thoughts on so called "ex-hippies"

Thanks, Teepi. This was like a walk down memory lane for me today. I found myself getting teary and spun-up at the same time. Like; "I remember him, and yeah, that's the way it was"....

What's the old saying? "It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil." The kids today think that things will change simply because we want them to. That's a very republican notion, eh? Nope. In order to get things out in the open and changes waiting in the wings, you have to jump up and down and make a whole lot of noise. (I have lots of practice making noise. And things do seem to get changed when I put my mouth to it.)

Take Abby for instance... he was not quiet or mild or even peaceful. He had his problems with ups and downs, and he was hounded to suicide, but he was "The Man" as far as pissing off the pigs.

Another old saying; "You can't make an omlet without breaking some eggs."

I'm glad someone is interested in the history of the freak nation, Reb. Sorry to repeat.

Sam

 

Yeah me too, like when I was over at your place and talking about the mud and the sauna the mist creeps up on me.
Not only for the way things WERE but for the way things WON'T again.

If I come across that lamp in the sand, and I get to rubbing on it....thats what one of mine will be. To let the youth of today experience a piece of all that, to have that vibe infiltrate a wire coarsing through their DNA.

You metioned where the others have gone...a reunion would be nice but the feeling is dust in the wind, we all have our memories but the big ball of wax melted and now alot of us are just left with a little candle that we keep lit.
Love to you and the bug man,
teepi

 

When I was younger, folks would tell me that I had to slow down. That I was burning my candle at both ends and I'd soon be out of wax. My standard reply was; "Give me More Wax!"

I don't know, Teepi. I think that they're gonna get that vibe coursing through them if Dubya gets re-elected. I smell a Draft coming, and that's what got our shorts all tied in a knot. Folks can get used to a lot of foul smelling shit purpetrated on them... but when that shit comes in the US mail and says; "We want You, boy... NOW" I'll bet the farm that the good ole U.S. of A. sees some of that "feeling" again.

OK... now I'm gonna fire me up one.

Sam

Look what's happenin' out in the streets
got a revolution... got to revolution
Hey, I'm dancin' down the streets
got a revolution... got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all the people I meet
got a revolution... got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got sold
This generation got no destination to hold
pick up the cry
Hey, now it's time for you and me
got a revolution... got to revolution
Come on now we're marching to the sea
got a revolution... got to revolution
Who will take it from you
We will, and who are we
We Are Volunteers Of America
Volunteers of America!

~ The Airplane

 

If Bush gets re-elected.....who fucking knows. But if he wins, November 3rd will be the end of the "free" world as we know it.

 

Yeah, its a shame it will be the "hot" wire.
My son is 21, and I'm gonna do what I can, and what I have to.

Blackie...yooz in "corrections"....wonders never cease...lol

 

why i would read this forum: that was beautiful. wish you were the kind neighbor next door...and, er.. that i still lived in ohio?
thanks/peace,
brad

 

People change, that's a fact of life. Some people were not true hippies back then, they just looked and acted the part to get in on the sex, drugs and rock & roll. They might consider themselves to be ex-hippies, but they really never were.

Some really could have been considered hippies, but times changed and so did their lives. They got married and had kids and realized they had greater responsibilities than before. They softened their appearance, cut down or cut out the drugs and started careers. Touring the country following the Grateful Dead in concert is great when you're young and unattached but uprooting your family in order to do it is not an option for most people.

And of course the end of the Vietnam War took away much of the momentum from the counterculture, especially when the communist governments that took over in those countries led to the Vietnamese boat people and the Cambodian killing fields, making it plain that we had not helped create any Utopias. The very name counterculture is about opposing the culture you live in, and when that culture is at peace and behaving more responsibly the counterculture dwindles.

Finally there are those die-hard hippies who have changed little from those days and will carry the movement with them to their graves. It takes a very determined individual to stick with a certain lifestyle after it's no longer popular, it requires a lot of sacrifice to live the way you feel is the right way.

But for those of us who have changed, does that really make us ex-hippies? Those days had a profound influence on me, and part of who I am now is because of who I was then. To look at me now you wouldn't think I was ever a hippie or at least part of the hippie culture, but once you got to know me you'd realize that the hippie in me is alive and well.

 

I'm with you, newo.

First of all, I agree with Sam (I think it was?) - most of us wouldn't have gone with any friggin' label. I believe people use the term, "hippie" for the sake of communication. Basically, we all know then, what/who we're talking about.

I know some folks who just tend to keep hanging on to the lifestyle and/or look from the sixties and you know? Bless 'em for it. But like you said, for many of us, we took on new roles - like parents, working stiffs, whatever - and our look and even our visible lifestyles may have changed. But the politics? the beliefs? the value system? the heart? Not on your life. Maybe it's just a more "grown-up" counter-culture appearance?

I 'spose some "real" hardcore hippies from the day may have changed drastically and have become the opposite of the person they once were, but in my experience, those are the exception. Anyone who genuinely lived, loved and believed the life - you look inside them and there still resides the rebel and the lover and the philosopher from way back when . . .

 

I totally agree with Shameless, once a hippy always a hippy. The clothes may change, but it's in your heart and soul. It never really leaves, you are born that way. It's a way of thinking and always being. I would say that the hippies that changed their clothes so to speak, are realizing who they are again and starting to get in the groove again. It's always been in my heart, I'm drawn to that way of life and always have been and always will be. It's just the right way, Peace!!

 

Daharma, you intruige me...
I have a question for you...
Can people born now, in this generation become hippies or be hippies?
That's a subject of much debate on here, what do you think?

 

This is a tough call and I don't know if I have an answer for you. I do believe it is a valuable question.


Some of us are brought up in religions that we are told are an intrinsic aspect of our being and soul. Like being born a person of color, it's not something that you can change. Even if you deny it and work at practicing customs and traditions that are diametrically opposed to what you were born into, it is nonetheless a birthrite.

Other religions believe that if you do not practice the teachings, you are fallen. A good way to get back on the path is to pick yourself up, learn, teach and donate, donate, donate.

I've learned of Jews who lived Catholic lives during the 15th and 16th centuries but kept their traditions and customs alive in the basements of their homes.

I've also known people who were hippies and counter culture folk who decided that money and property and networking with the republican set was more advantageoous. It would be foolish of me to think or believe that just because hippie life is superior in value, worth and merit that no one would leave it. People leave for any number of reasons.

Since hippie is not a unified or uniformed lifestyle or structure, it's impossible to know what a person is leaving. I, for example, don't drink or do drugs. Some hippies engage in activity that I don't approve of or endorse. Would I be more hippie if I just turned and looked the other way?

I have no problem with hippies who leave the fold. Just like I have no problems with former Jews who become Christians or former vegetarians who become omnivores. We all have choices that we are free to make.