what do the original hippies think of modern society?

i've seen quite a few threads and posts about modern youth but i more mean the way society is... particularly FOR the youth even though it's hard of course for those who aren't that age themselves to get a full insight into the way it is now.

i was going to write a long post with questions about different things i have noticed and that i think but erm... for now let's just leave this clean i think! otherwise i will be influencing it too much

thank you everyone!

Hoppi


EDIT -- I guess i mainly mean US and UK society... I am in the UK though and I know it varies state to state and between here and the US. so it's going to be a little vague but aaaanyway it's all cool

 

I'm not even sure if I understand what the question means. Political atomosphere in my country smacks of a time very familiar ... "QUESTION AUTHORITY" is not out of place. Same-sex unions are a reality elsewhere on the planet (in the hippie days of my youth it was not as "out"). Automakers offer monsters for folks who need to drive tanks and itsy-bitsy green-friendly cars for those of us who are interested in saving the planet.
Modern society knows about global warming (back in the 70s we knew that soaps and detergents should have no phosphates).
I think we have great potential for keeping our world cleaner and for living lives that and save us from infections. We need to exercise good judgement. That, I'm afraid, has nothing to do with being hippie or not hippie!

 

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

 

its like....who cares

 

the moral deficiencies of our age are less to be found between the pages of eroticism and more in the boardrooms of the fortune 500.

who cares?

someone who is going to live long enough to be gasping for breath as the remaining vegitation becomes no longer adiquite to provide enough oxygen to the atmosphere for them to breathe.

and someone who won't, but can see how totally stupid and unneccessary allowing that to happen really is. who can and is observing the mechanism by which such a scenario is all too likely to come about.

=^^=
.../\...

 

I agree with the "Who cares?" statement.

This generation is radically different from the 60s... and believe me, it's not like there are more idiots now then there were back then. People seem to glorify the 60s without realising that being a "hippie" back then was a fashion statement and a popular trend. It's like being Emo, punk, or so on today.

From what I've seen on these forums, many old hippies are rather angry, cynical creatures.

 

True dat.

 

I often get the feeling that most people think that hip-ness started in the 60's, while the truth is, there have always been those who are "hippies" since humans began walking the earth. I am sure that the news media brought the 60's "misfits" into the public eye, and because of the Vietnam war, and the extensive media coverage it got, they drew alot of attention.


Today, the media is mostly owned by Republicans, and so coverage of dissention and adverse reactions to the war (and pictures of the returning dead) are intentionally left out of the "news", and even though there is a mass network of underground "hippies", there is no publicity, and so no mass revolutionary movements spurred by media coverage of outraged and rebellious anti-war demonstrators. Those in charge don't want to stir up the masses.

I am not nostalgic for the 60's or 70's. I know that the "hip" youth of today know and care about whats going on in politics and govenment, and a societal transformation is happening right now, and we just need to keep on keeping on, and change the world. Peace and Love

 

not only can the common person not change what goes on in the boardrooms of the fortune 500, but we also cannot change what those people will do to the planet. yeah, it sucks and its sad.... but why waste your last breath arguing for change which won't come when you can be living a high life of sorts?

realistic agnosticism is the shiznit.

 

alot of things that can be changed, alot of things that will always remain untouched.

the world is still a beautiful place no matter how much we tweak it or try to change its look. It still remains the same underneath.

 

this statement might of been true a few years ago but now with the popularity of "american idol", most old hippies see this positive message as a resurgence of hippy vallues

 

thanks for the replies everyone

there are so many different views on this it's quite something, i guess it depends on your experiences, your friends, where exactly you are, how hippy you yourself are, if you were around in the 60s, etc etc!

the main thing i think i worry about is the amount of stress and pressure and busy busy busy and rat racing that there is in the world today particularly on young people... i have an anxiety problem for example and i know a fair few people with similar things. i wonder how many people had things like this back then. i find it hard to relax with things the way they are... i'm not sure if it's just me.

society i think is a lot more big brothery and controlling... and people can often seem less... engaged... at least in the UK i'm not sure what it's like in america.

of course though it's more free than many and technically we still have freedom and things in how we live.

any other thoughts?

 

American Idol sucks.

 

The shittier things get in the world, the more acceptable shitty things become. Until at some point things will get so shitty that people won't be able to stand it anymore, the shit hits the fan. The cycle goes on, up and down. I think we're on the cusp of a 60ish happening, but on steroids. We spent our younger years working towards freedom. We watch in our somewhat older years watching the freedoms we had then be taken away. This is a good place to gather before the storm. But it is about time to get wet...

 

Right you are. Kids today have no clue what 60s hippydom was all about; they hear stories and read web-pages and watch TV, but they weren't there. And the attitude of "who cares?" pretty much sums up too many in young'un generation. There are many young and intelligent kids out there who do care , but are overwhelmed by the "who cares?" group. I guess it really is up to us old farts to dust off the peace symbols again and lead the way.
P.S. kid: The 60s hippie movement was a lot more than a fashion trend. It was a political movement. We helped end a war. What have YOU done?

 

sounds like you auditioned and even paula couldn't find anything redeeming about your performance

 

No you didn't.

 

I don´t wanna offend anybody, but being 48 today, Franklin, i guess you were about 8, 9 ,10 years old, when "the real hippies" were acting, weren`t you?

wonder, how much you did for ending the war...

people today still have the wish to become active, but the youth is divided in too many groups and movements... we need unity, I think... and no one has something against a good advice, franklin... but no "we were better... don`t try imitating us"-slogans...

alright, that`s all ;-)

peace, love and beer

 

They had it then, they have it now, they had it before then. It's a natural human occurence.

 

Technically it was the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese, but we indeed helped get the U.S. the heck outta there.