Did the hippie revolution really die... or did it just transform? I had this insight the other day that what the hippie movement was all about still lives on, and not just "in our hearts" as we often say, but very openly and vividly. Just take a look at all the musical artists through the last few decades. In the 70s, we saw the advent of heavy metal and punk rock, then in the 80s we saw pop and rap, and in the 90s we saw techno and goth. Ever since the 60s, we've been so much more open with our ideas too. Women are expressing themselves so much more freely, as are gays, other ethnicities, races, and minorities. Clothing styles have been going through radical changes. People have been gain so much more of a global consciousness about issues from global warming to human rights to other religions and cultures. This stuff would have been totally unheard of in the 50s, 40s, and so on back. The reason I think people say the hippie movement died was because most of us associated "hippies" with people who grow their hair long, wear bell bottoms, smoke weed, and use slang words like "groovy", "far out", and "dig it". Yes, that all went away. But the hippie movement had the effect on society it intended to have. It change society from an up-tight, conservative, slow-to-change, repressed, lifeless machine to one that accepts change and, especially, allows people to express themselves as they really are. I'm not saying it pushed this to the utmost extreme, but you have to admit, society since the sixties as drastically different from society of all decades before. The kinds of change it established was to allow individuals to be themselves, and we see this in the rollercoster ride we've been on for the past 45 years. With more people expressing themselves more freely, we get so much more changes in styles, arts, and culture - like hippies to heavy metal to punk to pop to rap to techno to goth, and so on. So yes, the traditional "hippies" won't be as prevalent as they were in the beginning, but what is it to be a hippie really? Is it to wear bell bottoms, listen to Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones, and call everybody "cool cats", or is it to accept people for who they are regardless of whether that matches the establishment's expectations or not? What do you guys think? Agree or disagree?
I think the "hippie" revolution did end, because the word "hippie" can have a negative connotation of something stuck in the 60's. But there is so much more awareness today, we are definitely on the right path that the original hippies started on. Who knows if this will be called a revolution or not. Maybe we'll even get our own little title for it.
duh only tink changed iz yoh shit haircutz, soazz yoh iz cool vit duh piggy paycheck rulerz, an ah fool mouthin hip like shit.
I never thoght of it that way before. Hmmmmm, interesting.I think you may be on to something there. Maybe the term revolution (keeps coming back. i.e.revolving back around) More like they started a PROGRESSION, that is still progressing today,and will continue to progress. People don't want to be called hippies anymore(except for us )But the ideals of tolerance are still alive and kickin. Where do you think this could lead?
It didn't die, but the golden age of unfettered alruism and freedom did. We have, to a large extent, slipped back into an overly commercial society. I agree we're still feeling the benefits of those great strides made 4 decades ago, but it'll be a while before people are having sex in public again.
I don't know. I don't think of it as leading anywhere in particular, just speeding up what's been going on all along. All the different styles and ideas that have characterized the past 4 decades are like the different religions and cultures that have characterized the past several centuries or millenniums - you know, starting with the greeks and romans, then the dark ages, then the middle ages, then the rennaissance, enlightenment, and finally the modern age. I don't know. I think of all the cultures and religions that humanity has been going through like one big long trip. It doesn't feel like a trip because it changes soooo slowly. But ever since drugs exploded into the mainstream in the 60s, it kick started this change process into high gear (at least insofar as culture and art is concerned). HA! Good point.
i dont think it diedd and i think it needs to become much more apparent in society soon! i would love to travel around trying to spread peace =)
i think maybe we spend too much time thinking about exactly what everything is, rather than enjoying our time, like i feel as if alot of people think too much like there's a "hippie kosher" like "if your a hippie you smoke weed or have long hair" and even the term hippie is no good for anything but explaining yourself quickly to a new friend or whatnot, we worry too much about what we are when really we should never even think about it I'm guilty of it myself... that probably doesn't make sense to anyone but me.
hey darksideofthemoon, it kind of made sense to me, i just dont know if it is what you meaned, anyways...in the 60´s people didnt worry about themselfs beeing hippys, they where doing something good, who cares about all the tags, its what you do what matters in the end...
Every day is a new chance, and it *IS* alive in everyone who makes it so. Trotsky said the revolution must be permanent, never ending. It wasn't something to win or lose; it is something for each of us to find our way to do all of the time. Peace, Ryvr
Nothing died, we accomplished what we set out to do, not all of it, but the major issues. We made our point. We walked the path untill there was no path left to follow and then we blazed a new trail. We are still doing, we just pick our battles more closely now. Every time we vote for a good one, we shoot down a vote for a bad one. We have already had our heads busted and are too old to mend like we did when we were young. But I tell you this, we are still convincing people everyday with the message we bring. Not just the young one coming up, but the older ones too have seen a need to utilize our message. What promise our grand children bring. A brighter future they will bring. The Indigo Children will bring change about. Brightest Blessings sh