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Why are hippies disrespected?

daytryptr said:
I agree and disagree. My brother is a "hippie" by any definition, and he's fairly detached and self sustainable from consumerist society around him. Granted you can't be a pure idealist, he has an ipod, some basic necessities, but supports himself by being an artisan jewlery crafter. He doesn't pay rent and lives with a few close firends in a fairly decent camp/makeshift cabin in the woods. The owners don't mind this. He also works his ass off growing cannabis and trimming for despensary suppliers. He doesn't buy into consumerist culture like most do, and i think your right that most of these "hipster hippies" are living the lifestyle because it makes them feel good about themseleves and morally superior to the rest of society.


Each group of people has their fuckups, i've met some hippies i respect more than most people i meet, and they're not all just living the lifestyle because they are drug addicts, want to fit into a cool group of people (depending on who's observing). But your right that alot of them just do it because it makes them feel good about themsleves, without actually taking the meaning of the term to heart. Fuckups is what i would describe them as, perhaps a good amount took too many psychs in their time.

But not all of them are "fake" hippies like you describe. Some just want a simpler lifestyle, work hard and earn their money legitimately, and are conscious about who they give their money to, as well as some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

But hippie is a broad term, and even the hippies back in the day were no prophets or enlightened thinkers. Alot were just there to take psychs and go listen to music that was in tune with their lifestyle and have fun.

Basically its pointles to judge hippies in general, as if you take a step back and look at any other reductionist label a person is described as, you can find hipocracy/assholes/sociopaths in every walk of life.

I mean look at all the liberal do gooders who want the gov to spend more and more money to "create jobs" spending on credit from the fed, which they end up paying for while private banks in the federal reserve make a profit off this practice. All while running a multi trillion dollar debt that shows no signs of decreasing. Thats a pretty fucked up individual if you ask me. But you could write a book about people like that from all walks of life.
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It'd be naive of me to say that all the hippies I've met are like the ones I first described, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to say there are more people like your brother than so-called "fake hippies". I certainly respect your brother to be able to do that in this society, but why even label him anything? I suppose I was getting at the fact that the hippie label has more or less lost its meaning along the way and the majority now seem to only be into labeling themselves such to be trendy or as a fashion statement. Again, there's nothing particularly wrong with that, just that in a counter-cultural sense, it seems hypocritical and ironic to only adopt something on such a surface level.
 
This is a topic that interests me greatly. If you have the time read a lot of Hunter S Thompson--his novels and articles--the answer is partly in there. At least for the historical basis... why do people hate hippies today? Mostly because of South Park.
 
Why are hippies disrespected?

Because their ideologies and framework run counter to American life, but in terms of the constitution, or in the spirit of the constitution are very much in keeping with the American way of life or are supporting it.

"idealistic views..."

Without ideals, what is man? Without something to strive for we are simply animals stuck in our own filth.

I liken hippies to anarchists in that its radical freedom. Jesus might be a good example of a proto-hippie. Its scary as fuck to the system, to hegemony. To the shit keeping us in line.

If we all sat down and did jack or muck about on farms tending to our own primary and secondary needs the country and its hierarchy would cease to exist. People are a prickly lot and have fears and get scared so pacifism isn't really an option.
 
^ I think there is no real hippie ethos however, there is just a stereotype of a fad of a fad when someone calls themselves a hippie these days. If you want to get to the real origin of what a hippie is as has been stated people living by that code would not be considered hippies today. Heck the notion of what a real hippie is died in '67 when the diggers held that mock funeral for hippies and I believe it is accurate as thousands of pseudo hippies flooded san fransico because it was what you did.

Depressingly I believe the OP etymology is superficial though and anyone calling themselves a hippie is not put down because of any threat to society... that idea was put to rest long ago.. but rather because it is hip to put down hippies today.

Ken Kesey and the merry pranksters had the right idea but they failed. Their roots are in religion and mysticism... the drugs, sex, and anarchism to be free from contemporary society where just a short cut. Once you open the door you have to walk through it and that is hard. You have to leave conventional society behind and fuck what people think, so most people walk back through the door when they realize you can't support yourself and your family on dreams.
 
becose of the whats generaly tought as truth about hippies... most people are affected by propaganda,I am sure theres tons of people that think weed kills braincells becose of that propaganda from sixties when they suffocated monkey with stupid ammounts of smoke and then said its neurotoxic.... older side of general public still believes in it
 
Foreigner said:
They stopped Vietnam though. But then, it was the first televised war and they didn't censor the mass media like they do today.
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Did the hippies actually do that?

I didn't know Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo who leaked the Pentagon papers, and who were military analysts and working for the RAND corporation think tank were hippies. :) Or what about all of those journalists who published the Pentagon papers in newspapers across America and around the world?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers

Information was still censored, distorted, given misdirection, and covered up back then, and if the Vietnam war was going on today Ellsberg and Russo would not have done what they did today.
 
It just occurred to me that I made a thread about this a couple years ago:

[URL="http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/488402]Hippies and Hippiedom: let's have a serious look[/URL]
 
Beacause they complain and make little to no attempts to do anything that will actually help.
 
because "hippy" connotes such undesirable qualities as dirtiness, laziness, and apathy (yeah yeah they all have "a cause", but they may as well not IMO because they're more about having the cause than working towards it)

EDIT: add a sense of superiority and moral high-ground to my list ;P
 
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DOB said:
what should they do? the first day I would try to change anything I would get shot by goverment forces,I rather moan,do nothing and live another shitty day
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jesus titty-fucking christ! where do you live??
/sorry man that's scary :\
//be careful posting from such places? probably smart..
 
StrangeDesign said:
Well yeah if everyone is fucked up of course they'll be some cups, butts and trash. But most people have a trash bag on site and clean after themselves. When the festival is over, people volunteer to clean it up and the land is left pristine as it was before. It's not even a hippie concept, just simple etiquette of respecting the land and not to litter. From the times I been to jam festivals, there's an unspoken vibe that leaving trash on the ground is frowned upon and if you don't, you give off the wrong vibes. If there is one thing that festivals made me more conscious off, it's littering.
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Thats fair, but the fact littler gets left there in the first place kinda negates the "vibe". Not that what you are doing is wrong, its just if those people really followed the "take care fo the planet" philosophy there would be no need for cleanup. But i do understand we likve in reality, and not idealsistan, so yeah. ;)
 
noone1 said:
This is a topic that interests me greatly. If you have the time read a lot of Hunter S Thompson--his novels and articles--the answer is partly in there. At least for the historical basis... why do people hate hippies today? Mostly because of South Park.
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Which if you think about it has pretty unfortunate implications considering all the other things that Cartman professes to hate.

Actually I don't think even half of people need a very good reason to disrespect a group of people they know little about. I mean, most people among my generation have never met a hippie. People look at different movements, trends and subcultures over the past century, and often identify with some and reject others. I can't tell you anything about why people from other previous generations would disrespect hippies in particular.

I actually just came here to tell you that hippies smell but I actually found some really interesting discussion... keep it rolling, guys!
 
daytryptr said:
Well, you got me there =D

Sign of differenrt generenations/memes though if you ask me. Assuming your talking down on our genration, not that i think you are, i took your comment in jest. %)
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not at all. i just wonder how many people saw the simpsons bit to which you refer with no idea of the back story?

alasdair
 
Comrade Kane said:
First define hippie.
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Exactly.

I like the philosophy of the original hippy movement of the 60s/70s, but it seems a significant portion of modern hippies are more attracted to the lifestyle for the laziness appeal than anything else.

No offense to any true hippies.
 
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