What comes to your mind when you hear the word “hippie”? You probably imagine folks of the 1960’s with long hair, tie-dyed shirts, flowers in their hair, and joints in their hands as they gather in a circle to sing “Kumbaya” around soldiers during a Vietnam War protest. This stereotype is typical. Google’s dictionary defines hippie as, “(esp. in the 1960s) A person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair and wearing beads, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs.” Many of the assumptions made about hippies are quite accurate, but also very misguided. There is so much more to hippies than drugs and the aroma of patchouli.
Most of us have heard that hippies are lazy. How can people possibly be productive by sitting around a park and banging on the bongos while talking philosophically about the meaning of life? The answer to that is pretty simple. These laid-back, music-loving philosophers are truly taking on the real issues faced by humanity. Hippies are not focused on making that next dollar to buy the latest technological device. Hippies do not care about having the fastest car or the biggest house. Hippies organize and gather to tackle the issues in government that affect everybody. Is that war we are fighting just? Is our current tax code written fairly? How do we fight greedy corporations that have a hand in our government? Is there a global cover-up of visitors from other worlds? What would the benefits be to our economy if cannabis was legalized? A hippie can easily give the answer to all these questions, along with a valid plan on how to fix the problems.
One mostly true stereotype of hippies is that they are dirty and do not shower. To the majority of American people, going without a steamy shower with a full lather of high quality soaps for more than a single day is simply unthinkable. Ignore the fact that these soaps are damaging the body by killing all good bacteria and likely contain cancer causing ingredients. Apparently, health comes second to hygiene in society. Hippies actually study and research these types of issues. Not to mention, many hippies are very low-income and just do not have the means to keep clean. Some hippies are too busy traveling to worry about hygiene. Time is not to be wasted, and there is much work to be done in improving the communities around the country. In reality, hippies who can shower, do shower, just probably not every day. Also, they make sure to find the safest organic and environmentally friendly products, as hippies care deeply about the Earth.
Perhaps the most disturbing assumptions people make about hippies is that they are drug addicts, completely removed from reality. This could not be further from the truth. First of all, the “drugs” that hippies enjoy are not physically addictive. Hippies are incredibly spiritual people and quite connected with nature. They use substances like cannabis and mushrooms to awaken the inner depths of the mind, communicate with Mother Nature, meditate, relax, heal, study, research, write, sketch, paint, create music, socialize, enjoy food, laugh, and love. Hippies do not believe in the destructive abuse of dangerous synthetic drugs, and avoid such negative things at all costs.
Imelda Staunton once said, “Looking back, there is nothing wrong with that peace, love and equality that the hippies espoused. In many ways, we have regressed because they were into organic food, back to nature, make love not war, be good to all men, share and share alike - which is what many are talking about now.” We should all actually thank the hippies. They are the ones that pushed endlessly for civil rights, clean air and water, worker’s rights, women’s rights, and just about every socially progressive accomplishment to date. It can even be argued that Jesus himself was a dirty stinking hippie.
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