Part of the problem with this current generation seems to be the fact that in the 60's if you disagreed with society, and the war, you could go to Berkeley with thousands of other people who felt the same way. There isnt a subculture like that anymore it seems, But i may be wrong. For those who are in Berkeley, the haightt or Madison or other places, are their alot of drop outs and hippies on the streets like in the old days? I have a vision of the 60's and the haight, that there were thousands of kids in the streets sleeping in sleeping bags. Are there any places like that anymore? Or is this a time that is long gone?
I think those days have long passed, and I doubt it will be that way again, unless there's some sort of catastrophe.
There's always been a subculture and there have always been dropouts, though today it's on a smaller scale than the 60s, just as today's war is smaller than Vietnam. Dropouts and runaways have to look harder to find a place to crash nowadays but they can still find it.
A sleeping bag.. who had a sleeping bag.. if you did bring posessions with you, they were quickly 'absorbed' into the Haight. If you are dedicated to hard work there are several communities here in the forums that are trying to bring unity and self-provission in the spirit of community and freedom of choice. Some are established and some are in creation. Check in the personal forums or maybe someone will message you and offer you to come visit and see if it flows. Brightest Blessings on your journey sh
it was more like a bedroll at the mission,or behind some bushes or a car if you were lucky.There was a liquer store in berk i forget the name,but if you got there early you could spend half a day and get a little change,but if you weren't early you'd loose your spot.i see the kids down in the lower desert hanging out in the middle of the busy intersection all day with signs asking for money,probably sleeping in the open desert nearby.When you're playing the survival game there's not much time for anything else.
Therein lay the main problem with the Haight in the 60s, too many kids living on the streets competing for spare change. If you had a job you were constantly being hit up for it and it got old pretty quick. I wasn't living there then but I saw similar shit go down in my hometown and other places I lived. Sharing and caring is great, but there were too many who were always taking and rarely if ever giving, and some of them even acted as if you owed it to them! This is one reason why so many left the Haight and similar places to go form communes. They'd invite the ones they felt would contribute and left the mooches behind.
In Berkely there were not thousands living on the streets - not at any one time. People came and went. There were a few places you could crash. Most did not have a bedroll but did have backpacks with a change of clothes. You could eat once a day at the soup kitchen. (not on the weekends though) The rest of the time was spent pan handling, looking for a place to crash or take a bath. And yes, it was survival and yes it got old quick. Life on the street wasn't easy. Most moved on to other things...
