Hippies and flower power
... than before, hippies of today are not just about matters of dress, behavior, or social standing, but are mostly about a philosophical approach to life stressing freedom, love, peace and respect for others and the earth. There have always been hippies, not only from the sixties, but also from the first time society laid down any form of laws and regulations. The hippie has been in existence since the early revolutionary ideas of Henry D. Thoroeau, to John Lennon, to the common hippie of today. The rejected, liberal hippies of the sixties had an easy going attitude that did not care for money, values and working, but were instead occupied mainly with fun and games. This was true except when politics came into play. As soon as politics entered the arena, all fun and games were put aside and matters turned serious. As mentioned earlier, politics, being the instigator of the hippies’ existence, played a major role in their lives. During the Vietnam War, the hippies’ outcry against the government’s role in the war and against the war itself was anything but silent. Beside their unforgettable anti-war protests and rallies in the sixties, their clamor was also displayed in musical shows, concerts, pacifist folk songs, and by peaceful sit-ins. Just as a person idly dreaming of ultimate peace and harmony between people and nations, the hippies were actually trying to live out that dream. They were attempting to achieve their notion of a perfect world. The most memorable and enjoyable work of the hippie era in the sixties were the many outdoor festivals aimed to bring people together in a communal manner. They were trying to achieve unity by bringing everyone together for one unanimous purpose, such as listening to music. Hundreds of thousands of young people attended the numerous festivals, which lasted several days each, to marvel at the fact that they were all together in unity. An example of this was in New York, 1969, when 400,000 young people participated in a three day festival of listening to rock music, getting high, getting drunk, dancing, singing and celebrating their togetherness. This festival is known as Woodstock. The hippie way never died; the Grateful Dead, a leading band in the hippie revolution, played at their outdoor festivals until the death of lead singer Jerry ...