Hippie Generation Y... Because We Gotta

I wish I knew more about history. I pick up the pieces, hearsay, and cliches of times past and make conclusions from them, but it's truly hard to know whether my deductions have any credibility without first learning from those who know the things that I guess.

Growing up watching The Wonder Years, That 70's Show, and Forest Gump, along with a little information from hippie friends (and I guess school taught me a bit too), I now have a "Steve Version" of the 60's and 70's in my head. So please do note that this blog post will be drawn almost entire (maybe entirely) from the distortion and havoc that resides between my ears.

If I were to pull key aspects out of the hippie movement to characterize it, I would choose: countercultural love and freedom (including drugs and sexuality), anti-war declarations, movement towards a simple life (less monetary/corporate things, environmentalism, more natural eating, and communal living styles), and political action in a wide spectrum of age groups. All of this was largely stemmed from the love/freedom category. These hippies were enlightened.

It's funny how this "enlightened" group is now almost universally acknowledged with humor or disdain. It was a strong force, and its then followers are still alive. You can find a few who hold to the ideals of this time, you find more who hold to the music; but most have forsaken what they were (quite possibly because they can't even remember those years). But you can't deny that this counter-cultural movement was swallowed whole by the commercialism of the 80's. Madonna was a Material Girl, and she wasn't the only one. Perhaps it was all the babies that came from the "free love" that jostled the hippies into the realization that they needed to actually work to provide for these kids, maybe something else. Maybe it's just man's quest for success; where when a movement doesn't succeed, its followers change sides and become the best sellouts they can. Either way hippie-ism is 99% gone... kind of.

When you look at the United States in relation to views on war, diet, environmentalism, sexuality, and political activism, things are starting to look a bit like they did back in the day (but at the same time completely different). Americans are feeling an opposition to war (at least our current war choices), sects are moving to a more natural, organic diet, there are tons of agencies and people who are concerned about the environment and CO2 emissions, sexual tolerance is being increasingly nodded at in regards to homosexuality, women's clothing is shrinking by the moment, giving anybody passing on the street an aspect of "free love" that comes in the form of a free peek, and sections of our country's young adult population are becoming very passionate about their rights, freedoms, and opinions in the political arena.

The reason this is only "kind of" hippie-esque is that they don't share the same root. In the 60's a desire for love, freedom, and self-enlightenment of what matters (among other things) motivated followers to attempt to recreate their world. It was out of want for freedom and a conviction to the morals they believed in, and I think it was largely optimistic. Today our actions are based primarily on one thing. Fear. We oppose the war because we are afraid of our country's financial state, we can't afford to be in this war that is not ending. We eat organic because we are afraid of the disease that has begun to exterminate all of our loved ones. We take strides toward clean energy and lowering emissions because we fear human annihilation if we don't reverse the global warming trend. Homosexuals are getting married because we're afraid denying them their lusts will mean we have to eliminate ours; after all we wouldn't want to be hypocrites. Politics are taking over our lives because we're afraid of the influence the government has over our personal liberties or our ability to financially survive and the media is shoving this fear down our throats constantly (though some are more hopeful than fearful).

I was thinking about this a good bit yesterday and had a conversation with my friend Bill, who lived during this era and is a great thinker to boot. Then, today, I hear Stephen Colbert, being interviewed on NPR (yes I listen to NPR), making some statements correlating this comparison of 1960's hippies to today as... similar but extremely different. Then I saw just a few hours ago his show from yesterday.

I am truly gaining a deeper respect for Stephen Colbert. He plays a character on his show, but he and his writers really do expose some insightful things in their mockeries.

We can be anti-war and be accepted, but we can't be about peace or else we're crazy hippies.

I don't think the hippies were all wrong in what they believed in, but I do think they were wrong. They upheld moral convictions that are important, but also held up other moral convictions that are ridiculous and dangerous. Their extreme drug use did not aid them in their cause for being taken seriously either. The "ridiculous" of hippieosity has painted over any good they brought. But let me also state that the good they brought can be found more fully and credibly in Christianity.

So why aren't we the new hippies? Some of us are living out hippie causes, but for what reason. Are we living in fear like everyone else, or are we living in love? Will we be painted with the brush of hippies, even if we don't share their weaknesses... probably... but can't we continue to distinguish ourselves through our steadfast integrity?

What will be the outcome of a people doing things out of necessity only, without concern for love and peace? Is our HOPE only to survive in the midst of all that can and is going wrong? Or is our HOPE to thrive in love?

I don't know what some of the consequences of our "look like a hippie, act like a hippie, but in no way a hippie" nation will be, but if you have more insight to share, please do. I find this topic extremely interesting and would love to hear more.