conservative influences, they are closer to the bible belt in their political opinions. Pro-death penalty, pro gun, (easy "carry" regulations), lots of anti-union sympathies.

Control the news and you have a big jump on contolling public opinion.

As for me, I was a hippie (no drugs because I was already handicapped and wanted to have as much control of my body as possible, LOL.) I have NOT become conservative. I have lots of friends that were hippies as well, and none of them have become conservative either. Chances are I never will.

Smooches,
Keri

Ya don't have to do drugs to be a hippie, and doing drugs doesn't make you a hippie.