"Hippie" no thank you.

My final word on this, I guess ... don't really know from hippie or freak, and those words mean different things in different countries, apparently. But I was brought into this world about halfway through that turbulent decade of the 1960s...
So, I usually let those who were experiencing their formative or young-adult years in that decade speak for the times.
In this case, the 60's and its counterculture is probably best summarized by a spokesperson like Suze Rotolo (Bob Dylan's girlfriend from 1961-64; Italian-American artist, civil rights activist, and veteran of Greenwich Village culture of the time):
"The sixties were an era that spoke a language of inquiry and curiosity and rebelliousness against the stifling and repressive political and social culture of the decade that preceded it. The new generation causing all the fuss was not driven by the market: we had something to say, not something to sell."



Edited by CapnBearbossa - October 14 2016 at 15:04

Rednight wrote: Devoncir wrote: He was a murderer who posed as a hippie. Wrong again, Mandrake. It was the followers Manson sent to Cielo and Waverly drives who did the murderin'. No evidence has ever come forward that he murdered anyone.

My Kinda Hippies

Rednight wrote: ^Don't know anything about Charles "Mason" but do know about one Charles Manson who was no poser; he was the real deal when it came to directing a flock of supposed flower children towards murderous infamy, to say the least. He can still be found at Corcoran State Pen., Calif. for that reason.

No doubt.   I know people who remember him hanging out on Haight Street picking up followers.

Devoncir wrote: And at woodstock many people were posing as hippies, all about posing

^Don't know anything about Charles "Mason" but do know about one Charles Manson who was no poser; he was the real deal when it came to directing a flock of supposed flower children towards murderous infamy, to say the least. He can still be found at Corcoran State Pen., Calif. for that reason.

^ Still, as derogatory names go, 'hippie' is far from the worst.  Almost a term of affection compared to things so bad I won't give examples.

Davesax1965 wrote: Thanks for the replies, folks - sorry !! I wasn't trying to light a fire, here. ;-) One observation. I'm of course writing from a UK perspective. The US "Hippie" experience may differ. ;-) If you pop over to the UK Hippy forum, and I strongly advise you not to, you'll see that the UK scene is somewhat different from the US scene. Over here, a number of subgroups sprung up - New Age Travellers, Crusties, etc. All are broadly the same, and tend to fall under the "hippy" banner. I expect most of the posters there are under thirty and wouldn't mind being labelled - generically - a "hippy". Too right, at 51, I am too young to have experienced the original "hippie" movement of the sixties. Actually, I doubt there are many people who actually did. If you take, for example, Woodstock, the crowd is not solely composed of people who identify solely with hippie views - most were there for the drugs and music, or to dress up in the fashions of the day. It's a crowd of hangers on and wannabe's. Most will have gone back home to safe office jobs, conventional views and lifestyles after dipping their toes in the hippy water.  Why I don't like being called a hippie. Well. I just don't identify with many of the views, and I also find a lot of hippies so monolithic and set in their views that it's like having a conversation with a religious nut case. I'm sure that there are hippies out there who are more normal, less reactionary and more open to debate, but they seem, alas to be an exception.  I'll stick with being a freak, thanks. I did have a think about being a Trekker, but I've got too much middle age spread to be able to pull off a Starfleet tunic. Yes, I know William Shatner spent a career doing it. But. ;-)

Well, I'm not very normal and I'm pretty set in my views . . . which isn't to say that I'm not easygoing typically, but nevertheless, I'm pretty set in my views.

I'm a bit too young to have experienced hippiedom fully in real time, too, although on the other hand, my first concert was Jimi Hendrix--but I was only 6 when I saw Hendrix.

The original Freak on the California scene was Carl Franzoni or Captain F**k as he was called.