If you weren't there, you're just a neo-hippie

Yeah, but I usually end up feeling bad about that last one. Thanks though, for the double-edged compliment. They're my favorite kind

 

It wasn't double edged at all. I was serious. People often don't tell the truth because they're too afraid to hurt others feelings. What good does that do? It perpetuates fallacies and enables the person not being told the truth to carry on with their life like a dullard in the dark, believing a certain way.

Should we dismiss the truth simply because we don't want to hurt feelings?

If I was 300 lbs would you not tell me to lose weight because at my current weight I'm surely headed towards some terrible disease(s)? Hopefully a friend would say so, considering the well being of his friend.

Political correctness is just another way to try and control people. People should be good and well mannered. That doesn't mean they can't speak a certain way. Caring for ones feelings is brotherly. Allowing one to believe a lie or a certain amount of bullshit because you're too afraid to tell them the truth is careless.

 

And if your wife ask you "Do these pants make my butt look big" - or - "Am I starting to look old?"

Sorry - I lie like a rug.

 

Did you tell the truth when you made your wedding vows?

This came into mind when I was writing that. Often partners don't really want the truth. And yet other times they demand it from their partner.

"Does this dress make my butt look big"

*internal dialogue* "He better not say yes, I'll be so angry!"

husband- "Uh...no."

wife knows he's lying but she doesn't care because she heard what she wanted to hear.

"What is this credit card charge for $200?"

*internal dialogue* "That idiot went gambling and lost his money again, I'm gonna be so mad no matter what he says."

husband- "Uh...drywall."

wife-"You lying sonovabitch!"

 

Isn't "PC" a new brand of toilet paper?

Survival of the wisest.

 

One of my favorite jokes is:

She asks,"Do these pants make my ass look big?"

My response, "No your ass makes your ass look big?"

My fiancee thinks it's funny.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

*french accent*

Weet her, I concour!


Sorry... I'm very stoned. :eggnog:

 

Remember that Hippie started out as a derogitory term that straight society had for a group of people that didn't have the same values that it did. The hippies themselves took over the word and changed it to what it is today. Much like Dude.

dude (dd, dyd)
n.
1. Informal An Easterner or city person who vacations on a ranch in the West.

To the cowboys this meant that you were putting on the costume but didn't know shit from shineola about being a cowboy. Look what it means now. One of the beautiful things about the English Language is that it is constantly changing and evolving derogatory terms are being reclaimed by groups that were supposed to be hurt by them or drop off the map completely.

The Hippies didn't invent the peace sign it was designed in 1958 for the Nuclear Disarmament campaign. The 2 fingers raised peace sign was appropriated from the V for Victory gesture. The Hippies didn't invent the war protest movement. Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his taxes because he didn't agree with the Spanish American War. In the late 19th and early 20th century there was a Protest Movement against the Spanish Civil War. In 1914 there was a movement protesting WWI. The drug movement probably goes back to the dawn of man when humans figured out that if they ate this mushroom it made them feel good and evolved into religious ritual from there. Even Hippie Fashion came from hitting vintage clothing shops and buying clothes from the 1800's. So when you talk about "Original Hippies" what you are talking about is a synthesis of all of these movements into one "new" (I'm saying that sarcastically) thing. If you think any of that has really changed now there are new new things that have come along that add to the synthesis. Call it Neo if you want to me it's more like "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."

Here are 2 more books to read from the Prehippie era that probably effected the movement that nobody talks about:

"Johnny Got his Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. This was written as a protest to WWI and deeply questions the morality of war. Up until the first gulf war this book was banned every time a new war started and it finally got unbanned when Vietnam got unpopular. Trumbo himself was a part of the Hollywood Black List during the 50's which to me was an important part of jump starting the Hippie Culture.

"The Razors Edge" by Somerset Maguhm (I hope I spelled that right). This was partially about a WWI veteran connected to high society who walks away going to India and Tibet to find enlightenment and how his rich friends react to him doing so.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

Wasn't it launched around '67 by, besides the war, acid and the ideas of the beatniks? I know the Vietnam war had a huge impact, but it was kind of starting before that right?
(I wasn't there though so I'm not saying I know it all)


And I'm not saying "You can't be a hippie if you don't manufacture your own clothes" (referring to page 11)
I'm saying that there's no real excuse in trying to tell people you can't help shopping at wallmart.
It's a moral thing.
As for the "fake hippie" thing, I think this happens in every sub and countercultural movement, there's always people trying to screw it up, but we know what is real and what isn't.
It's like the whole Columbine shooting thing for every metal fan. Kinda sad the media tends to focus on the negative aspects of things.
What are you going to do about it?
I'd just set an example by trying to be a good person, that's all I can think of right now.

 

I actually don't think those people are screwing it up, who cares if they don't follow the same path as you. After all they are labeled as fake by people who think they know what's real and what isn't...? They only screw it up for people who takes the label too seriously.

 

Ah!

Don't want to visualize mom on a mattress on the floor in some semi-private commune room, with her feet in the air; some bearded, long-haired skinny dude that she met an hour ago, bangin away at her?

(BTW, where was ur mom? Just curious if I coulda been that long-haired skinny dude.)

 

From what I know it did have it's roots in the beatnik movement and then progressed from there. The major national awareness of the movement started around 64-65 as the U.S. got more entrenched in the Vietnam war.
I never intended or implied that the entire movement was started in response to the war. It reality the beatnik movement and rallies about the civil rights movement was the first real big social protest movement of that decade and sort of melded with the anti-war sentiment.

A lot of kids romanticize the era and wish they were there. I would love to visit that time as an adult from a purely historical/sociological perspective, but to go back and live, no thanks. Things were pretty fucked up during those years.
I honestly think that if it were possible to time transport some of those who say they want to live in that time, within a month they would be begging to come back to this time.

My point was there is a lot of bitching and whining about some rather trivial things today when compared to what kids had to deal with in the '60's.
Take off the rose colored glasses and look at the reality of the time.
How would you like to find out that your son was killed in combat because you saw his body being loaded on a jeep on the evening news 3 days before you receive your official telegram from the U.S. Army.
That sort of thing was not supposed to happen, but it did.........a lot.
That happened to a friend of my fathers. Shit like that kinda takes the glamor out of the era, doesn't it.

 

No, my aunt was in the commune. My mom was in nursing school at that time. lol

And my mom would probably love you

 

I was a naive kid at that time - graduated high school in Jun 17, 1963 and in the Air Force three days later. Part of my "choice" to go into the Air Force was to not get drafted into the Army.

I wasn't aware of the counter culture of the mid-sixties but remember being shocked and outraged when I saw a Life Magazine article showing the bloodied body of one of our "advisors" in Vietnam. I too was in uniform and he was one of "us." This was about '64 while I was on my way to Turkey to spy on the Russkys.

My high school friend Jim, a fellow artist, dissident (today we would be Goth) went on to art school and as soon as he graduated got drafted. I saw him a couple decades ago. He had gone to the dark side. He was one of those who thot our involvement in that war was justified and had we just put more brutality into it could have won.

So, it was not all Happy Hippie Love Flowers and Rainbows in the '60s. There was racism and a senseless war with very serious consequences going on. A lot of young dissidents grew out of necessity to these wrongs and dropping out in the vast number of young ppl did have an impact THEN.

 

Do you agree that a lot of kids today have a very distorted view of that era?

My memories from that period are from about 68-69 on, I was young, but it was still hard to escape the impact of the war even at that age. Like I said, there was a couple of years when it seemed as if people we knew were losing loved ones on a weekly basis.

Now the "powers that be" don't want any recognition of the fact that men and women are losing their lives in Iraq.

The '60's, an interesting era to visit, but I wouldn't want to relive it, especially as an 18-25 year old male.

 

Yes, but I like to humor them. I don't like to crush a young persons ideas, fantasies or aspirations. They can do that themselves when the time arrives (ageing).

I think Neo Hippie is a good term because (even tho I never referred to myself as a Hippie, and use it now only as a nostalgic shorthand of where I've been) there was the so-called Hippie movement at a period in time. To imitate that necessarily makes a young person today a Neo Hippie. (Sorry, just telling it like it is - in my opinion)

Uh, I was there as an 18-25 year old male. If you could beat the draft and not get sent to warhell (and likewise not get sent to prison for the FELONY of possessing grass etc.) it was a great time to be.

The Free Luv floodgates had just opened and we were swept away with the moment of stick it anywhere & everywhere. That was great, as well as the feeling of brother/sisterhood we shared and the dope. Especially in that age-range where you somehow have an unrealistic feeling of invincibility and do not dwell on mortality.

But, I wish I had an 18-25 year old bod today. It could just be my experience but I feel I could personally enjoy the sex part just as much as the first time around in youth. There are enuf sexually liberated ppl of the newer gen to scarf up on.

 

When I was in college many moons ago on the first day of Intro to Philosophy,
The first thing the professor asked the class was "What two pills changed the world forever?"

His answer;
The birth control pill and LSD.

 

I agree, even though I was younger, that it would have been a great time for a young adult, but it is often overlooked how ugly and violent an era it was, much more so than today. A lot of the sacrifice, and triumphs of the young adults in the 60's are taken for granted by young adults today.
It was a time of a lot of social progress, but it came at a large cost, one which I think a lot of Neo-Hippies would not be willing to pay today.

 

Now just for comparison from a scholarly perspective we should look at definitions before we get into the philosophy what constitutes a hippie and what constitutes a neohippie:


hip·pie also hip·py (hp)
n. pl. hip·pies
A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.

Neo-Hippie 86 up, 38 down
buy neo-hippie mugs, tshirts and magnets
noun.

Neo-Hippie describes a merging of the ideals of hippie, rave, punk, slacker, and internet culture. Beliefs based on community and peaceful cooperation, outside of the mainstream. Strongly opinionated but open and accepting of others and differing opinions. Many prefer a life style involving the therapeutic use of psychedelics and empathogens. Often they embrace the diy life style, vegetarianism, veganism, anarchism, communism. They will drop everything to help a friend in need, and often feel a sense of family within their community.

Their way of dress varies greatly, but you can usually spot them by their lack of care, and very loose comfortable clothing.

The neo-hippie can be found at clubs, raves, shows, protest, used book and thrift stores, and non corporate coffee shops.
Nick- What happened to us, remember punk rock for life?

Dave- Well we still go to shows, and love punk rock, but their is so much more out there.

Nick- Totally, I love going to the club, and swinging poi, and even thou labels are pointless, what have we become.

Dave- I guess you'd call us neo-hippies.

Nick- I agree, because showers are important.

Dave- Most definitely.

Of all of the definitions I could find for Neohippie I liked this one the best.

Although there is something Quasi-Zen about the discussion of how do you define the undefinable. I'm in a weird position that at almost 35 I'm too young to be an "Old Hippie" but also too old to be a young hippie. The problems I have with the "Neohippie" label is that it seems to imply young people who romanticize the generation before them without a full picture. The ones who make references to "The 27 club" (Ironically they often want to put Kurt Cobain into that elite group). I see a wide spectrum in extremes in the young ones. On one end you have the Hyper Sensitive type that are hellbent on saving the earth at all costs almost to the point where they don't enjoy life. On the other end you have the "Lets do big handfuls of whatever we are handed and party until we die" types to whom life is a big Dionysesian orgy to be enjoyed greedily fuck everybody else. To me both extremes are bad. But what they seem to have in common is a romantically distorted view of the past, what it was like, and a strong desire to move backward.

But one of the things I really admire about the whole thing is there is a definate return to a certain tribalism that in and of itself isn't a bad thing. I believe that inside of all of us there is a call to tribalism that our modern society is trying to drown out. The Hippie or Neohippie movement or whatever you want to call it is simply an extension of this nature. But on the other hand so are Gangs and Fraternities. Think about it these are groups of people with rituals and customs that bind them together to feel like they are part of something bigger. I once read a book called "Deadhead Social Science" that was a series of excerpts of Doctoral dissertations and other scholarly texts on the Deadhead Scene. One of the things pointed out in this book was comparing the Dead Show to religious rituals in Sub-Saharan Africa and Pre-Colombian America with a combination of Psychadelics, Cannabis, and Dancing combined with certain shows that came up at the same times every year like the New Years run in Oakland. Then as the scene grew and evolved and other bands started doing their thing You got the summer tour kick off, The last night of summer tour, the Halloween shows, the opening and closing of Winter Tour. If you look at how culture has evolved you will see that these are all things that have been practiced by all societies from the dawn of man up until industrialization. I honestly believe this shit is in our DNA it's just that the powers that be are trying to drown it out because it threatens their power. It's OK to look back but move forward. Modern contrivances don't make you any less of a hippie it just means the whole thing has evolved just as the hippies were an evolutionary step for all that came before it in bohemian culture. So let's now stop worrying about labels and just move foreward or "Just get out of the way if you can't lend a hand."

Peace Out,
Rev J