Recently, I saw a post on Facebook which called today’s younger generation the new “hippie generation.” At first I was reluctant to believe it; however, as I look around today, whether walking through the halls of CHS, viewing blogs and social media sites, and even looking at my own room, I notice how a new, alternative phenomenon has come upon our generation. The idea of becoming a “free spirit” is transforming our society into mimicking the original hippie revolution, one laden with tie-dye, incense and everything in between.

The original hippie movement was centered on anti-Vietnam war protesting during the late 1950s to the 1970s. Hippies strongly expressed ideas of love, peace and not conforming to normal society. Today’s “hippie revolution” is glamorized by ideas of a utopian lifestyle and setting themselves apart from a mainstream, conformist world.

I obviously cannot be hypocritical in this situation, seeing that I, too, have fallen into this trend; however I decided to do more research into what the original hippie movement truly was. What I found interested me and led me to believe that the hippie movement is not a piece of history that should be repeated.

Today, while our current generation is generally focusing on the very surface of the hippie revolution, many don’t realize that the hippies were looked down in society for many reasons. According to hipplanet.com, a site promoting hippie culture, the people running the website pride themselves in starting the largest uncontrolled drug experiment in the world. Marijuana, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and other psychedelics boomed during this era. Secondly, something that many people don’t know about the hippies is that many of their beliefs were borderline communist, which made them a huge threat to American society. I won’t be the judge of that behavior, and I believe that everyone can make his or her own opinions on it. However, one thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that the hippie movement could not last long due to some unexpected events from one of their own “hippie revolution” leaders, Charles Manson. Long story short, according to history1900s.com, Manson founded a hippie cult group titled “The Family.” This group was responsible for many murders in the 1960s due to Manson’s strong beliefs and drug abuse. This spurred a quick end to the hippie movement, as people realized that malicious and violent crimes can happen anywhere, even within hippie communes that advocate peace.

With all that being said, today’s society shouldn’t be too quick to label themselves as “hippies” without further research and practicality. That remains true with other movements throughout history, such as the Ku Klux Klan and communism within the United States. These movements were equally as short lived, and for a good reason. The hippie culture was flawed, however that doesn’t mean we can’t bring it back into our lives at all. The ideas of peace and love should be cherished, and we can admire the hippies for their dedication to peaceful protest and love amongst everyone. We should reinvent the culture to be something of our own, not mimic the failed revolution brought on by the original hippies. Besides, considering their very anti-mainstream lives, the hippies wouldn’t want us to be following a culture we don’t truly believe in.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Caitlin Muller at [email protected].