My Thoughts on Amsterdam

Yes, there were.

There are parallels between the ways hippies and gangstas were/are viewed: both rebelled/rebel against the mainstream culture in their dress, musical tastes and political attitudes.

Were the hippies in Holland viewed as trying to cop American culture? Probably not, because many of the hippies there were actually American expats/visitors looking for a liberal country to settle in or visit. Those European cities heavily influenced by the hippies tended to have their own characteristics making them unique. Additionally, Europeans played a strong role in shaping the American hippie culture, especially the rock groups: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc. The hippie movement without the influence of British rock would be almost unthinkable.

I have no clue. All I know is that I went to a fest out of sheer curiosity and found many beautiful girls and interesting music. Since then my interest in the hippies and the philosophical underpinnings of the movement has increased. I suppose that's one thing that will always separate the hippies from gangstas: hippies have a philosophical basis behind the movement, whereas gangstas adopt a lifestyle to attract females, which may or may not work.

 

my GUESS is that most modern day "hippies" are hippies because they identify with some combination of the following....

a. like the fashion style
b. like the drug scene
c. like eating organic food
d. like the music associated with the historical hippie scene
e. like sex
f. like "positive vibes"
g. are scanvengers ....i mean "communal"

Those are some of the classic stereotypes about hippies. So modern day kids who are attracted to that allure try to identify with the role.

 

You can't beat the American who trys to turn the whole world into one big America. Get real mate. I spent three months in New York and I saw plenty of bums on the streets. I didn't look down at them or ask them why they were not down at the job center. Do you have any idea at all about the realities of life? I'd love to see what you're opinions were if you were born on the streets as a heroin baby. What do you reckon. Another thing, you go on about Americans being highly educated and so on. I met a lot of people in New York who didn't even know where Ireland was, I was asked by one girl which state it was in. Anyway I just get really angry when I hear from stuck up people like you and to be honest I can't be bothered writing anymore because my guess is that it's like having a discussion with a brick wall. Step into the real world for one second and you'll seee that you're not perfect yourself. Have a good life and I hope that your eyes are opened some day.

 

God forbid an American criticize Europe or Europeans in any way. There will be hell to pay.

And that's my point: poverty is a problem in every industrialized nation. This includes Europe, where poverty is sometimes minimized.

These are loaded questions. Fact is a disproportionate percentage of the junkies in Amsterdam are immigrants or children of immigrants. So tell me: why did they or their parents immigrate to Amsterdam? For better opportunities. So by living on the streets they pretty much defeat the whole purpose of being there.

Do you believe in censorship? You act like one cannot have an opinion on this issue: they are homeless, deserve sympathy and pity, and the case is closed. "If you think otherwise you have no room to judge because you are not in their situation." Exactly, because I have a job: actually I have 2 jobs. I also work in lower-income communities.

I never said Americans were highly educated. I believe the opposite. You prove my point by misreading my post and being defensive at the same time.

If an opinion piece makes you angry, rather than respond calmly and logically, I don't see any point in being in a hippy forum.

The Buddha teaches to be calm and control your mind when provoked or acted aggressively upon. You seem to being doing the exact opposite, and thus show weakness.

This is probably the case for both of us.

 

Dutch Hippies didn't copy it from the US hippies. Actually some Digger ideas came from holland. They copied it from the Dutch Provo's.

And those socalled Gansta's in Holland don't fight gang wars or do drive by shootings like in the US.

And the Dutch are very intelligent people. This is the ranking list of European iq's. The dutch are togheter with the Germans the smartest people in Europe and without the Germans Americans wouldn't have walked on the moon.

 

I would love to know how they decided this. What is it based upon?
My guess is that the questions were set by a dutch or german person.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105519,00.html

This is the article as publisched in the Sunday Times (Which is an English newspaper I think.)

 

Anarchist i find your posts extremly biased since you are American. You are making generalizations about all the people in Amsterdam, critizising the way they run their country and making even more generalizations about people in Europe. Not all people in Amsterdam are as you describe them to be, they can be interesting open minded people the same as they can be stubburn and stupid, it depends who you talk with. Something i know is that Americans have quite a bit of a worst reputation than the dutch, ask anyone and they will have no problem with the dutch then when you ask what they think about America they do have things to say. However im not here to insult America since the whole point of my post is to express the fact that i believe that your posts are insulting and not supported by evidence. As well not all Europeans are stuck up as you say they are, i personally am spanish and trust me manners in Europe are much greater than in America therefore straight away a European person would seem polliter than an American. As well i am pretty sure that you have not visited all of Europe and studied it in depth therefore i don't believe that you have the right to make such unfound comments about all the Europeans.
I am sorry if i offended any American in my post its just we get a lot of opression and capitalist ideas from America and sometimes fighting back is the only way that seems to work. But i didn't mean to offend anyone i just wouldn't let anyone insult such an amazing country as Holland and with that all of Europe.
By the way Anarchist you said that the hippie ideas were spread throughout the world by the Americans along with the music and then you said that they showed the world bands such as the rolling stones and the beatles but (correct me if im wrong) weren't those bands English anyway?
Sorry for the blunt post

 

I do agree with The Anarchist on a couple of points and I'm not white.

I really don't like when muslim immigrants think they own the place in Amsterdam. I've had some run-ins with some "muslim" Moroccan guys who've tried to intimidate me on the streets.

I've talked to many Dutch locals, who are tired of Islam trying to reform and control Dutch society by enforcing their own little religious ideals. Whilst it is good to maintain your culture, it does seeem that sometimes muslims try to impose their cultures on others and if you aren't "accepting" you are labeled as some kind of racist/anti-islamic etc. Imagine what would happen to Amsterdam if Islam took over? Personally, this is what it looks like.. and the funny thing is, I am sure not even the muslims (particularly the liberal ones) would want an Islamic Amsterdam, it just seems they would rather make noise about having one, but when push comes to shove they wouldn't want it either.

Mind you, I don't hate muslims but I don't like how they've literally infiltrated every country, immigrant in and once in, yell and scream about their rights. Like honestly, if you don't like it, why did you come here?? You weren't really expecting Mecca were you? And I don't give a shit about political correctness either.

As for Dutch people and Europeans. I agree, I think Europeans do have a major inferiority complex compared to North Americans. Much of European education about America comes from Movies and TV and that is why I'm not surprised that Europeans have a flawed understanding. They get to see us act stupid and sometimes intelligent in movies and we all know for the general population of the world, much of education comes from the Media. So they obviously latch on to the stupid bits.

As for the Dutch people. For the most part, I wouldn't say they thought they were superior or not. They seemed nice and I liked how many speak English with a North American accent instead of a English/UK accent. I would say that this aspect of learning English with a N.American accent would give a slight indication that perhaps they prefer us over Britons.

 

There are better places on the planet for all sorts of different things. But for what it does have on offer, and why many people do visit, it is superior. The pot, hookers (if you're into that), clubs, the red light district is something else.

You have to take it as it is. And no, regardless of what the OP might think, I would not attempt to muck about with any of the 'wannabe gangsters'

They are still pretty dangerous, partially the pimps and whatnot.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV7kaaB7Z8M"]YouTube- Amsterdam Coffee Shop

 

I'd like to know how the Anarchist labels him/herself politically. As a fellow American, I detect a conservative bias in his/her posts. People today who call themselves the old school labels of "libertarian" and "anarchist" are usually very cynical and nothing more than "intellectually lazy."
The cultural bias of Anarchist is astounding, not so much for the views expressed, but the audacity of presenting them as a result of objective, scientific observations.