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This page refers to hippies as a group engaged in a certain lifestyle - for the TV comedy, see Hippies (TV series)

Hippie, occasionally spelled hippy, is a term commonly used to refer to some of the disaffected youth of the 1960s and early 1970s. Hippies were part of a countercultural movement that initially surfaced on United States college campuses, then moved beyond academic settings to most major cities in the United States, Canada, Britain, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. To a lesser extent hippie influence was felt worldwide, particularly in Eastern Europe, Mexico and Japan.

The word "hippie" was popularized by the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, who is also credited as among the first to include the words "beatnik" and "yuppie" in his daily column. [1]

Hippies did not create a cohesive political or social movement with well-defined leaders and manifestos. Rather the hippie ethos evolved as a social manifestation of 1960s zeitgeist in an interactive play between leaders and followers. Many people who embraced the hippie lifestyle believed that the government was corrupt, that corporate industry was souless and greedy, that traditional morals were askew, and that war was inhumane. Elements of Romanticism and Transcendentalist philosophy can be seen in their writings and artistic expressions. Hippies often referred to the structures and institutions they opposed as The Establishment or The Man.

Hippies tended to express their desire for change by renouncing corporate influence, consumerism and the Vietnam War; by criticizing 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 sexual liberation, interracial dating, intentional community, free love, recreational drug use, simple living, unconventional clothing, long hair for both genders and facial hair for men.

The 21st century has brought with it a neo-hippie movement, with an ethos similar to that of the original hippies.

Etymology

One possible source of the word hippie is the Wolof language of Africa where hipi or hepi means to open one's eyes and be aware. [3]

Reminiscing about late 1930s Harlem in his 1964 autobiography, Malcolm X referred to the word hippie as a term African Americans used to describe a specific type of white man who "acted more Negro than Negroes."

During the 1940s and 1950s the term hipster came into usage by the American Beat generation to describe jazz and swing music performers, and the term evolved to describe the bohemian counterculture that formed around the art of the time.

History

Antecedents

Time and historical revisionism have obscured the true roots of certain aspects of the hippie movement, which may stretch back 100 years to Europe.

During the 1890s, there was an active movement in Europe to return to the natural life and get away from polluted, crowded cities. This movement was inspired by authors like Friedrich Nietzsche, Goethe, Hermann Hesse, and Eduard Baltzer; these authors felt that modern material yearnings were taking people away from a balance with nature, leading to spiritual and physical diseases. As a result, thousands of young Germans turned their backs on modern society and sought a return to nature and the pagan spiritual life of their ancestors. They embraced a variety of radical lifestyles including vegetarianism, fasting, raw food diets, nudism, organic farming, communal living, along with sun and nature worship.

These ideas were introduced into the United States over several decades as these back-to-nature Germans settled in various places around the country, some of them opening the first health food stores. Many of them moved to Southern California where they could practice their alternative lifestyle in a warm, welcoming land. Quite a few young Americans adopted the beliefs and practices of these new German immigrants out of a desire to stay healthy and avoid succumbing to disease and urban malaise.

Some young Americans formed a group called "The Nature Boys" that took to the California desert, grew organic food and espoused the back-to-nature lifestyle. One member of this group, Eden Ahbez, wrote a hit song called Nature Boy which was recorded in 1947 by Nat King Cole. As the song became more popular, Americans became aware of a homegrown back-to-nature movement.

Eventually a few of these Nature Boys, including the famous Gypsy Boots, made their way to Northern California just in time for the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967. The psychedelic posters that announced concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium and other San Francisco venues were heavily influenced by the artist Fidus, one of the original German "hippies". ^[1]

Hippie culture evolved from the Beat culture of the 1950s, and it was greatly influenced by the creation of Rock & Roll from Swing and Blues, or what was known as jump blues.

1963-1966

In 1963, British band The Swinging Blue Jeans released the song 'Hippy Hippy Shake', which rose to #2 in the British charts and #24 in the US.

On the east coast of the U.S., in Greenwich Village, young counterculture advocates were called, and referred to themselves as, hips. At that time, to be hip meant to be "in the know" or "cool", as opposed to being called a stodgy "square". Disaffected youth from the suburbs of New York City flocked to the Village in their oldest clothes to fit into the counterculture movement, the coffee houses, etc. Radio station WBAI was the first media outlet to use the term hippie to describe the poorly-dressed middle class youths as a pejorative term originally meaning "hip wannabes."

The first use of the word hippie on US television was on WNBC TV Channel 4 in New York City at the opening of the New York World's Fair on April 22, 1964. Some young anti-Vietnam War protesters, wearing t-shirts, denim jeans and with long hair, staged a sit-in and were called hippies by NYPD officers and reporters. The police fought with and swung their batons at them to chase them off the escalators and they fought back and were arrested. Before that date, the type was generally referred to as beatnik.

September 5, 1965 marked the first San Francisco newspaper story, by Michael Fallon, in an article about the Blue Unicorn coffeehouse entitled "A New Haven for Beatniks". Fellon used the term hippie to refer to younger bohemians. The name did not catch on in the mass media until almost two years later after San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen began using the term hippies in his daily columns.

Many of the earliest San Francisco hippies were former students at San Francisco State College (the original name for San Francisco State University) who had "dropped out" after they started taking psychedelic drugs and began living communally in the large, inexpensive Victorian apartments in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.

Hippie action in the San Francisco area, particularly in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, centered around the Diggers, a guerrilla street theater group that combined spontaneous street theater, anarchistic action, and art happenings in their agenda to create a "free city." The San Francisco Diggers grew from two radical traditions thriving in the area during the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the new left/civil rights/peace movement.

Los Angeles also had a vibrant hippie scene during the mid-1960s, arising from a combination of the L.A. beat scene, which was centered around Venice and its coffeehouses and which spawned the Doors, and Sunset Strip, the quintessential L.A. hippie gathering area, with its seminal rock clubs, the Whisky-a-Go-Go and the Troubadour. Sunset Strip was the location of the actual protest referred to in the Buffalo Springfield's early hippie anthem of 1966, For What It's Worth.

One of the first major psychedelic events in San Francisco was the Trips Festival at Longshoreman's Hall, which took place on January 21-23, 1966 and which was organized by Stewart Brand, Ken Kesey, Owsley Stanley and others. The big night, Saturday January 22, saw the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company on stage, and 6,000 people arrived to imbibe punch spiked with LSD and witness the first major light show of the era.

On October 6, 1966, the San Francisco hippies staged an enormous gathering in Golden Gate Park, titled "The Love Pageant Rally." As explained by Allan Cohen, co-founder of the San Francisco Oracle, the purpose of the rally was two-fold--to draw attention to the fact that LSD had just been made illegal, and to demonstrate that people who used LSD were not criminals, nor were they mentally ill. Rather, people who took LSD were mostly idealistic people who wanted to learn more about themselves and their place in the universe, and they used LSD as an aid to meditation and to creative, artistic expression. Thousands of hits of LSD were distributed free at the rally, and the Grateful Dead played; its huge success drew many more curious seekers to the Haight-Ashbury district.

Summer of Love

Summer, 1967 in Haight-Ashbury became known as the "Summer of Love" as young people (75,000 by police estimates) gathered and shared the new culture of music, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and alternate lifestyles. On January 14, 1967, the outdoor Human Be-In concert provided the initial spark for the Summer of Love, and a few months later Scott McKenzie's rendition of John Phillips' song, "San Francisco," became an instant hit in both the United States and in Europe. The song's lyrics went in part "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...;" inspired by the song, thousands of young people from all over the world traveled to San Francisco. Because many of them wore flowers in their hair and distributed flowers to passersby, they earned the alternate name, "Flower Children."

The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and a number of other musicians lived in the Haight at the time, which added to the intensity of the Summer 1967 experience. At the end of the summer, the Diggers held a Death of Hippie parade because they felt co-opted by incessant media coverage and interpretation of the hippie movement.

When San Francisco's Summer of Love ended, thousands of newly recruited Flower Children returned home bringing new styles, ideas and behaviors to all major U.S. cities and European capitals. Soon London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and Rome rivaled San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York as hippie centers.

End of an era

The hippie movement reached its height during the late 1960s, as evidenced by the July 7, 1967 issue of TIME magazine, which had for its cover story: The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture. 1971 is generally considered the last year of the Hippie Era. By the early 1970s much of hippie style had been integrated into mainstream society, and the decades since have seen wide acceptance of some of the more substantive aspects of hippie culture as well.

Worldview

Politics

Hippies were often pacifists and participated in non-violent political demonstrations, such as civil rights marches, the marches on Washington D.C., and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, including draft card burnings and the 1968 Democratic Convention protests. The degree of political involvement varied widely among hippies, from those who were completely apolitical to Yippies, the most politically active hippie sub-group.

In addition to non-violent political demonstrations, hippie opposition to the Vietnam War included organizing political action groups to oppose the war, refusal to serve in the military and conducting "teach-ins" on college campuses that covered Vietnamese history and the larger political context of the war.

Some Americans, especially conservatives, military personnel, and veterans, saw hippie opposition to the war as a lack of commitment to the principles of American freedom in the Cold War battle against communism. They also felt that even non-violent public demonstrations against the Vietnam War were unpatriotic because they compromised the ability of the United States to prosecute the war.

Scott McKenzie's 1967 rendition of John Phillips' song "San Francisco," which inspired the hippie Summer of Love, became a homecoming song for all Vietnam veterans arriving in San Francisco from 1967 on. Mr. McKenzie has dedicated every American performance of "San Francisco" to Vietnam veterans, and he sang at the 2002 20th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. "San Francisco" became a freedom song worldwide, especially in Eastern European nations that suffered under Soviet-imposed communism.

Other songs, such as Lloyd Marcus' "Welcome Home Brother," have given voice to Vietnam veterans who felt disrespected by hippies and who lamented that fellow Americans never properly honored them for their sacrifices in serving the nation.

Although hippies were sometimes accused of verbally attacking soldiers returning home from duty in Vietnam, or participating in the torching of ROTC buildings on college campuses, with the exception of a small radical fringe element hippies did not verbally assault military personel and did not condone acts of political violence. With the release of FBI records under the Freedom of Information Act, it has become clear that many such attacks were actually perpetrated by FBI COINTELPRO agents provocateurs operating on J. Edgar Hoover's instructions to discredit those who opposed the Vietnam War. ^[2]

Hippie political expression often took the form of "dropping out" of society to implement the changes they sought. At their inception, the back to the land movement, cooperative business enterprises, alternative energy, the free press movement, and organic farming were all politically motivated hippie enterprises.

Sexual attitudes

Hippies regularly flouted societal prohibitions against interracial dating and marriage. They were early advocates for the repeal of anti-miscegenation laws that the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1967 (Loving v. Virginia), but which remained on the books in some U.S. states until 2000.

With their emphasis on Free Love, hippies promoted many of the same counterculture beliefs that found early expresssion in the Beat Generation. Co-habitation among unmarried couples was the norm, open relationships were common, and both Beats and Hippies advocated for legal and societal acceptance of most forms of consensual sexual expression outside the traditional bounds of marriage and procreation, with the exception of sex with children.

With regard to homosexuality and bisexuality, the Beats had demonstrated early tolerance during an era when homosexual expression of any sort was still punishable by stiff prison sentences. Although hippies espoused the same accepting attitude, hippie tolerance fell short of full inclusiveness; many hippies were not particularly comfortable with homosexuality when it came to communal living arrangements.

In fact, hippie domestic life seemed largely to default to traditional gender roles, with women doing most of the work -- cooking, cleaning, child care, etc. -- while the men engaged in creative, artistic pursuits. Images of women in hippie art abound, generally as innocents, goddesses or muses. Most hippie entrepreneurs, philosophers, commune founders and leaders, writers and artists were men. A notable exception was Lenore Kandel, whose Love Book got her busted for pornography in 1967.

Drugs

The recreational use of marijuana had been established by the Beats, and the drug appears in Jack Kerouac's 1950's novel "On The Road", which was widely read by many soon-to-be hippies.

Inspired by Harvard professor Timothy Leary, who advocated the use of psychotropic drugs for the purpose of expanding one's consciousness, many hippies enlarged their repertoire of recreational drugs to include not only marijuana (see cannabis and hashish), but also hallucinogens such as LSD (see both psychedelic and psychedelic drug), psilocybin (see psychedelic mushroom), and mescaline. The use of these drugs became common in hippie settings, both because of their psychopharmaceutical effects and to express disaffection with societal norms.

In addition to Leary, Ken Kesey was an important figure in promoting the recreational use of psychotropic drugs, especially LSD, also known as "acid." By holding what he called "Acid Tests," and touring the country with his band of Merry Pranksters, Kesey became a magnet for media attention that drew many young people to the fledgling movement. The Grateful Dead played some of their first shows at the Acid Tests, often as high on LSD as their audiences.

The psychotropic drugs that were adopted by hippies were introduced in part during CIA project MKULTRA, which tested the effects of various drugs and other treatments on numerous Americans, often without their consent. While a student at Stanford University, Ken Kesey himself was a volunteer subject in one of the many drug trials promoted by the MKULTRA project, and it was during these trials that he was first introduced to the use of LSD.

Travel

Hippies tended to travel light and were able to pick up and go to wherever the action was at any given time, whether that was a "love-in" on Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco, a demonstration against the Vietnam War in Berkeley, one of Ken Kesey's "Acid Tests" or just because the "vibe" wasn't right and a change of scene was desired. Pre-planning was eschewed and most were happy to put a few clothes in a backpack, stick out their thumbs and hitchhike to just about anywhere. Hippies seldom worried about whether or not they had money, hotel reservations or any of the standard accoutrements of travel. Because most hippie households welcomed overnight guests on an impromptu basis, the reciprocal nature of the lifestyle permitted enormous freedom of movement. People generally co-operated to meet each other's needs in ways that became less common after 1971. This way of life is still seen today among some Rainbow Family participants.

A derivative of this free-flow style of travel were hippie trucks and buses, hand-crafted mobile houses built on truck or bus chassis to facilitate a nomadic lifestyle. Some of these mobile gypsy houses were quite elaborate with beds, toilets, showers and cooking facilities.

On the West Coast, a unique lifestyle developed around the Renaissance Faires that Phyllis and Ron Patterson first organized in 1963. During the summer and fall months, entire families traveled together in their trucks and buses, parked at Renaissance Pleasure Faire sites in Southern and Northern California, worked their crafts during the week, and donned Elizabethan costume for weekend performances and to attend booths where handmade goods were sold to the public.

The sheer number of young people living at the time made for unprecedented travel opportunities to special happenings. The peak experience of this type was the Bethel, New York Woodstock Festival that was held August 15-19, 1969, and which was attended by over 500,000 people.

Characteristics

Appearance

Long hair for both genders, and more facial hair for men than was common at the time. Many white people associated with the American Civil Rights Movement and the 1960s counterculture, especially those with curly or "nappy" hair, wore their hair in afros in earnest imitation of African-Americans.
Brightly colored clothing; unusual styles, such as bell-bottom pants, tie-dyed garments, dashikis, peasant blouses; and non-Western inspired clothing with Native American, African and Latin American motifs. Much of hippie clothing was self-made in protest of Western consumer culture. Head scarves, headbands, long beaded necklaces (for both men and women), and sandals were also fashionable.

The VW Bus was known as a counterculture/hippie symbol, and many buses were repainted with graphics and/or custom paint jobs--these were predecessors to the modern-day art car. A peace symbol often replaced the Volkswagen logo. Because of its low cost, the bus was revered as a utilitarian vehicle.

Activities, endeavors and beliefs

Performing music casually, often with guitars, in friends' homes, for free at outdoor fairs such as San Francisco's legendary "Human Be-In" of January, 1967, and at the Woodstock Festival of August 15, 16, 17, 1969.
A preference for certain styles of music; psychedelic rock such as Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Jefferson Airplane, blues such as Janis Joplin, traditional Eastern music, particularly from India, or rock music with eastern influences (The Beatles), soulful funk like Sly & The Family Stone, jam bands like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band, and folk music such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Neo-Hippies frequently participate in the bluegrass and/or folk music scene.
Interracial dating and marriage, rejection of anti-miscegenation laws.
Free love, including open relationships and most consensual forms of sexual expression, except sex with children. Traditional legal constructs and religious teachings that prohibited non-procreative sex outside the bounds of marriage were widely flouted--premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexuality and bisexuality. (See also: Sexual revolution).
Communal living.
Recreational drug use (as opposed to drug dependency), usually limited to pyschotropic drugs such as marijuana, mescaline, psilocybin and LSD.
A fondness for nudity.
Use of incense.
Belief in Eastern spiritual concepts, such as karma and reincarnation; interest in Hindu and Buddhist religious philosophies.
Belief that spiritual advancement leads to increased psychic ability, e.g., the ability to see the human aura. A vegetarian lifestyle was often considered important in this regard because it was thought to cleanse the body of impurities and "negative vibrations".
Belief in astrology, tarot and I Ching divination.
A generally mellow outlook on life, and a belief that the temporal world is a manifestation of human thought and consciousness.
The twin ideals of peace and love were considered paramount.

Philosophy/ethos

The inherent flaw in presenting a list of outward characteristics is that it tends to trivialize the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of the hippie ethos. Perhaps the best summation of this ethos appeared in the first edition of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalogue, published in Fall, 1968:

"We are as gods and might as well get used to it. So far, remotely done power and glory--as via government, big business, formal education, church--has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual gains. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing--power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested...”

At their highest point of awareness, hippies recognized themselves as "conscious creators." What they created during the 1960s was an attempt to avoid induction into a pre-packaged, materialistic culture where they would be reduced to being mere consumers. As the outward manifestations of hippie culture were incorporated into the mainstream package, those who understood the task of "conscious creation" moved on, staying one step ahead of unending attempts to subsume their lives and their spirit.

Legacy

By 1970, much of hippie music and fashion had become mainstream-- large rock concerts that originated with the 1967 Monterrey Pops 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 as it went out of fashion with younger people and hippies became targets for ridicule with the advent of punk rock.

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 norm--even 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 concepts--karma 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.

In general

Many hippies made, and continue to maintain, long-term commitments to the lifestyle. As of 2006, hippies are found in bohemian enclaves around the world or as wanderers following the bands they love. Many have been followers of the lifestyle since it began, though their ranks also include younger people who do not consider themselves "neo-hippies."

Many hippies of today have made use of the World Wide Web and can be found on virtual communities such as Hippyland, the largest International Hippie community on the web, or UKhippy in the UK. In the United Kingdom, the New age travellers movement revived many hippie traditions into the 1980s and 1990s. Also, there are many events, festivals and parties that promote hippy lifestyles and values.

The "boho-chic" fashion style of 2003-5 had a number of hippie features and, indeed, the London Evening Standard used the term "hippie chic" (11 March 2005).

Rainbow Nation

In the United States many hippie types refer to themselves as "Rainbows," a name derived from the tie-dyed T-shirts they wear and, for some, from their participation in the hippie-like Rainbow Family. Since the early 1970s, they rendezvous informally on U.S. National Forest Land at Rainbow Gatherings, with the motto "peace, love, harmony, freedom and community." Rainbow Gatherings, or World Gatherings, are also held in many other parts of the world.

Festivals

Glastonbury Festival

Some hippies gather at more organized festivals, such as the Glastonbury Festival in the UK. In 2005 this festival covered 900 acres (3.6 km²) and attracted 150,000 people to see more than 385 live performances of dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.

Burning Man

The Burning Man festival is an annual gathering that began as a 1986 San Francisco celebration and is now held in the Black Rock Desert northeast of Reno, Nevada. Though few participants would accept the "hippie" label, Burning Man is a contemporary expression of alternative community in the same spirit as early hippie events. The gathering becomes a temporary city (36,500 occupants in 2005), with elaborate encampments, displays and many art cars.

Pejorative connotations

In popularizing the term, columnist Herb Caen's daily references to hippies mostly expressed fascination and mild amusement rather than disapproval. Following his lead, many participants in the movement accepted the hippie label and used it in a non-pejorative sense.

Among those of the Beat Generation, the flood of 1960s youngsters adopting Beatnik sensibilities appeared to be cheap, mass-produced imitations of the Beatnik artist community. By Beat standards, these newcomers were not clever enough to really be "hip," so hippie was a term they used with disdain.

Conservatives of the period used the term hippie as an insult toward young adults whom they thought unpatriotic, uninformed, and naive. Conservatives were especially critical of hippies who advocated wholesale rejection of middle class values or who espoused leftist political viewpoints.

Liberals also used the hippie label pejoratively. They regarded hippies as lacking political sophistication and hesitated to enlist their aid in promoting progressive political objectives. They were also critical of the hippie tendency towards degeneracy

Others used the term hippie in a more personal way to disparage long-haired, unwashed, unkempt drug users.

In contemporary conservative settings, and especially in political discourse, the term hippie alludes to slacker attitudes, irresponsibility, participation in recreational drug use, activism in causes considered relatively trivial, and leftist political leanings. An example is its use by the South Park cartoon character, Eric Cartman. In the "Die Hippie, Die" episode (viewable here[2]), the entire town joins Cartman in his negative view of hippies after they invade South Park for a "Hippie Music Jam Festival … [creating] the largest such gathering in the history of Man."

Neo-hippies

Neo-hippies is a self-applied term used by 21st century people who believe in some form of the 1960's hippie philosophy. Some of these are sons, daughters and grandchildren of the original hippies. Dreadlocks, especially with beads sewn into them, remain popular among neo-hippies. Many critics argue that these "new hippies" are making more of a fashion statement than participating in a meaningful anti-materialist movement.

While there are references to the peace and justice themes advocated by their 1960s counterparts, they have not participated in civil disobedience and demonstrations to a similar degree. Many criticisms of the hippie period following the Summer of Love continue to resonate: neo-hippies can be shallow and hedonistic, and the lifestyle is often fueled by drugs and the same middle-class money it claims to oppose. Perhaps the two most valid criticisms are that many new hippies are not, in fact, more than superficial believers in the original culture, and that those who are true believers have largely disconnected from society.

Hippies and neo-hippies often promote "living off the (electrical) grid"; , growing one's own organic food, and making clothes by hand; this leads to living in rural settings where these goals are feasible. Most older hippies today are political dropouts, with little to no faith in the system. The book The Rebel Sell details a more thourough criticism of both neo and original hippie 'counter culture' as being essentially individualistic and materialistic, thus consumer advocating, though claiming the opposite. This individualistic approach is evident in the isolating back-to-the-land and politically non-allied hippie and neo-hippie approach. Back-to-the-land ideas echo the original frontier mentality of American expansion as well as ironically lead to environmentally destructive suburban sprawl in continually further reaches. Political individualism can be contrary to socialist principles of common ground and compromise, as well as ironically similar to the each-for-himself ethos that defines capitalism.

Many US marijuana growers are hippies, either by adoption of the trade and culture, or because their parents did the same. Stable hippie communities built on the marijuana trade exist on the Northwest Coast of the US, (especially in and around Humboldt Co., CA), in the South and Northeast of the United States, as well as in several provinces in Canada. Smaller hippie communities built on more traditional farming and crafts are spread throughout the US and Europe.

In the US, the art car has almost replaced the VW Bus since the latter has become sought-after by enthusiasts, however a few hippie-era buses remain. In the UK and Europe, New age travellers in converted buses and trucks are generally referred to by others as "hippies", although most of them will strenuously reject this and other labels. Environmentally friendly technology is also associated with the hippie ethos--hybrid vehicles, biodiesel and SVO/WVO technology.

Drug use is just as accepted as in the "original" hippie days, although most neo-hippies do not consider it necessary to take drugs in order to be part of the lifestyle. Some modern hippies frown upon excessive drug use because of lessons learned from the past. Some of the more conservative hippies deplore most drugs other than cannabis and psychedelics, such as LSD, magic mushrooms and salvia divinorum.

Many of today's neo-hippies were prominent in the "Dead-head" and "Phish-head" communities. They often attend music and art festivals around the United States, and the bands performing at the festivals are usually called "Jam Bands" because many of their songs contain long instrumental jams. The jams are similar to music performed by the original 1960s hippie bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Carlos Santana, Big Brother, and the Jefferson Airplane. The modern jam bands play a fusion of all musical genres including rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass, funk, reggae, prog-rock, folk, and hip-hop.

Psychedelic Trance music is also a common music preference, among both hippies and neo-hippies. Psychedelic Trance festivals last up to seven days and typically take place in the summer months. Israel, Germany, South Africa and England all have major trance followings but the psychedelic trance culture is followed by many hippies worldwide.

The biggest jam band hippie festival is called The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. It is a four-day, multi-stage, summer camping festival held on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, and it is reminiscent of the festivals of the 1960s. However, Bonnaroo is moving away from jam band headliners as the 2006 lineup is led by non-jam bands like Radiohead, Beck, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, and Sonic Youth, just to name a few. This is perhaps an indication that the jam band music scene is decreasing in popularity. Certainly, with the demise of the Grateful Dead and Phish, the nomadic touring hippies are left without a seminal jam band to follow.

Hippie slang from Wolof language

There are a number of words from the Wolof language that became widely used slang among hippies. The Wolof language is spoken in West Africa (Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania) and is related to the Mandinka language. One possible scenario as to how these words came into English: a number of Wolof-speaking people were brought from West Africa to America as slaves, and their descendants became involved in the Jazz and Beatnik scenes. European American participants in the Jazz and Beatnik scenes emulated African American ways and language and eventually influenced the hippie movement.^[3]

hep, hipi, hippy = open eyes, knowledge, wisdom, well informed, up-to-date, to open one's eyes, be aware of what is going on. Usage: "He is hip to the scene." "He's a true hippy."
cat, -kat = friend, fellow, suffix denoting a person. Usage: "He is one crazy cat."
hep-cat = person who understands, common phrase used in 1960s. Usage: "He's a hep-cat."
dig, deg, dega = understand, appreciate, pay attention. Usage: "You dig what I'm saying?"
honk, honky = white, pink, pale. Used to refer to white people. Usage: "How's it hanging, honky."
boko, bogus = fake, deceit, fraud. Usage: "This game is bogus."
jive, jaiv = lie, trick. Usage: "Don't jive me, fool."
cool = calm, controlled, slow. Translation of suma, meaning cool. Usage: "Be cool man."
okay, wo kay = everything is good. Usage: "I feel okay."

Bibliography

Dr. Kent, Stephen A. From slogans to mantras: social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam war era Syracuse University press ISBN 0-8156-2923-0 (2001)
Wolfe, Tom. 1981. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. New York, Bantam.
Young, Shawn David, M.A., Hippies, Jesus Freaks, and Music (Ann Arbor: Xanedu/Copley Original Works, 2005). ISBN 1-59399-201-7

Notes

^ For more about the influence of the Germans on America's hippies, see Hippie Roots & The Perennial Subculture.
^ http://www.answers.com/topic/cointelpro.
^ http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_languages.htm

External links

[1] For more about the influence of the Germans on America's hippies, see Hippie Roots & The Perennial Subculture.

[2] ttp://www.answers.com/topic/cointelpro.

[3] ttp://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_languages.htm

[1]

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 * Long hair for both genders, and more facial hair for men than was common at the time. Many white people associated with the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|American Civil Rights Movement]] and the 1960s counterculture, especially those with curly or "nappy" hair, wore their hair in [[afro]]s in earnest imitation of African-Americans.
 * Brightly colored [[clothing]]; unusual [[Styles of clothing|styles]], such as [[Bell-bottoms|bell-bottom]] [[pants]], [[tie-dye]]d garments, [[dashiki]]s, peasant blouses; and non-Western inspired clothing with Native American, African and Latin American motifs.  Much of hippie clothing was self-made in protest of Western consumer culture.  Head scarves, headbands,  long beaded necklaces (for both men and women), and sandals were also fashionable.
-[[Image:vw-van6990.JPG|thumb|right|VW Van, 2006]]
+[[Image:Hippyvan.jpg|thumb|right|VW Van, 2005]]
 * The [[VW Type 2|VW Bus]] was known as a counterculture/hippie symbol, and many buses were repainted with graphics and/or custom paint jobs--these were predecessors to the modern-day [[art car]].  A [[peace symbol]] often replaced the Volkswagen logo. Because of its low cost, the bus was revered as a utilitarian vehicle.