Hippies: An Overview

Denoting a wind, that swept along with it major moral and public consciousness changes, the word, "hippie," which now has a faintly outdated and quixotic ring to it, was once a force to be reckoned with in the mid and late sixties. While being the cause for some embarrassment today for the baby boomers, it nevertheless has significance as a stage in the formation of their history.

It is only fair to say that all baby boomers were not hippies. As it often happens the movement that drew wide publicity only referred to a small percentage of the population of baby boomers. The numbers in that age group that actually joined in the hippy society with their 'tune-in, drop-out and turn-on' culture were very few. Their flamboyance, colour, eccentricity and sinfulness however succeeded in titillating public interest especially in their public gatherings.

All the same in spite of their small numbers waves of change flowed into the existing social structure because of the hippie culture. They aligned themselves with the anti war movement that arose as a reaction to Vietnam, which virtually integrated them in to the voice and feelings of that generation. The shifts in youth culture resulting from the changes in world attitudes, life and musical styles and explosive new rock sounds promoted by leaders of this new culture turned the hippy movement in to a landmark transformation of social values within a generation.

The hippie movement, whose surface practices of free sex and drug use may cause us to remember them with a little amusement and mild disgust, was actually rooted in a great sense of social responsibility, morality and values. Therefore it might be better to review opinions and focus rather on the positive portions of this section of their history that has been left for the boomers to carry forward.

It was a 'first ever' phenomenon when the youth of this generation not only held up a mirror to the existing social structure and insisted that the world take a look, but also demanded accountability from public figures for decisions that caused public harm. While being a revolutionary stance, it also served to make the public more aware and demanding of the governments since then. This is something good.

While the facts of hippie philosophy and ethics was quite different from the world at large and American society was accustomed to, hippies were fiercely devoted to their cause and willing to pay the price to have their values absorbed into public policy. That characteristic of not only the hippies but the sub-cultures arising from it, gave the movement an explosive edge. In order to emphasize moral, ethical or political outrage, the willingness of the youth movement to make a public noise in terms of demos and other flamboyant action, caused changes in society that were unprecedented.

This sixties counter culture effectively brought the power to change back to the people. Giving back to the people the values upheld by the founding fathers of America, this could be considered something to thank hippies for restoring to society.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie