hippies .vs. deadheads .vs. rainbow family .vs. dead family

I know hippies, I know deadheads, I know people who know rainbow family, and I know people who know dead family. What are the differences to you guys? I know The dead family are mostly in production or sale of narcotics and rainbow family are basically people who meet up yearly/monthly in the forest and getting there by word of mouth.... What do you define these things as?

 

This could get interesting. In bygone times, deadheads were Grateful Dead fans and hippies were people who smoked pot and subscribed to free love. More often than not, they were the same people.

 

I don't think there is necessarily a huge difference. It's the outside world who labels those people and keeps them in a box. Yes being in the Grateful Dead Family now usualy means you sell drugs. It often means that you have more of a gangster rap view on the world too (chasing money, greed, violence). Around the mid to late 1990's when the Grateful Dead stopped touring this new generation of dealers took over. And at that time hip hop was huge among suburban white kids in other words the kind of people who might have seen the Dead.

But I also know GDF people who are very "hippie". The thing is the person willing to sell you drugs is often very low on the chain. Their gangster behavior must be tolerated because someone has to get the people the drugs and you are probably not in a position to supervise them without exposing yourself. If that person is going to take that risk and be so stupid about it, going to not really get the message of what they sell well that is up to them. You can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink. You remember your place in the chain and how you can honor your commitments.

Rainbow Gatherings are just a place for the traditional values of the old days to survive.

 

I am rainbow family . You are welcome home in a free place . I arrived here from already being free , and from that
with a gift to share . I arrived as an elder , shy .

 

my first gathering was on the Gila in NM. 1977 ....Sometimes I stayed at Turtle Soup....Just got stents put in my heart, so I don't know if I can go any more. Trying to get a lung transplant too.....But I had a good run....no regrets.

 

I'm certainly a deadhead, and have yet to go to a Gathering yet but it's on the top of my list. I'm currently reading "People of the Rainbow" by Michael Niman and it states that the Gatherings were at least partially derived from/inspired by Dead Shows.
There's definitely a beautiful overlap between the groups.

 

Most Deadheads are hippies and many hippies are Deadheads. Been to 2 gatherings, consider myself a hippie at heart but I wouldn't say I'm in the Rainbow Family. I like the Dead but not to the point I'd call myself a Deadhead, I like lots of bands' music.

Guess I'm just non-committal, but neither am I an outsider looking in. So enjoy it, go with the flow, get your freak on, just take a toke a let your cares go up in smoke.