For those of you who were around back in the daze, and those of you who weren't... What was the hippie philosophy and how has it succeeded or failed? I contend that it was a grand attempt to surpass the social and intellectual constructs that still rule our lives today, and that it failed to build a new one that encompassed but surpassed those two evolutionary stages. A small group of individuals were trying to elevate the much larger world society to a higher level and they failed...although the transition is still continuing, it will take much longer, perhaps hundreds of years, to accomplish.
I think we do Bill... The transition will not have to be complete for civilization to survive. I really can't see a major nuclear confrontation taking place like we worried about during the cold war. so no instantaneous destruction of the human world. Pollution takes time, it is reversable, and we are beginning to act. If some terrorist group detonates a nuclear device, I think the world we be appalled and terrorism will end. So, I think it is going to happen, given enough time. And in the long run we have time as long as we survive. So right now we are in a phase where we are dealing with the fact of realizing that everything is related, societies, environment, mores, production, etc. A small step, but a beginning.
there wasn't a "THE HIPPIE PHILOSOPHY" as such, other then pacifism, and putting how we affected the world we all had to live in, ahead of what anyone thought of us as individuals. that was what the real thing was about. "hippie" was a name coined by corporate media to throw at us to discredit the higher moral ground of caring more about the kind of world everyone has to live in, than about what anyone thinks of ourselves individually. all the 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' was a self fulfillment of the media mudslinging. but it did have the opposite effect of discouraging growth of the bandwagon. spectacularly. but it still wasn't what it was REALLY all about. it was what people then, and now, want each other to THINK it was about, because what it was really all about, subverts the dominant culture by exposing how messed up it really is.
I agree about the hippie tag thing. And I will be the first to admit that many, if not most, hippie type freaks were into the "scene" for pure hedonism, especially as the media got hold of it. But the core was based on idealistic ways of viewing various cultural norms. Socially, it pushed against the notion that the world is made up of us and them, as the Floyd put it. This would be the division into different racial, class, religious, gender, national, etc. groups. An example is the still current patriotism deal in the U.S. Remember "Love it or Leave it?" And so on...I think I'll go mow the grass, too early to be thinking about this sh-t.
In another sense, it created a further division into hippies vs. straights. But back to my earlier point - I just can't see that we've got hundreds of years. The whole edifice of industrial capitalism is based on diminishing oil reserves. Damage to the environment proceeds unabated. There is a chance that further wars will develop - probably over the last few barrels of oil, or caused by religious fundamentalists. In terms of social progress there seems to be very little. In many respects high tech seems to be leading to an even more brainwashed population than 30 years ago. Even the education system is being dumbed down, so that people aren't even being given the tools needed to be able to think for themselves. Maybe my perspective is conditioned by my life in the UK, where we seem to be going backwards, and where society seems to be disintegrating quite rapidly.Perhaps in other parts of the world things are getting better, but I can't see that it's going to be anything like enough. Still - although this may sound very pessimistic, maybe some new hope will emerge. I hope so.
Us and Them/ Hippie/Straight, yes, yes, yes..all true. But I was thinking of what was happening in the movement, with the awakening of interconnectedness as far as environment, races, etc... According to Ken Wilbur 50 to 70% of the world is at an ethnocentric or lower level. He puts it into simple terms and calls them Nazis. Within this group he includes, among others, Southern Baptists, Shin Buddhists, Chinese Marxists, al-Qaeda, and some of his best friends and family. And he includes all the world's major religions. Interestingly he thinks that only those religions can lead that 70% of humanity into a world centric view, which must happen if mankind is to survive and evolve. And yes, the States are in a shambles, really depressing. Public education is in decline do to political correctness, and idiot politicians and directors, the work ethic sucks, lawyers are everywhere, and the music sucks.....Boy I sound old....
I think the problem is the hippy thing didn't go far beyond the USA and some western european countries. Most of the world was untouched. I too probably sound old - but so what? The 'cult of eternal youth' is just another bit of BS, really an illusion. We'd be better getting back to a type of culture where the voice of the elder is listened to. Respected even. I mean 'elder' in the sense that tribal people use the word - not people who simply happen to be high within this or that heirarchy such as popes, mullahs, politicians, etc. I think the term 'nazi' may be a bit misleading. Probably Wilbur may be using it as a synonym for 'authoritarian' or 'dogmatic'. Since I have only a slight familiarity with his writings I can't really say. I can't though see how they're going to lead us towards anything but destruction, or a planet that resembles a kind of open prison. It doesn't look like they're going to change in any significant way. I agree that a 'world centric' view would be very helpful. I think too that we need to somehow re-discover our place within the natural order, rather than defining ourselves in terms of this or that philosophy, religion, or other constructed set of ideas. The hippy thing was like a kind of opening to something. A beginning, an initiation - Probably a lot of people involved, like me, have had to re-define things many times to themselves as to what it was leading to. Back in the day, part of it was probably a kind of over optimistic post world war 2 optimism, which has long ago evaporated. So where from here?
Well, most of the world was untouched because it still existed in a pre-industrial/informational age. It is still locked into tribal or national world views. I think the Americas, Europe, Japan, and later Russia were thrown into a world centric view as a result of WWII. They saw the ugly side of nationalism and found the need to co-operate and co-exist. In addition the post WWII explosion of technology in these countries opened the general public's eyes as to the common nature of people all over the world. I think Wilbur was using Nazi to describe the mindset of these groups. The Nazis were a very nationalistic, power centered, impulsive, action orientated group in the extreme. The 50 to 70% of the world he is talking about are also at this level, but for now are held in check by higher levels of social laws and world centric pressure groups that are currently keeping them at bay. I think, if I understand him, this 50 to 70% group is locked into their archaic religious beliefs by the higher realms of science and rationality that will not accept their religious beliefs (as they are faith based) and so they rebel are the world centric view thinking it will mean the end of their beliefs. And so they do not evolve. Of course science gave up spirituality and scoffs at those who still "believe". Religions are needed as everyone must pass through the religious stage as they grow up. Some type of spirituality will always express itself in each individual as they mature. So it becomes the task of the world's religions to accept this early stage of "mythic faith" that all individuals pass though and propel them into the world centric views while honoring their past. Back in the daze we though we could accomplish this by example, logic, and shear will power (and some chemical help along the way). It made such sense, if we could see it, why couldn't everyone else? But we were operating at one level and everyone else at another. You can't just reach down and pull them up, they have to do it by themselves.
