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Why are hippies disrespected?

Y'all are being a bit harsh. I wouldn't say that nothing the hippies dreamed or worked for came true. I'd say society would be different now if they had never been. Did many hippies dream of things that don't appear possible? Yes, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

But I agree in general that their movement is over. All true hippies are nearing senior citizenhood, very few are still active activists.

There are still bohemians today, just like there were bohemians before hippies. A bohemian is simply someone with artistic or intellectual interests who conspicuously flouts social convention. It's individualism taken to its logical extreme, and is an ever present undercurrent in any individualist society.

There are still left-wing progressive activist groups, too. You don't see much tie-dye or smell much pot around them these days, but they're out there doing their thing, and they have some (though less than they'd like) influence on public opinion.

But the good ship Hippie has sailed. IME, the disrespect aimed at people who self-describe as 'hippies' comes in 2 varieties for 2 different groups:
1. Former real hippies who 'sold out' and rejoined mainstream society ("You obviously never really believed in all that shit")
2. People who didn't grow up with the original movement and don't realize they're waiting for a train that long ago left the station.
 
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because john lennon himself said flower power didn't work. because modern day hippies don't mean anything beyond a style they prefer to wear, because being as health conscious and PC and as green as you can be is a privelege and the people who actively seek authenticity are often the phoniest people around.
 
All "hippie" is now is a demographic you can market your product to.....People trying to buy back the innocence they lost by being corporate whores....Organic cotton sheets, 30 dollar salads...It's so much bullshit now...

Truly being an individual falls outside the realm of any label...That's what being a hippie truly was "supposed" to be....Just be yourself....I guess it's easier for some people to hide behind the stereotype that most closely matches what they wanna be....

A lot of the ideology has validity to it, but as a group, it's obnoxious, self righteous idealism....for the most part
 
ebola? said:
I think that the primary legitimate discreditation stems from the failure of the counter-cultural movement. It failed to build into any sort of sustainable mode of resistance; it failed to truly transform the bases of society in its image. Instead, it dissolved mainly into vapid hedonism. The failings of the more overtly political resistance of the period (with its roots tracing back to the SDS) intertwined with the failure of counter-culture. Organizations stemming directly from the SDS and those influenced by it failed to build a coherent, sustainable political critique, and descending into cult of media celebrity, absorption by counter-culture, or isolated, unsuccessful propaganda by deed (the later often connected to splinter Leninist groups).

Still, it was a good try.

ebola
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They stopped Vietnam though. But then, it was the first televised war and they didn't censor the mass media like they do today.
 
One thing that rubs me the wrong way about some "hippies" (a term about as broad and reductionist as "american"), is how they talk about respecting nature, and taking care of the planet, etc.

Then you see the aftermath of music festivals, all the garbage and crap laying around, and it always reminds me of that simpsons episode with the indian shedding a single tear seeing all the garbage spread across the landscape.

I guess i don't have respect for some hippies, that talk the talk, but are hypocrites at heart. But thats a trait almost any group of people can take on, its uncontrolled idealism, without the dicipline to know the difference between reality, or act in a way congruent with such extreme idealism. Like people who talk shit about consumerism, and then go out and participate in it. Or people who complain about the government, or politicians, but vote for idiots that help make their country as fucked up as it is.

Its not about hating a group of people, its about hating a part of ourselves and a disease that exists in our society as a whole. Its about hating people who talk shit, and if they sat down and took all their defenses/filters down, they would see it in themselves as much as they do in others. IE its easier to see flaws/insanity/hipocracy in others than it is to see in ourselves, a lot fucking harder.
 
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i would guess it was their idealistic views.
First-Dwelling-Place.jpg
 
BlueHues said:
All "hippie" is now is a demographic you can market your product to.....People trying to buy back the innocence they lost by being corporate whores....Organic cotton sheets, 30 dollar salads...It's so much bullshit now...

Truly being an individual falls outside the realm of any label...That's what being a hippie truly was "supposed" to be....Just be yourself....I guess it's easier for some people to hide behind the stereotype that most closely matches what they wanna be....

A lot of the ideology has validity to it, but as a group, it's obnoxious, self righteous idealism....for the most part
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I agree. I think anyone today who truly believes in and lives by the principles the hippies espoused would probably not self-describe as a hippie.
 
RobotRipping said:
Timothy leary didn't help things either.
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If you ask me, Timothy Leary totally fucked it all up for everyone. I don't think he is some CIA agent though, I just think he did too many psychedelics and thought he was enlightened and tried spreading his message, clearly it backfired though and like I said ruined it for everyone.
 
^ I think it's pretty clear he was a CIA asset. The known history of his life shows many connections to the CIA, both personally and through his friends and colleagues. That's just the history we have in the open too..
 
pacifists are kind enough to paint massive targets on themselves. =D but then they're strangely unsatisfying to beat up. ;)
 
-=SS=- said:
^ I think it's pretty clear he was a CIA asset. The known history of his life shows many connections to the CIA, both personally and through his friends and colleagues. That's just the history we have in the open too..
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I've heard stories. It wouldn't surprise me.

The whole LSD movement of the 60's is riddled with conspiracies and "Tin-Foil" theories that excite and thrill me, no matter how outlandish they may seem. It was a trippy time, only makes sense to have tons of trippy ideas and conspiracies stem from it.
 
fixingahole said:
You're really are a bunch of dumb fucks! Keep writing. We'll keep reading. And laughing. At YOU. =D
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Heh what ever man, if you want to pretend shit like that doesn't happen then by all means bury your head back in the sand. Leary was a smart and sharp man of great intellectual ability, and he was a great orator.. that makes him a prime candidate for the CIA or other high end organization; they love smart people who have the ability to speak to anyone. They also love people at the forefront of research in the field they're interested in. At the time that was mind-control (MK-Ultra), and Leary was a great psychologist, hence the interest.

It is KNOWN that he had interactions with the CIA.. they were very interested in his work. People in his life also had connections to the CIA. That's a fact. It's my contention that it went further than that. I can not prove it, but to say it's an impossibility is ridiculous given the known facts about the man and the times he lived in!
 
fixingahole said:
You're really are a bunch of dumb fucks! Keep writing. We'll keep reading. And laughing. At YOU. =D
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why are you so hard up on Tim Leary's dick....He was a smart guy with some interesting ideas, but he was flake who was constantly getting his ass scrutinized! You should read this book,

"Orange Sunshine, The Brotherhood of Eternal Love"....It's pretty interesting and mentions a lot about him...
 
^I think you misunderstood what I meant....I was asking why you seem to think Leary was so great? I don't think he was a complete idiot, but it's very possible the government leveraged him into doing shit for them....

As far as psychedelic icons go, I'll take Jerry Garcia, that dude was a down to earth real person who never wanted to be a "guru"...He kind of just got stuck with it...
 
Yeah cool!

but when it comes to diffusing a bomb or performing open heart surgery, I'll take the linear thinker, thank you!
 
BlueHues said:
Yeah cool!

but when it comes to diffusing a bomb or performing open heart surgery, I'll take the linear thinker, thank you!
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without creative thinkers there would be no bombs or surgeons with the knowledge on how to preform open heart surgery.
 
Like others have said, I don't think there are any more genuine hippies around, or at least not any that still believe in the movement. The modern-day, self-proclaimed hippies I have met seem to be into little more than music, drug use and fashion, and while there's not necessarily anything wrong with that (and it certainly was a part of the original movement), the derivation and seeming lack of understanding of what it meant to be a hippie in the 60s strikes me as ironic. I'm kind of torn on these folks in general though; it's hard for me to have respect for individuals who preach "peace and love" when they're off their ass at some festival, but in reality are hedonists at best and drug addicts at worst.
 
Grinders Kiefers said:
Like others have said, I don't think there are any more genuine hippies around, or at least not any that still believe in the movement. The modern-day, self-proclaimed hippies I have met seem to be into little more than music, drug use and fashion, and while there's not necessarily anything wrong with that (and it certainly was a part of the original movement), the derivation and seeming lack of understanding of what it meant to be a hippie in the 60s strikes me as ironic. I'm kind of torn on these folks in general though; it's hard for me to have respect for individuals who preach "peace and love" when they're off their ass at some festival, but in reality are hedonists at best and drug addicts at worst.
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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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