What is a Hippie?

[James]

What exactly is a hippie?

Besides the obvious, like people with dreadlocks People who play Remo's ? Only kidding!

I've been called a hippie loads of times before, but it doesn't bother me. I found it funny most of the time...

[bubudi]

free loving, kumbaya around the campfire, joint smoking, incense burning, tree hugging, goatee sporting drum bashers who listen to ethnic music.

you know.... about 75% of the people on this site

[Carl]

I had home made butter on my home made English muffins this morning... After checking on my garden which I fertilize with compost made from my household and yard/garden waste.

Last weekend I had organic oatmeal pancakes (home-made, of course) with blueberries and raspberries that I had picked the same morning (again, from my yard). My house is heated with wood (pellets and trad. fireplace)

I am planning on transitioning my career from graphic designer to organic farmer (and djembe teacher) over the next two years.

I've smoked pot... once... a long time ago. I've never done any other drug stronger than my occasional Guinness (Just finished one before this post!) [can we get a beer drinking "smiley"? I've seen them on other boards, and I really could have used one here...]

The last time I "played a remo at a drumcircle" was 12 or more years ago. (at "Bread and Puppet" for those who know what that means...) I don't have dreads, but I do have a braid.

Any questions?
Hippie
AKA Carl

[Djembe-nerd]

Here we go, right direction Carl,

I can make better dinner than my wife, although that is not what I do for living. I am an engineer in cross country oil & gas pipelines . Do you see a prescription glass somewhere, there is

The other things I do better than my job, is playing djembe and taking photographs, have a look
http://photo.net/photos/ManuT

I have never smoked pot once and all the alcohol I could take was 2 whisky shots or 2 beers, that too have gone to minimum since Doc told me to minimise it for acidity reasons

I have travled and lived in several countries so I call myself "A citizen of this world". The biggest moment in my life has been meeting my wife, and the greatest regret not to meet djembe earlier.

I don't have a dread, braid, goatie or mustache, the hair are going too

But if beating the goatskin is Hippe, I am a Hippe....And Boy !! a nerdy one too

[e2c]

tie-dyed clothes, patched jeans, long hair (for men and women), etc. were a big deal when I was a teenager and during my early years in college.

All that to say that I lived through the 1st incarnation of hippiedom without being one (though i sure tried to imitate the dress and "lifestyle" when I was young).

It's kind of amusing to see how the clothing styles, etc. have come back; ditto for psych-folk music.

Am I a hippie? Nope.

And I have a feeling that the meaning of the word "hippie" has changed somewhat over the past few decades. During the late 60s-early 70s, it really was closely tied to a rejection of "materialism," identification with certain kinds of music, antiwar protests, drug use/abuse, interest in Eastern religions, overuse of patchouli oil , and more. Dreads didn't catch on until after Bob Marley became well-known in the US. (Mid-70s, I'd guess.)

The social concerns - and the political element - really seems to be lacking these days (among other things). But these are different times.

[bops]

I think a hippy can be defined either by certain identifiers, or by a general ideology.

Identifiers: long hair, tie-dye and patchwork clothes, sandals, lack of hygiene, granola-eating, noodle dancing, etc...

Ideology: desire to affect social change, open-minded, pacifist, anti-establishment, environmentalist, civil rights and equality, etc...

Currently, these two sets of qualifiers have become separate. Those who fit the mold aren't necessarily concerned with the ideology. And those who believe in the ideology don't necessarily dress or act like hippies. The true champions of the hippy ideology aren't hippies at all... take someone like Michael Pollan, for example.

[e2c]

Yeah... I basically agree that the two things you mention became disconnected a good while ago.

Fashion - even posing - is one thing; political and social ideas are another - these days, at least. (What with some folks claiming that they're "crunchy cons," etc.)

The thing is, lots of people who were in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam movements were older, suit-and-tie wearing gents and nicely dressed ladies. Very few people other than white, middle-class college age (or slightly older) people were able to afford to turn on, tune in and drop out. And there were lots of people who wore the clothes, listened to the music (etc. - includes drugs) who were anything but the real item - back when, that is. We went from the Mod look to the tie-dyed look in just a few years, after all...

[stereodesign]

The real Hippies, didn't know they were Hippies.
The media decided that this was what they would call a particular group of society.
Once they had been named others with similar views decided they must be Hippies.
Be what you want to be, you don't need a label to be yourself.