Analysis of the Hippies
Hippies were counter sub-culture movement that involved middle-class whites mostly youth from the United States of America in 1960’s. They had derived their roots and believes from, “The Beats generation”, (bohemians & beat links) of 1950’s. They advocated for communalism or collectivity and not individualism. They felt that they were for justice for all especially the oppressed. Ideologies such as fashion, eastern philosophies, rock n roll music, open sex, and Marijuana among others made their spirit alive. Their doctrines based on the fact that they advocated nonviolence, love, openness, and tolerance caused them to being referred to as “flower children.” They believed in Judeo-Christian, Buddhism and other Eastern religions. The whites absorbed few African Americans who accepted the movement and its values. By the mid 60’s, they had managed to influence the outside world, especially Canada, Britain, Morocco and other parts of far east.
Hippies had some distinct lifestyle that made them unique and different from any other group that had coexisted. Being a counter-cultural group, they abused drugs such as marijuana and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) so that they can be able to calm their aggression, stress and unwanted feelings. Drugs abuse provided them with an avenue of breaking the laws so that their point drive was crystal clear understood (Allen & Louis 360). They believed that it was healthier to smoke marijuana than tobacco, inverse of what the condemned big brothers thought. They also had a firm believe that LSD was a healer of every problem they may encounter along the way (Miller 10). According to Moretta (59), LSD was the center of unity even if it had the fundamental building foundation of culture to suppress the big brothers. The rock festival was another phenomenon that expressed hippie’s lifestyle and made them distinct. A rock n roll festival was the integral of dope and sex. Festivals like Woodstock which occurred in 1969 with the aim of bringing people together after the idea of nobody can survive alone; everyone needs each other. Festivals brought a sign of brotherhood to the group. “The Trip Festival” that was held on 23rd January 1966 in San Francisco which was attended by thousands of it followers (Miller 43). It was through such festivals that the members were able to sell out their ideologies to the rest of the potential followers and solidify their points to those who have already joined (Miller 43). Hippies were vegetarianism; they ate brown rice, soybeans, tabouli among others. This was because some believed it was the right way to sustain their beliefs, other thought that being a vegetarian would enhance agricultural cycle and different had a notion that it would be a way of changing from processed food that was from the factory owned by the big boys thus weakening them (Moretta 12). Hippies also had a distinct form of clothing that differentiated them from any other group. They usually wore bright colored cloths that were homemade or purchased second hand one as a sign of defiance from the western culture. They also embraced any non-western clothing except those of Native American such as bell-bottomed trousers and a tight vest. They also chose to grow long beards and long natural hair for men while women preferred to be topless. Scarves, necklaces, and bands were among but not least, other comprised their traditions (Miller 105).
The Hippies had some philosophy that made their movement spread globally and in a short period of time. One of their opinions was sexual liberty for everyone. This caused them to absorb all sexual orientations such as bisexual, lesbians, homosexual, transgender and gays. This made most of segregated gender to find a comfort home. They supported free and open sex; anyone can have sex with anyone, anywhere, anytime without any restrictions. They were against society restrictions that a man should be restricted to one lover (Issitt 20). This idea made them gather most youths across the world who felt that society’s morals were too harsh on them and constrict their freedom. Another philosophy was mind expansion and one consciousness. By abuse of drugs; they believed that drugs make their mind to be perfect in solving their problems and thus making their world look perfect. According to Miller (3), if a man is in his twenties and had not smoked a pot he is probably sick. In Marrakech Morocco, the police had turned a blind eye to the ongoing sale of cannabis which the Hippies had heavily invested. This made the Hippies to sell their ideologies in North African country, Europe and to the Fareast traders who came to the city to trade (Moretta 7). The third philosophy was that they were vegetarians. They believed that consuming greens only was eco-friendly. They felt that animal should not be killed for one to fill their stomach. Also they were against processed food that was being from manufactured by the established institution’s factories. Hippies also embraced aspects of eastern philosophies. This is because most of the eastern countries were communists which Hippies preferred than capitalist. They saw communism as a way of promoting peace and love among their member group. This was one of the reasons why they opposed nuclear programs and the Vietnam War in Asia. Hippies being middle-class citizens disliked how the elites treated them. They had even nicknamed them “The establishment” or “Big Brothers”. They felt segregated from the rest (Moretta 6). Hippies used music festivals to propel their message to new members. Having embraced rock n roll music genre, they held a series of music concert in different countries such as Britain, Canada, Mexico and United States among others. The message was that their culture was the superior one since it accommodates everyone and embraces equality for all. Such concerts were The Warlock of 1964, The Trip of 1966; The Summer love of 1967, The Woodstock of 1969 which was among famous show held. Also through groups that they had formed, they were able to propel their ideas to their targeted members as they could freely mingle with anyone. They also invested heavily on trade especially drugs such as cannabis and LSD gas. Through this, they were able to interact with different people of the world and sell their ideologies to them.
One of the most significant achievements by the Hippies was that they won the war on culture. This was because members felt a sense of inclusivity since they didn’t have restrictions when it comes to any sexual orientation. Members felt more close to one another since they thought recognized by the society. This made the group to draw more members who felt segregated (Willis p. 84). The Communal behavior also made members felt superior accepted by the elite community. It was on this end that a revolution had started taking shape; it was a revolution for freedom, one of their significant ideologies. They also held series of rallies that were successful and that made the world know their intentions. In 1960, they held first civil right riots in Atlanta and by 6th May same year President Eisenhower sign into agreement the civil right act. In 1962, Students for democratic change held protest against nuclear weapons in Washington Dc. That was successful since the regime aborted the mission. On 28th August 1964, they organized a race riot in Philadelphia that was successful pushing the current system to recognize civil rights (Issitt 15). The group had also produced some of the most prominent legends like Martin Luther King Jr who was an advocate of civil rights, equality and justice for all especially on that speech of “ I have a dream” that he delivered in Washington on 1963. Great writers, artist and rock bands that performed all over the world also found their roots from this group. Some of them were The Beatles who was a British rock band, Bob Dylan, Ken Kesey and Chet Helms to name a few were some of the prominent figures (Issitt 14). They forced the regime to withdraw American troop from southern Vietnam; this was after series of protest all over the country. This made the war in Vietnam come to an end in 1963 (Issitt 15). They also introduced eastern cultures to the American culture. Since they embraced Eastern religion such as Buddhism, eating habits like tabouli, brown rice among others, they had successfully enriched western culture s and taboos.
Despite their success, they also faced some shortcoming within and outside the movement. One of the challenges was that the other American cultures perceived them as an outlawed and a criminal gang. This was because of their behaviors such as drug abuse, decayed morals such as free sex for everyone among others. This made the general public to advocate against them. The group also consisted of a young generation mostly youths whose ideas were not understood by the older generation and thus faced a hostile reception from them (Moretta 272). The other factor that led to their demise was the emergence of other resistance movements such as The Diggers who held a walk death of Hippies march on 10th October 1967. The demise of some leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and others led to the fall of the group since it lacked their leadership. Some of their festivals were banned in the United States and other countries such as Britain due to tolerance on drug abuse particularly marijuana and LSD within the concert. They criticized them of eroding their morals (Issitt 20). These were just but a few of the reasons for their downfall.
We can conclude that the Hippies had successfully succeeded in their mission. The subculture had managed to sell their ideology both across the United States and another part of the world. They had managed to influence other culture’s morals all over the world. We cannot ignore the fact that the current Hippies derive their roots from them. The Hippies had demonstrated how a sub-culture may evolve, gather muscles and influence the bigger culture.
Works Cited
Allen, James & Louis, West. "Flight from Violence: Hippies and the Green Rebellion." American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 125, no. 3, 1968, pp. 364-370.
Issitt, Micah. Hippies: A Guide to an American Subculture. Greenwood P/ABC-CLIO, 2009.
Miller, Timothy. The Hippies and American Values. U of Tennessee P, 2012.
Moretta, John. The Hippies: A 1960s History. 2017.
Willis, Paul. "The Hippies." Princeton University Press, 2017.
