Demonization of Hippies

raimius
Mon, 18 May 2009 01:39:07 +0000

They were from a time when social norms were discarded, and they took a very active part in that. Illegal drugs, homelessness, teenage single parents, no job prospects, no support structure (except those in similar situations), protesting what was considered “normal,” etc. It’s not surprising that large portions of society rejected hippie culture. If you look at the effects of the “summer of love,” they were pretty bad for all involved (increase in crime, death, homelessness, drug addictions, etc). Much of “Hippie culture” is unproductive/destructive to those involved.

Then, there were the anti-soldier protests. Very few people nowadays think spitting on soldiers is an acceptable way to make one’s opinion known(especially when draftees had no choice in the matter).

Now, some who are labeled hippies have stated things like “there would be less violence if the police didn’t carry weapons.” So, the label (whether applied correctly or not) is being used to group people who go against society’s norms AND say some incredibly stupid things.