What are hippies?

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Hippie, occasionally spelled hippy, refers to a "nonpolitical subgroup" of the 1960s countercultural movement that began in the United States, becoming an established social group by 1965 before declining in numbers during the 1970s. Hippies, along with the New Left and the civil rights movement, are considered one of the three dissenting groups of the 1960s counterculture.

Timothy Miller describes the hippies as a new religious movement composed mostly of white teenagers and people in their early twenties. Miller argues that the hippies were part of a long tradition of cultural dissent inherited from the bohemians and the beatniks.

Hippies came to feel that a monolithic entity had emergedcomposed of corporate industry, corporate media, the military and governmentthat exercised undue power over their lives. [citation needed] They often referred to this monolithic entity as "The Establishment," "Big Brother," or "The Man."

Hippie opposition to "The Establishment" quickly spread worldwide through a fusion of early rock and roll, folk music, the blues and psychedelic rock that eventually redefined rock music itself. The other creative arts, especially the dramatic arts and the visual arts, contributed to this worldwide impact.

Moving beyond unconventional attire, long hair for both genders, facial hair for men, and rebellion against long-established institutions, hippies sought to champion and implement change by opposing the Vietnam War, corporate influence, and consumerism; by criticising Western middle class values; by embracing aspects of non-Judeo-Christian religious cultures (including much Eastern philosophy); and by adopting nomadic lifestyles. They also embraced the civil rights movement, the expansion of free speech, sexual liberation, interracial dating, intentional community, free love, recreational drug use, simple living, holistic health, environmental consciousness, and alternative technology.

According to Time-Life, hippies were against "political and social orthodoxy", choosing a "gentle and nondoctrinaire" politics that favoured "peace, love, and personal freedom."

Hippie influence was felt worldwide, especially in Canada, Great Britain, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and to a lesser extent in Eastern Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Japan. The 21st century has brought with it a neo-hippie movement, with an ethos similar to that of the original hippies.

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Hippies were simultaneously criticised for being both 'too idealist' and 'too shallow'. The reason in part is that the early hippies did indeed want society to become more idealistic; but as hippie style began grow more and more mainstream, some of the very elements of the society they had been rebelling against, who wanted society to be even more shallow than it already was in the 1950s, also became attracted to the more superficial aspects of the movement, as a vehicle to relax standards further. This quickly resulted in a general watering-down of the culture, fashion and philosophy aspects of the hippie movement.

By 1970, much of hippie music and fashion had thus become mainstream large rock concerts that originated with the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and the 1968 Isle of Wight Festival became the norm; mustaches, beards and longer hair abounded; and colorful, multi-ethnic clothing dominated the fashion world. The media lost interest in the subculture in the mid-seventies as it went out of fashion with younger people, the war ended, and hippies became targets for ridicule with the advent of punk rock and disco.

During the decades since the 1960s, many of the more substantive aspects of hippie counterculture have also became mainstream:

Interracial dating and marriage have became much more common and are now generally accepted practices. Multiracial children of such unions, like Tiger Woods and Keanu Reeves, even enjoy a certain cachet in many circles.

Public political demonstrations are considered legitimate expressions of free speech.

Unmarried couples of all ages feel free to travel together and live together without societal disapproval.

Frankness regarding sexual matters has become the normeven conservative talk radio hosts, like Dr. Laura, feel free to exclaim "Orgasms are cool!"

In urban centers especially, and in corporate America, the rights of homosexual, bisexual and transexual people have been greatly expanded.

Religious and cultural diversity has gained widespread acceptance, and most people are aware of at least some Eastern religious and spiritual conceptskarma and reincarnation in particular.

Co-operative business enterprises and creative community living arrangements are widely accepted.

Interest in natural food, herbal remedies and vitamins is widespread, and the little hippie "health food stores" of the 60s and 70s are now large-scale businesses.