Are Hippies Just a Thing of the Past?

[Skip]

Do you think hippies were just a thing of the past, or are we as important today as ever?

[wave owls not flags]

Don't really hear much about hippies today unless its a TV show reminiscing on the '60s. Now its all emo hardcore, super vegan, peta loving, stuck-up college student types

[Willow_Jon]

I know a LOT of hippies , and i think we add much to our surroundings....we show the youth a different way of seeing things....we keep alive beliefs that would vanish with time , and we hold true to certain truths that would be lost if we were to evolve into carbon copies of those around us.

[Sus]

We hippies may not call ourselves hippies anymore (or maybe we do!), but we are still important to our culture, our current civilization. We can be the bringers of peace, of progressivness, or, as we were in the sixties, simply examples of how to do things a different way...

[soaringeagle]

Don't really hear much about hippies today unless its a TV show reminiscing on the '60s. Now its all emo hardcore, super vegan, peta loving, stuck-up college student typeswhat the hell are u talking about?
god i see hippies everywhere thousands & thousands of hippies
i never even heard of emo till i came on this site & i dont think i've ever seen 1 in real life
& hard core, sure in the 80's i saw alot, but today extremely rare, & look rediculously out of place
& the super vegan peta lovin colledge types are what? yup hippies

[Starsrainbow]

The place you lived do vary an not all hippys look like hippys nowadays :)

[old tiger]

I voted NO...what's a hippie??what did they represent??
what were their ideas??are they still alive??
all these questions and answers will be here..
being a hippie..has got NOTHING to do with age,drugs,hair,clothes..
clothes,hairs,drugs,behaviour etc..were part of it allright..
it's an INNER feeling...a state of mind..you got it inside you..
I don't wanna hear about oh..you're a hippie from the 60's...
I was there..allright...and if you were not...
that's NOT your fault..you might not even be born then..
but..that DOES NOT mean you're not a hippie..
you can be 25 years old an be a better hippie then anyone else..
it's all in the mind..between our own 2 ears..
I know..i'm maybe a radical in my sayings..but I tell it..in the face..
nowadays..we connect via a screen called a P.C..great medium..
in the 60's..we did not have that...and oh..believe me...
even in the 60's..there was shit,problems,hate and injustice..
1 thing..I wanna state..and just believe me for that fact...
the music...made in the 60's..marked my life..it was great...
wait..I'll put some you tube song here:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKWiwfOhI6U
Tiger

[Willow_Jon]

I was fortunate enough to be born into a family of hippies , and , true , they didnt all dress the part al the time . When daddy put his uniform on you wouldnt even have guessed that he ws one. But , they brung me up with the knowledge they had , and all the love , and tenderness , and to carry it on with me and pass it around......I was SO lucky......them were good times , and i have done my best to be the best of what they believed in , and to represent my family in my own time.

[Willow_Jon]

Oh , by the way , Daddy was a cop.......and never drew his weapon......he always managed to reason with the people .
He is now a bounty hunter in his off hours.

[supertramp]

Well I certainly thought I was the only one left ,till I found this site!

[shameless_heifer]

It's The Spirit that moves us to be so.. we were born to hear the calling of the 'council' and when the frequency was in flow we picked up on it and followed where it lead..it brought us all together to make needed change. We changed what we set out to change.. we didn't get it all done bc it was not time.. the ones that are the hippies of today have the same frequency drawing them to gather as ONE MIND.

There are changes that call for their energies, the energy they were born with, the light that shines within them, as it does us.. we are them as they are us.. when we were young and bold.

We all take out turn spinning the wheel. It's about what is good for the ALL otherwise it becomes about the little me.... Freedom and Justice For ALL. If you face it with LOVE everyone wins.
sh

sh

[ChiefCowpie]

imo, hippies are over the hill
and through the woods
to grandmother's house we go

grandmothers and grandfathers are highly esteem in earth based cultures

[Billyx1120]

The title 'Hippie' may be synonymous with 1967, a dress of headbands, beads, flowers, jeans and bare feet - and this may suit those who wish to forget the principles of the past but, to the true rebel, just because time passes, things don't change that easily.

"Vigilance is the price we pay for Freedom" (I think that's the quote (?))

I think more than ever, that themes of, care for the environment, right to protest, hold to accountability and demand; where needed change (in both attitude and deed) is as important an issue for now as is has been in the past. Ensuring that the hippie lifestyle continues is a responsibility for us all. Educate others, and grow old disgracefully (?!)
As long as we continue to hold true these values our commitment to this philosophy continues


"60's Children - never grow old,
for they have free spirit - inner strength and Soul",
"In the Hippie - the future will lie,
the guardians of Peace + Love - will never die".


http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/1/set1_b/rockon.gif< Peace + Love ~ Save the Planet >

[hippiestead]

Highly
Intelligent
Person
Pursuing
Individual
Enlightenment

Hippies have been called other thing prior to the 60's & new names for hippies will continue to evolve, but we have always been here & will continue to always be here

[Om Organizer]

I didn't answer the poll, but I've got a few I's on the subject.

I think most people who identified themselves as hippies in early days prefer to remain unidentified and unlabeled. Back in 66 and 67 being a hippy was something special, at least I'm pretty sure it was. Then again, it may have all been a bunch of bullshit. Who can say? They certainly had good drugs and a different frame of reference than the preceeding generation. At 53, I just missed out on being an original hippy. I had long hair, used drugs and had sex with as many partners as I could, but never lived in a commune or did anything like that. I never called myself a hippy, although my sister certainly called me one whenever she was in a sarcastic mood. We were stoners, the younger brothers and sisters of the hippies. I certainly identify with the hippy ethos. I think there will always be a longing in certain people for the inner freedom hippydom represents. As Elvis Costello said "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?"

What hippies represent to me is something eternal that transcends the outer trapping of the hippy movement of the 60s. I think there a lot of highly evolved "hippies" on the planet taking care of business, but often you wouldn't know her if you saw her.

[Bonsai Ent]

It's a well established fact that the last of the real hippies left planet earth in 1969, returning to their homeworld to fight in a terrible and imperialistic war against the punks (Hippies are only pacifists under the yellow sun of earth, under the red star of their homeworld they are bloodthirsty warriors).

The last known transmission was received shortly before the Battle of the Clash, coming from their besieged capital St Leary.

[The manticore]

defintly not the spirit lives on

[silverhippy]

It's a well established fact that the last of the real hippies left planet earth in 1969, returning to their homeworld to fight in a terrible and imperialistic war against the punks (Hippies are only pacifists under the yellow sun of earth, under the red star of their homeworld they are bloodthirsty warriors).

The last known transmission was received shortly before the Battle of the Clash, coming from their besieged capital St Leary.

We came back. And yes we wiped out the punks thank you very much. It was a long war and we are tired. We have come back to this beautiful little blue world to feel peace again. But we see a lot of work needs to be done. We will unite with these wonderful young ones who have kept the faith and once again rise up. We are not a thing of the past. We are a state of mind. Can you feel it ?

Peace

[chuckf2000]

You see lots of ppl on here who claim to be hippies but I don't think many of them are. At least they're not the 'Haight-Ashbury, San Fransico' brand of hippy we saw back in the 60s and 70s.

Those guys were checking out of society. They were fed up with government and life as young Americans so they decided they would just not doing anything. They didn't want any jobs or responsibilities so they lived on the streets of San Fransico and other cities across the U.S. and later the world.

Today, hippies won't leave the comfort of their home. They're not going to give up the job and run off to a commune. They say they don't like the war or global warming but they won't do anything about it. You don't see them organizing and camping out on the mall in Washington DC to protest the congress or the president.

It's just cool to call yourself hippy but they won't give up there comforts to do something about society.

[silverhippy]

You see lots of ppl on here who claim to be hippies but I don't think many of them are. At least they're not the 'Haight-Ashbury, San Fransico' brand of hippy we saw back in the 60s and 70s.

Those guys were checking out of society. They were fed up with government and life as young Americans so they decided they would just not doing anything. They didn't want any jobs or responsibilities so they lived on the streets of San Fransico and other cities across the U.S. and later the world.

Today, hippies won't leave the comfort of their home. They're not going to give up the job and run off to a commune. They say they don't like the war or global warming but they won't do anything about it. You don't see them organizing and camping out on the mall in Washington DC to protest the congress or the president.

It's just cool to call yourself hippy but they won't give up there comforts to do something about society.

You did not have to live out in the street to be a hippy. It was best if you didn't live on the street. It was not a right of passage to live in a commune. Hippies have no badges no paper work saying I am hippy. Sure I'll go the Mall again. Take to the streets again I'm in. But there is no organized movement now. Call out the inguisitor see what happens. We need numbers. Where are they ? It's not cool to call yourself a hippy, I don't even know if it is cool to be a hippy. You just are or you're not a hippy that's all. I don't remember being called cool back in 68. I remember being put down. Haight Ashbury is just a place. Not a movement. I agree most people have gotten soft and lazy. But you might be suprised at how many will come out for the right reason. And even if we came out again would people listen ? They didn't before why would we think they would now ?

Peace

Peace

[dvdsky65]

"Hippy"is a mindset.Not how long your hair is,or how you dress.It's how you live your life,and what u believe in."hippies" have ALWAYS existed,and we ALWAYS will!1966-67 was a long time ago;but plenty of us still believe in the basics and the ideals set forth by the brothers and sisters of that era.Go back to the "communes" that existed in the late 1800's-early 1900's.They were all about the "hippie" culture,and ideals.

[Jedite83]

"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
-Abbie Hoffman

[The manticore]

i think theres more hippies today than in the 60's just alot of em in disquise or just traveling about in diff countries n shiz

[shivo]

no,I dont think so.The hippies will exist forever,is the greates style of all.And now I think the past will come back.

[aguest]

"Hippy"is a mindset.Not how long your hair is,or how you dress.It's how you live your life,and what u believe in."hippies" have ALWAYS existed,and we ALWAYS will!1966-67 was a long time ago;but plenty of us still believe in the basics and the ideals set forth by the brothers and sisters of that era.Go back to the "communes" that existed in the late 1800's-early 1900's.They were all about the "hippie" culture,and ideals.
Can't agree with you here, sorry. Those communes were different; here (http://www.hippy.com/hippyway.htm) one can read a very good definition of what hippy are. I like this definition, cause it puts it clear and short, and straight to the point.
Yes, the "basics" and "the ideas" really have always been around in this way or another -- just as long as we humans have been here.
But it is the crisis of the modern society, that gave birth to hippies. We've got "knowledge", technologies, "freedoms", "human rights", all sorts of "opportunities" -- all that stuff people used to do without in the past. And then, when these things DIDN'T bring immediate happiness to poor humans, there appeared such phenomenon as "hippies". Was it an effort of something humane and sincere inside us to manifest itself in response to the hypocricy and rotenness of the society and its morals? Whatever it is, it only took its shape in 20th century.

Therefore I vote for NO. Hippy are NOT the thing of the Past, but of the Present.

I hadn't seen any of my former hippy friends for some 20 years, nor heard from them. Then, when I found them 1 year ago, I was very much surprised to see, that many young folks are joining. April 1, 2008 there was I usual spring gathering of the hippies in Moscow, Russia. And -- no, they are not in the Past, yet.

[behindthesun93]

I can't stand it when people say on tv or something, 'Stop living in the past, it's the 21st century now.'
eh, simple as that.
I don't know why I'd give up my own style for todays style... which I find the opposite of mine.
Hippies changed the world, and although I haven't seen any [I mean, really, how many hippies are you going to find living in fairfield county, CT?] I know there are still plenty of people my age, 20, 30, years old that are hippies.

[easy_rider69]

Hippies are a thing of the past thank god, im so sick of young kids who go out and watch some movie like the doors and say im a hippy, or some young highschool kid who smokes to much dope has no sence of heigeine with dreads and all of a sudden he is a rastafairian. LOL what a joke. In this day and age there are no more true hippies, punks, mods, skins, goths, or whatever other fashion identity kids try to steal these days. All that remains is the thought of what was and traces of fashion from that era, and no offence but they wernt all they were cut out to be in the first place. Not trying to burst ya'lls bubble just stating what i think.

[behindthesun93]

Hippies are a thing of the past thank god, im so sick of young kids who go out and watch some movie like the doors and say im a hippy, or some young highschool kid who smokes to much dope has no sence of heigeine with dreads and all of a sudden he is a rastafairian. LOL what a joke. In this day and age there are no more true hippies, punks, mods, skins, goths, or whatever other fashion identity kids try to steal these days. All that remains is the thought of what was and traces of fashion from that era, and no offence but they wernt all they were cut out to be in the first place. Not trying to burst ya'lls bubble just stating what i think....but there ARE still young people that know the true meaning of being a hippie.
But I totally know what you mean... My friend is a huge beatles fan, so he thinks hes a hippie.
But hippie is a mindset. and some people follow that mindset these days.
I think you're thinking of just the fakes.
oh well.

[easy_rider69]

^I do agree with you that the hippie mindset is the true meaning of being a hippie, but sadly most dont think the same.

[vasik]

We are important today as ever. Its still a lot of injustice around us. Hippies are not a thing of the past.

[ÐÑÇämþër]

"Hippy"is a mindset.Not how long your hair is,or how you dress.It's how you live your life,and what u believe in."hippies" have ALWAYS existed,and we ALWAYS will!

I agree it is not in how you look, but how you live your life. I know tons of "hippies" who put on a suit and go to work in the system for whatever their reasons, just playing the game from the inside. They are there...we are here...we are everywhere.

[Declining Contention (qv)]

Despite the damper that aids, hiv and stds put on the sexual revolution it still thrives as does hippieness, the need to question the status quo, to abhor random violence, to strive against corruption, to keep an open mind to new ideas, to cherish the other lifeforms that co-exist on this planet with us, to attempt to slow the wanton distruction of our environment, to instill such ideas and ideals in our friends and family to share the burdens of others with compassion and love is the essence of being a hippie, said essence to be nourished so it will continue to grow as we fight the moral and ethical blights that seek to engulf us. Peace and Love my Brothers and Sisters, fight what injustices you can.

[junglejack]

Even if "the hippie" is from the past- The hippie culture that was created can live forever with the proper nourishment. There will never be a shortage of causes that need to be addressed - this is kind of like our job- to keep the universe on the right course. Even if there was the death of the hippie- thier never will a death of the hippie ideology ,unless we lose the DEAD-acation & motivation it takes to keep it alive.
andthebeatgoeson,
JJack

[lou stools]

being a hippie is a state of awareness and soul...
i hated the term while going to bay area colleges in the 60's...but high-strung best friend from ny village said "you're whatever these assholes call you"! being a hippie is as old as the human race! ..most have access to dimensions that coexist alongside the billboard lives of our 3rd dimension minions..

[skullhappy]

I personally don't think that hippies ever went away. Sure, it was a popular phase in the sixties, but most of the ones who dressed the part went on to become yuppies. yuck...there's no way a real hippie could ever become a money grubbing greedy yuppie. Although I think the hip hop "culture" is the most popular today, the hippies are underground, where I think we, they, feel most comfortable. After all, who wants to be a part of this wacked-out, mixed up society anyway? Although it would be nice if our right to worship the Sacred Herb was respected...

[RatDog]

I voted no.;)
I am old school. I honestly still believe to this day that the word "hippie" and hippies died on October of 1967 with the Death of the Hippie parade down The Haight and buried in ggp. That was the intention of the parade. The media and straights exploited the word hippie and the hippie lifestyle for commercial reasons so the "Hippie" died a few short years in the Haight where it began after absorbing the Beat generation. After the funeral, and rising crime in the Haight, there was a max exodus out of the city by the thousands. The haight had become hell. Wino's and perverts figured out that if they quit cutting their hair, they are no longer seen as winos and pedophiles. They are now "hippies" because they could blend in. That pissed off the real hippies and caused a bigger stereotype, so the Diggers killed the Hippie. To fill the void, enter yippies filled the gap.


The ideals and spirit still live on, but honesty, there are very few people that can Tune in, Turn on, and Drop out anymore. Most everyone wants social status and the mass collection of material things, and genuinely are not willing to drop out of society as they know it. I know I can't go back but in my head still lives the memories and hope. If you go to the Haight today, there are a few things left but still takes some imagination. But if you stay there, you must stay at the Red Victorian B&B. A cool 81 year old hippie still runs the place. Her name is Sami Sunchild and check out the rooms. Here is a link. http://www.redvic.com/ I will be there next easter for 3 days.
:peace:
Peace

To answer your question Skip, I think we are just as important today to balance out the crazy world. We may not be seen as relevant, but we are very important to the entire overall scheme of life.
As the Merry Pranksters said, Rule #1. "Nothing lasts"

[PsyGrunge]

Not in the slightest.. there will be original and unconventional ways of thinking in certain individuals forever.
I don't believe you have to be an 'old school hippy' to clock onto goverment regime.. and how, especially with advances in technologies and demolishing areas of nature to produce housing or industries, we are ever increasingly denied our true relevance to the earth itself.. our complex but essential relation to nature.

[mad_hatter1985]

Their all at the festivals. I walk into a festival and it looks just like my ealier days. I deffintly feel so much safer when I'm behind the gates. Though we have seen some bad "Attidudes" camping amoung our peaceful weekends. But still a place to lay back with freinds, a couple "Illegal smiles", giant fire pit and music. Yes,we're still here.

[mandy420]

times have changed,Peace & Hemp activists i think have gotten angier about the whole global warming and arrests for narcotics,police brutality and war.
i just cant imagine an angry hippie...

issued on July 17th 2007
The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and organizations actively involved in the peace movement. It allows the Department of Defense to interfere in financial affairs and instruct the Treasury to "block the property" and/or confiscate/ freeze the assets of "Certain Persons" involved in antiwar
activities. It targets those "Certain Persons" in America, including civil society organizatioins, who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians.

The executive order violates the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution. It repeals one of the fundamental tenets of US democracy, which is the right to free expression and dissent. The order has not been the object of discussion in the US Congress. Sofar, it has not been addressed by the US antiwar movement, in terms of a formal statement.

anyways...
what is a true hippy? and why set an age limit?

[Rudenoodle]

Do you think hippies were just a thing of the past, or are we as important today as ever?

Maybe people are no longer limiting themselves based on what they wear?

Just because you don't want to play dress up everyday and look like a prick wearing a costume don't mean that there not on the same agenda as you, Maybe people are starting to express themselves with there words more so than with pieces of cloth....

[Deranged]

anymore, the hippies are about as hippie as the kids that wear goth clothes are german warriors.

technically hippies are post beatnick counterculturalists. that shit died out in the 70s.

[Hooty]

Now theres a group you never hear about much any more.

I always thought of them as earlier and mixed in years of the Hippy.

Loved the Beatnik man. I think they were the coolest.

Maynard G. Crebs.

Hippies are different today, thats all. Like anything they evolved into those today who call themselves hippy.

They aint us. They are not supposed to be us. They live in a different day and their day needs different people then we were. It needs modern people who have older values, or rather , values period.

If a youngster today likes the old hippy and has similar values and similar ideal then they are as much hippy as any of us were. They are just modern hippies. And that is probably a good thing to be.

My great uncle always told me, 'dont try being your father, just try carrying his ideals"

As long as a young person carries the hippy ideals he or she is a hippy.

[peaceman7000]

Where I live in NJ there are a few "hippie type" people but not many. Go up to
Vermont and you'll find many more. Hippies tend to congregate together in some areas more than others.

I would be more of a hippie if I lived around them for sure. Anyway, the hippie movement changes but its always about promoting peace instead of violence. The movement will never die.

Its not like it was in the 60s but in many ways its better. Look at what happened in Haight-Ashbury. You still have a large number of people promoting the positive ideals its just the big societal clashes that have disappeared.

[snake_grass]

no the world changes so whould the minds of a hippie

to get into it

[veiled1]

I love you all.......Thank you for showing us a better way to live so that we can teach our children how NOT to get caught up in this world !!!

[pushit]

Around here its just a bunch of emos and preps and hicks, but in other places hippies are still chilling.

[Rudenoodle]

If the question is:

"Are hippies a thing of the past?"

I'd say, I wish it weren't true but there are still alot of spoiled kids with nothing better to do than mindlessly bark back what is barked at them by there own popular culture.

Sometimes it's good: Like the protests to end the Vietnam war

Sometimes it's bad: People wearing ridicules clothes and mindlessly shouting horrid statements claiming the U.S government planting bombs in the world trade center based on the fact that it could possibly blossom into there own safe Vietnam horror stories they so fondly remembered there hero's valiantly protesting against.

Blinded by an old idea into thinking the outrageous.

Kinda like a religion huh?

[jnorton47]

You do not have to have live though the 60s and/or 70s to be a hippy. I have read about emo's. I think we have a lot in common. Emos are lost souls looking for there way. When they find it, I think most of them will discover that they are hippies. <(^o^)>

[shameless_heifer]

We are still around.. just look at this website.. full of hippies..

[snake_grass]

hippies is a word

how do you say hippie in a different language


hahaha people are like "i am that word"

then i am like right your that word


but then again any way you speak is just a word

people are all like ""word word word word word and then i word word word word word and your mother is a word word word"


jk

[hippiepeece]

Definately not! I'm only sixteen, just born in the wrong era thats all.

[~Beatle Girl~]

Course not!!!
I know lots of people who consider themselves hippies (some of them around my age, some others who actually lived those wonder years). No, definitely they will never go. Just look at this boards!!! :)

LONG LIFE HIPPIES!:cheers2:

[mildlygray]

Everything changes ,grows, evolves as r we. Their always be some ass calling somebody a .....ing hippie....I hope anyway!!!! Peace, joy, freedom n love r forever in motion and sought after..ehh Good hunting for all to come from all whom passed thru before and forever
peace grayhawk

[Ruby Cafeteria]

Do you think hippies were just a thing of the past, or are we as important today as ever?

Well, we're certainly not as blazingly obvious as we used to be! But we've had our impact, and I think our "paradigm" will continue to be a societal goal for many people. I do know personally, that when I return to my old "stomping" (or grooving" grounds, I see my old friends, and though we admit that we "lost the Revolution" we always compliment eah other on keeping the faith in our individual ways. But the hippie ideal was never about "making it" in the world, so that naturally makes many of us less than successful in the straights' eyes. Most of us have had to deal with getting through life while holding on to our core values of non-commercialism, political activism, artistic pursuits, etc. So while this one has managed to avoid (with the expected economic impact) working much at all in the business world, and this one has discovered a way to turn his creative prowess into a (very) small endeavor that affords a minimal income, and another has remained a proud worker in a world that disregards workers, we all have continued to struggle against the commodification of our lives, and have remained concerned about justice, peace, and a wide range of political subjects. And you do see our example revisited in young people, as they also strive to face an increasingly controlled social system. Truth is, the economics in the 60s made it possible for a lot of our "fluidity" of movement: a simple job could provide enough money to quit and hit the road, or to experiment with various sorts of community building. Another job could always be found when necessary. The financial picture today locks people into servitude, and it's not coincidental. So it is difficult to recapture the utter magic of those times. But bohemianisms of all types have sporadically arisen, and I imagine there will be another such period eventually. International capitalism and growing scarcities have perhaps made such a resurgence both more arduous and more necessary. I am not the bright-eyed and bushy tailed hippie I once was, but I hold on to hope, and try to see better days ahead. We had the music, and we had the heart. It suffices - for me - to not be nostalgic about the past (which tends to make you bitter and/or fanciful), but to be aware of what we had, and how it still represents a "good path" toward being fully human and alive to each moment.

[neonspectraltoast]

PLEASE stop trying to be a hippie and just be yourself.

[Lolli]

i live among hippies...i am a hippie, i'm raising my kidz 2 B hippies i believe hippie is a state of being not an era gone by. as long as there r tree hugging, music loving, pot smoking, peace seeking individuals out there hippies exist.

[OlderWaterBrother]

Do you think hippies were just a thing of the past, or are we as important today as ever? Hippies will always be around and have always been around, maybe just not called hippies. As for being important, I don't think that was ever the goal of hippies.

[OlderWaterBrother]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/tones_of_home/DSC00153.jpg

Except for ending slavery, fascism, nazism, and communism,
war has never solved anything.


Not to mention, slowing over population. :eek:

And by the way aren't those other things still around? ;)
.
.
.

[granny_longhair]

"Hippie" is a state of mind, and it will never die. We hippies recognize each other across generations and across national borders. There are hippie grandmothers like me, and there are hippie kids like the sweet young man who lives down the street from me. He's 17 years old and when he comes over to help me with yardwork, I tell him all about how it was in the 60's and he tells me about how it is now. We come from different worlds, and he's younger than most of my grandkids, but the universal hippie in each of us reaches out to the other.

So no, hippies are definitely not a thing of the past.

[OlderWaterBrother]

"Hippie" is a state of mind, and it will never die. We hippies recognize each other across generations and across national borders. There are hippie grandmothers like me, and there are hippie kids like the sweet young man who lives down the street from me. He's 17 years old and when he comes over to help me with yardwork, I tell him all about how it was in the 60's and he tells me about how it is now. We come from different worlds, and he's younger than most of my grandkids, but the universal hippie in each of us reaches out to the other.

So no, hippies are definitely not a thing of the past. I've always said hippies have always been around, it's just that they haven't always been called hippies.

[incomplete]

i guess that the hippies died the minute the name was accepted by the mass media.

there have and hopefully will always be people around who look after others, have respect for everyone they meet - shit, we are all in this life together and its ours to enjoy.

most of the people i have met who claim to be 'hippy' are all kind of middle class assholes who buy hippieish clothes from expensive shops and compare piercings and tats and dont really care about the philosophies of it all. its just an image that is cool yeah?

i also know many people who would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, these are true caring and real people.

are hippies a thing of the past? well, i still know many people who live by the same values. that kind of person is stillk around - most people i meet who say they are hippy are not - the most honest and true people i have met would never be labelled.

acting kind and looking after one another needs no name - it should be what makes us human

sorry for the rant, its late here

[granny_longhair]

i guess that the hippies died the minute the name was accepted by the mass media.

I don't think that's true at all. As you yourself say, the name isn't what matters. It's what's in your heart and soul that matters. The hippie heart and soul isn't dead.

most of the people i have met who claim to be 'hippy' are all kind of middle class assholes

Well, I dunno. Some would say that those who label an entire demographic of people as "assholes" are themselves the assholes. You say that the most "honest and true" people can't be labelled (which I quite agree with), but then you yourself turn around and label a bunch of people. I don't think that's what you really intended to do, is it?

Just out of curiosity ... do you consider yourself to be a hippie, however you define it?

[Shale]

I've always said hippies have always been around, it's just that they haven't always been called hippies.

Yeah, there were Bohemians, then the Beatniks to mention the two that preceded my dropping out.

I think Hippie is a word that was easy for the media to grasp in its sound bites. I don't recall even identifying as a Hippie at the time I lived as one. It was what the majority culture called us.

Then it caught on and apparently we owned the word. Sorta like blacks who have co-opted "nigger" and made it their own word.

So now I am an old Hippie because I was there living the lifestyle in the '70s. I still wear cutoff denim shorts and not much else. I believe in personal freedom and open sexuality.

However, I don't smoke dope or do any drugs any more, quit that early on actually. Does that mean I am no longer a Hippie? I don't rag on those who still smoke ganja (but I do bitch about tobacco smokers).

I think many of us represent that attitude of freedom, and those kind of ppl have been around a lot longer than the 1960s.

Now, where do I get my official Hippie certificate. :cool:

[incomplete]

I don't think that's true at all. As you yourself say, the name isn't what matters. It's what's in your heart and soul that matters. The hippie heart and soul isn't dead


Well, I dunno. Some would say that those who label an entire demographic of people as "assholes" are themselves the assholes. You say that the most "honest and true" people can't be labelled (which I quite agree with), but then you yourself turn around and label a bunch of people. I don't think that's what you really intended to do, is it?

Just out of curiosity ... do you consider yourself to be a hippie, however you define it?

I dont believe that the hippy heart and soul is dead, and I hope for all our sakes that it isnt. BUT, I will always worry when a label - lifestyle - is attached to something so simple as looking out for each other.

I try never to label people, and yes it wasn't my intention to do that - it was purely things I have seen. I have met many many people who dance around, waving hands, dreadlocked hair - who seem to be doing it for a fashion/image point. They dont seem to be doing it for any other point than an image thing. I really hope im wrong sometimes, but im a cynical bastard.

Am I a hippy - fuck no - im me, and thats the best I can be

'its nice to be nice' - i learned that from an old 'hippy' when i was 15 and its the best lesson i ever learned - no image can change your belives

sorry once again for the rant

[newo]

Hippies never completely disappeared, and in recent years they've made something of a comeback. There might not be as many around as in the 60s & 70s, but hippies don't really care whether or not they're trendy.

[I_Human]

Many hippies you see today you wouldn't even know are "Hippy" because they don't dress the part. Luckily enough, there are still many who do.

There's a part of me that believes, or maybe just hopes, that these are just the early days of what will one day become a world-wide cultural force, much in the same vien as religion (John Lennon, you will be bigger than Jesus), as the world plunges deeper and deeper into turmoil and people will be left with little choice but to stop driving their cars (at least as a main form of transportation), get rid of their meat heavy diets (now and then there's nothing wrong with meat) and all those other great and wonderful hippie ideals. Let's hope it never becomes corrupt though...with hippie beaurocracies and some sort of giant hippie Vatican City erected at Yasgur's Farm...

[QueerPoet]

Do you think hippies were just a thing of the past, or are we as important today as ever?

Still very important. And we make the world a much better place.

:cheers2:

--QP

[oldmusic4]

hippies don't grow old or disappear. they're everywhere. supertramp, I'm also glad I found this site. I can express myself like never before.