Anyone who was into hippy culture back in 70s, how was the experience?
I have heard from a lot of people that in 60s or 70s, there was this culture common. People doing LSDs, dancing, having strange aesthetics, entry of Eastern religions into West and all that spirituality and if I am not wrong, conservative institutions of that time in West like church, families, and etc. did not like that and were in opposition of that.
I have never met a person who used to be a hippy so I thought why not ask here. What made you a hippy? What was your parents' reaction? How long did you remain a hippy? How was the experience?
33 replies
My mother never talked about this time in her life, but I heard from others that she and her friends helped hide a draft dodger or two and got them into Canada before she ended up in Rochester and became a yuppie
It was just another period of change. Perhaps more visible than others. Steps were perhaps larger - electronics, divisions in thought/music/art/freedoms/movements location-to-location? My move was from conservative, religious, Man-Head-Of-The-House home to freedom. Probably the case of many.
I wish we can see another such thing in near future. I feel very scared from the conservativism and that red pill black pill thing becoming common.
You have to understand that society was quite restrictive back then. This was something we considered truly new. We were breaking out from the long established norms. Today, it's taken for granted that being different is okay. It wasn't then. The music was incredible. Everyone was experimenting with different styles and instruments. Drugs were bad. A lot of overdoses and bad trips. Festivals were amazing. Like any era, it had its good and bad, but it felt like we were the colour in a world of black and white. Hippie didn't have a strict definition. I was hippieish. Most all the people my age were. I had long hair and bell-bottom jeans and went to festivals because that was the style. Of course, my parents hated it, but they were surprisingly laissez-faire about the whole thing. (Except when I joined a cult. They had big issues then). I think the adults mostly shook their heads and hoped the fad would end soon.
You've gotta tell us more about this cult
It didn't amount to much. We gathered in the leaders home and were fed propaganda. It was almost like the early version of fake news. Anything that didn't come from within the group was suspect. We were only going about six months then the police came in and removed all those who were underage. It got some of the insiders thinking about what we had become. I don't think I would have listened to anyone else, but when the people inside the group started questioning, it got everyone questioning.
That sounds eerily reminiscent of a certain American regime in power
There are definitely similarities. Although, probably all countries and power groups use some cult techniques to enforce loyalty and acceptance.
I heard that some Christian churches have forbidden keeping beards from this time to look different from hippies. Is it true? I feel jealous of you guys sometimes cuz like you were such a young society yet you guys did it. Where I live, we never had that hippie thing atleast I did not hear of that.
I've never heard of that. Didn't happen in my area. The hippies who went to church were called Jesus Freaks. They had an uneasy but not hostile relationship with the churches.
Many Christian cults came into being at that time if I am not wrong like Jonestown, Branch Davidians, 12 Tribes, Ant Hill Kids, and etc.
Yes, lots of communes and cults all around. People were looking for meaning and answers to the big questions of life.
I am looking into Osho these days.
Hippy culture peaked in 1967–1969 (some say it ended with the 69 murder of Sharon Tate), so any true hippy would be >75 now, not sure how many 75yo are here on Lemmy, I only experienced the aftermath in the 70s, there weren’t many hippies left by then, and although hippy-dom had a large impact on 70s culture (and my upbringing), practicing hippies were, by then, a bit laughed at, stuck in time and “oldfashioned”.
I am very close to 70, my party time started in the 70’s When I was 13 and missed the true “hippie generation” with that being said the partying was wild. Tons of drugs, cannabis was crappy compared to today. We would get peyote and other drugs in cigarette packs (they were smuggled in that way). “Edit: there was tons of acid around, blotters, pills and liquid (usually Berkeley).” You had to be careful as the laws were just as bad for cannabis as it was for hard stuff (I live in Canada). There was no surveillance to speak of and got away with way too much. Sex was rampant since there was no aids reported on the early 70’s. I could skateboard all night on the streets without being harassed. Parents were from the silent generation and believed everything they were told by the government. We did not identify as hippies as that era had passed pretty much even if we dressed that way sometimes.
what impact it did?
It was massive, because before the hippies came, western societies were bourgeois; narrowminded, conservative. OK, I grew up in Amsterdam and that town was back then very progressive. My parents became, during the 60s more open: people talked more freely about topics like atheism, civil rights, even green politics, they became independent from church, love and sex could be discussed more openly, the upbringing of children (=me!) became more open and less strict (eg teachers weren’t allowed to hit pupils), respect for the police dwindled , male socialist politicians suddenly wore jeans and had long hair, my father had hair down to his shoulders and my mother hotpants, my smoked pot during the breaks in school.
I guess at that time, homosexuality too was being normalized.
My parents were hippies. For my mom it was probably to get away from the Catholic indoctrination. For my dad he was just fucking around after they let him out of the military for Vietnam. I'd say they were hippies up until the early 90s. How was the experience is kind of a big question, its like asking anyone older than 70 "so how has life been". They had a lot of positive experiences, but also some extremely negative ones. That's just life.
I'd have to ask them what their parents thought about them. It'd be an interesting conversation with both because I live an even more alt life than they did, I'm full nomadic. My mom doesn't really like that but also doesn't care as long as I'm happy. My dad doesn't give a shit about anything I do, he's chill as long as I stay out of jail, because that upsets my mom.
I thought hippies were the peak. Interesting to hear that. BTW, is it true that hippies left education? I heard that a lot of hippy people just dropped out of their academies and went on to wander around like in spiritual camps, cult communes, concerts, and etc.
There were lots of nomadic hippies, my parents weren't though. My mom lived in a teepee and then built a house on property she bought with like 4 other people. My dad was more transient so he gets it more.
Some skipped education but not my parents. My mom went to university at 16, she wanted to gtfo. And my dad went to university with his GI bill because might as well get a free college degree. This was back when that really set you apart. I don't remember what my mom got her degree in because she never used it AFAIK, she ran a vegan restaurant, a natural foods store, and taught yoga. My dad got his degree in computer science because in the 70s that was probably going to provide decent paying work for his entire life, and it did.
what is teepee and GI bill?
A teepee is the fabric cone type of housing often associated with native Americans, though they were used all over the world.
The GI bill provides everyone who served in the military a handful of things after they're done, the main one being college tuition. So my dad got free college because he served during the Vietnam war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Bill
Never heard of GI Joe?
I am not American
this thread made me curious about punks back then so i made a similar one for that lol
https://lem.lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/48762581
I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I once asked what an LSD trip feels like: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/[email protected]/p/918051/drugs-what-does-lsd-feel-like
Doing LSDs?! And then we did the cocaines in the 80s. Jesus, you read like an 80 year old lady in the 70's.
I am not American and I only heard bad things about West. This hippy part was also discussed but as an example of how immoral West is.
The "west" isn't immoral. Anywhere in the world, you can find terrible people.
Taking LSD isn't immoral. In fact, I would go so far as to say it introduces morality.
Corruption happens everywhere. The "bad trips" people have with LSD are:
you realize how terrible the world is
you realize how terrible you have been
you realize that you have hidden personal traume
Now, an experience relative, MDMA, is awesome! Not talking about rolls, kiddos, nor was I just talking about acid.
MDMA is so damn wonderful that we are treating soldiers with it to recover from PTSD.
Seriously, I felt like I was seeing the world as a child again.
Of course, watch your doses. Serotonin shock is real and fatal, and at worst, will cause long term damage to the brain: a fate worse than death.
But too much of a good thing can be fatal.
I once said that you can overdose on anything, and the girl I was hanging out with said, "that's not true! You can't overdose on water!"
I sardonically replied, "They call that drowning."
Not LSD but that hookup culture and destruction of traditional family structure
You can overdose on water, and it is different than drowning.
Drink too much water too quickly and it can cause a potentially fatal electrolyte imbalance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
I know, it happened to a woman who was trying to win a Wii on a radio contest.
Note I said, I sardonically answered.