Question for the wise but young at heart

Im interested in how hippie/psychadelic counter culture has changed over the last few decades. im only 23 but it seems to me like there is no defined counterculture now a days its become diluted because there are so many walks of life take the woodstock generation that era defined them and the closest thing i see now to an organized counter culture is the dubstep electronic scene but even then thats not for the sake of accomplishing anything or making a statement or even mind expansion. i dont believe in labels but have looked for like minded people in society for the last 8 years and there is no set definition of a hippie what is the modern day hippie is it still the van adventuring free spirited adventurers or has it evolved?

 

take a trip over to jambase.com and start hanging out at those shows (except the obviously commercially mainstream acts that are on there now) and see that the counterculture is still alive and well. I can't speak for everybody but nowadays it seems to be more about getting together and shedding the plastic society and the straight world we are so used to for a weekend and being friends with 30,000 people at a music festival. Granted, that is just one aspect of the counterculture.. there are also the politically active, the socially active and then there are those that say "fuck all that shit" and live with a small group of like minded individuals in the woods together and grow vegetables, make crafts and music.

 

very cool thank you ive seen the site before but havent messed around on it to much. i live in a decent music area but its mostly underground did however find 2 very cool small to mid size venues where alot of like minded people go. i wonder if the ideals that alot of the counter culture and youth live by today coincides at all with some of the beliefs and values of the counterculture of the sterotypical 60's 70's hippie pretty interesting your right though it does seem like counterculture has branched into different sects all of them looking for something different or believe in something different and that sort of is how they end up finding eachother

 

I like this post. l shall return.

 

The same thoughts that went into making Woodstock happen, are alive and well today. Its all in your head man....

Its just a trip, dont think to hard about it..

 

problem is what u r looking for,a defined counter culture is something made up for our parents by the media so they could understand what was happening,freedom is what defined the generation they call hippie.i was young at the beginning and went with my older siblings to the happenings,sit ins,be ins,what ever you want to label them as,i just rember the freedom to be who i was and have fun.by the time i understood what was going on the hippie had died and those who believed needed to join the establishment to care for the children that happened cause some belived free love ment free sex.some of the belifes of the hippie generation are still there it's just disguised by there childrens/grandchildrens need to have what everyone else has.

 

what im wondering though is from what they make it seem like the counterculture/psychadelic scene when it first came out seemed like there was only one mold of hippie/personality that everyone who was involved back then followed now you have so many different types of people now adays or drug cultures or just people who want to go against the grain its almost like the counter culture is divided into multiple different types of people i dont label myself as anything really. but i dont know much about what it was really like back then and thats what im wondering did you have different types of people who went against the grain back then or was everyone just like woodstock type hippies now you have like your ravers your metalheads your old school hippies your straight potheads your rebels people who dont want to be the the average joe suit and tie boring ass john doe. back in the day what were people doing to go against the grain and were more people aspiring to fit the mold of a perfect model citizen robot instead of finding more what they wanted to do as an individual

 

o i know that orison i have met many of different types of people in my travels through the southeast all different types of personalities people who fit one mold people who dont fit any mold they have woodstock type festivals about 15-20 times a year they dont have a name that will be remembered like woodstock and the symbolism behind it that will be remembered years from now . i just love people and sociology and like to learn about different cultures, different types of people and hearing people talk about there experiences.i like to make people think to try to make connections where there might and might not be one .but mostly to learn and provoke thought and hear other peoples experiences journeys what theyve learned.

 

I'm 65 and Canadian (from Toronto). I had a lot of American friends passing through or dodging the draft (I guess, I didn't often ask). I was a folkie (Dylan fan) and late on the hip electric scene - not till like 1968. Toronto had a mini-Haight scene called Yorkville and a huge apartment-type building for alternative studies called Rochdale College which rapidly became a 16 floor party and commune living experiment. I had a room there in 1970. By this time, dope-dealing heavies and bikers were a major presence and it was scary sometimes just coming home at night, not knowing what would be happening. Drugs were really strong. One time there was a party in the building and somebody handed out 600 hits of acid (there were about 1200 people living there).
One thing I learned was there's always a hierarchy and the aggressive ones rise to the top, take over the scene. I liked to bliss out, toke with peaceful people, cook and talk stuff together, so I was disappointed at times and often frightened - and I suspect I would have felt so even early in SF in 65-67, if I'd gone there.
I went to the Atlantic City rock festival a week before Woodstock and missed that one (the only one among my friends). But there was a feeling things were peaking. All the big music names were everywhere at once, you couldn't take it all in.
But, for sure there were very nice times, nice people. And no political correctness thing telling you how to talk, what to get into - lot of mystical stuff and really not much interest in politics.
I miss the times. It helped me and hurt me. It's still the key reference point of time in my life, I guess.

 

thats awesome sounds like good times

 

Maybe there is no defined counter culture because we also lack a defined mainstream culture, how can you have something that is counter-cultural if there isn't a well defined mainstream culture?

 

again the idea is freedom,exceptance and love.the only reason it looks like there was only one way is because thats what the media showed.by the time woodstock happened the hippie was dead and in its place were the want to be's.

 

Mannn that sounds awesome! i wish i was living in your time.:daisy:

 

Just to say, I also started out in Yorkville and lived in Rochdale College for a time. You are right in what you say, the times were both heady and exciting and thrilling, and also at times a bit scary. At the time I thought it would go on forever, but I was only young then. I do miss the times as well, but for me, these days are also good with a thriving alternative scene. I'm just glad I was born when I was and that I've lived through these times, warts and all.

 

Well said-It helped me and it hurt me-I heard of Rochdale-we had our own university based scene center-read cop free zone-at MUN in St John's.-and yes, its the key reference point in my life-

 

if you stop and look back at the times, we came from parents that wore suits to work, had crew cuts, believed everything they were told was fact (on current issues), some of our parents were just what we would call "rednecks". it was when you didnt go to a movie without wearing a suit, attend an event again, the suit. it was a time when a man thought of his neighbor, not necessarily his neighbors wife. life had very little social interaction that wasnt in a formal setting.

then, we were dressed that way, made to wear those god awfull crew cuts, strait leg levis rolled up cuffs, wingtip shoes or "thread needles" as they were called, and deep inside i (we?) despised all of that, as a thing called rock and roll was about to come to stay. we discovered the elders scorned elvis, and that fueled a fire in a potential rebel to be.

then came the british invasion, (thank god) cause the beetles drove the elders crazy with hate, as did other of the british invasion.

then came, elephant bells, they were called. giant bell bottom jeans, technology was starting to progress in form of tv coverage of people like us, calling us anything you can think up, but all negative.
that lit a fire inside my my gut, and i decided no more suit n ties, strait leg pants, crew cuts. it was now long hair, a different wardrobe, the introduction of "party favors".

my vocabulary isnt large enough to describe how well that set within my home, just imagine horrible with an exponent of 10.

but this was larger than could be controlled as time has illustrated.

heres the hard to describe part, im not sure we had any idea we were making history, we didnt intend to really, but we also had opinions of the times and we werent going to be silenced because it wasnt popular to say something.

as for today, you may find what you seek, and i sincerely hope you do, but this is a good point to revert back to should you find a need...we did all discover that a living had to made, so we made some minor adjustments and entered the work force, i hated to conform to certain things (tell me how to wear my hair is my biggest bitch of all) the times have changed, but i inside havent.

the world can change around me, but i wont change no more.
(semi-retired), ill tell someone to kiss my ass in a second when conditions are set i disagree with, provided it concerns me.