Re: the Noble Hippy
Ahimsa2000@aol.com
Tue, 10 Feb 1998 21:50:44 -0500 (EST)
As someone who fancied herself a hippie circa '68, and has retained many
values from the good old days of love and Haight, here's my view of it all:
Some hippies genuinely wanted to cut themselves off from what they perceived
as the materialism and general immorality and murkiness of the culture and
work towards the proverbial peace, love, understanding, etc., and did.
Some hippies were just in it for the drugs, some for the sexual freedom, some
for the music and lifestyle (rock festivals, etc), some for the fashions, some
for some combination of all of the above.
Some were completely motivated by aversion to the Vietnam War. When that was
over, they dropped back in to the larger society. Others retained the stance
of the outsider and the values of the counterculture.
Some couldn't or didn't want to fit in to the prevailing culture in the first
place and felt more comfortable with the laid-back lifestyle that many hippies
affected. Some were probably just weird and nobody noticed their weirdness as
much when they (the observers or the observees, either one) were stoned.
Some just wanted to thumb their nose at their parents ... youthful rebellion
and all that.
So I don't think there is one kind of hippie, noble or otherwise.
Ah, everything's complicated, buddy.
Pauline, aging flower child