Woodstock, peace signs, drugs, peace- these all bring to mind the notorious group of the sixties recognized as hippies. To many people, hippies seemed frightening, mystifying, and inexplicable. They were perceived as being dirty, drugged, and disrespectful to elders and society. While the young men were styling long hair and beards, men and women were dressing in outlandish fashions and passionately publicizing peace and love. What was going on with the phenomenon called the hippies? My parents had an active role in this bewildered society in the 60's. They, along with the rest of the hippy generation, were simply unsatisfied with humanity, and thought they knew the cure for it.
My parents were on a quest for enlightenment. They were convinced that the manner in which to achieve peace in society was through love. To them, it was a matter of reverence for others and their right to freely be who they were.
English: Haight Street, San Francisco, California,...
Street corner in Haight Ashbury (actually of Haigh...
Hippie Defined"Love is all you need," these Beatles' lyrics clearly expressed the bases for their beliefs. In order for society to be able to function properly, everyone needed to learn how to love and accept one another. Also, in their eyes, the older generation was working in a massive conspiracy to restrain and control the innocent nature of love of life, nature, and happiness that defined their hippy life. My parents weren't part of just a group of people, but a people who believed that the only way to find bliss in the world is through love and acceptance of people, allowing them to be free and express themselves.
The Vietnam War presented them with a ready target for their opposition and rebellion. They took part in many peace protests, which opposed the ongoing and escalating war in Vietnam. Thousands of young men were being drafted against...
Hippies
I enjoyed this essay,,,it was an important movement. I don't particularly like the fashions, or the kind of hippy culture around today that was born from the hippies of the 60s, but I think their ideology is sound: "For them there was no absolute right or wrong, but what was right was relative to what made one happy". I thought that wee line was lovely and summed up the hippy ideology really well. Good work!
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