i've recently read a biography about janis joplin titled scars of sweet paradise..in this book a lot of poeple were interviewed that lived in that era and said that hippies were just a whole bunch of wannabe beatnicks...it said that even the diggers(which was an anarchist group in the haight scene during that time) said that the whole hippie flower power scene was just a big love hoax... can some of you older\more knowledgable hippies shed some light on this please?
No, the hippies scene of the 60's was and still is a group of people who simply wanted to be apart from the chaos that was known as "society". They simply wanted to return to more natural ways where everyone's will was important. The hippies of that era were not lazy. They actually seceeded from society and were enjoying life. The government could not have this, especially with Viet Nam going on ! I think this is the case with the true hippies today. Unfortunately today, I feel that that the hippy lifestyle and it is a lifestyle ( which means you have to live it not just talk about it on the internet ) . is being analyzied to death along with a lot of other things. These are just my thoughts and each of us has our own thoughts on this, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Southernhermit and the little Catfish dog
yes, what became the "hippies (freaks)" grew from the last rebel group, the Beatniks. The Beatniks were rather hung up on intellectualism, and the hippies were almost an anti-intellectual vibe. remember also that the hippie love bead scene was a mosaic of groups (diggers, panhandlers, rich, middle class some poor, former freedom riders, street theatre nerds, musicians, former dancers, wannabe writers etc etc) even the anti war contingent was anti hippie in the beginning because hippies tended to float and not be as involved with an issue as long term activists needed to be. Activists have to be active. Acid and potheads were less than active in the way an organized rally needed. Look into the "Death of Hippie." just so you know Diggers took their name from a British group of poor men from 1649-50 (Cromwell's time) who took over common land and started tilling it saying Charles I had been executed so the land was free for the poor to work.
