The Hippie Movement
The 1960s Hippie movement emerged out of a collective feel for a different way of life. Two World Wars in the span of thirty years, together with the Vietnam War, left individuals seeking change. Emerged as a youth movement it drew its inspiration from similar past movements such as the German Wandervogel (migratory bird) and the beat generation. Hippies, a term first coined in 1965, placed their focus on the happiness of individuals. Emphasis was placed on being oneself, and not conforming to “the system”. Spirituality and eastern religion were held with high regard, having possibly been the cause for the rise of LSD, in order to extend one’s consciousness. Fed up with being told how to live by societal standards, dissatisfied …show more content…
They yearned for a lifestyle that was in tune with nature, spiritual, and would unite individuals. Eventually, followers of the Wandervogel migrated to the U.S, opened up health stores and promoted their ideas of healthy living, yoga, and even organic food. Following the Wandervogel movement, and two consecutive world wars, the beat generation, later to be known as beatniks, emerged. Consisting mainly of post World War II writers who, though not large in numbers, had an immense influence on America’s society at the time. Viewing capitalism as a destructive entity to social equality, they started questioning the system, and promoted freedom of expression in regards to openly discussing sexuality, especially homosexuality, believing repression to be unhealthy to the human psyche. The beat generation referred to their era as beat down, hence the term beat and beatnik as a follower, viewing eastern spirituality with high regard. Over the years a large number of beatnik followers moved to New York, and later became strongly involved with the upcoming counterculture Hippie Movement, many claim the beat generation had transformed into the hippie countermovement, rather than having been two separate movements. The early 1960s was the time …show more content…
The main grievance having been the Vietnam War, in which many friends and brothers of individuals were being drafted and potentially killed in Vietnam. This caused immense outrage, not only for the fear of losing a loved one, but also due to the amount of nuclear fire power both nations possessed, fearing and all out nuclear war which would wipe out the majority, if not all, of civilians. With the aim of bringing about peace, especially having occurred so closely after the second World War, protests with messages of anti-war were being held, trying to unite the world at such a time. Another factor which added to the movement was the widespread use of drugs, in particular LSD, as it is said that hippies generally stayed away from harder drugs such as heroin and amphetamines, due to their addictiveness. It strengthened the belief in their lifestyle as it was becoming more and more acceptable and mainstream. However, the main factor which seemed to have giving fire to the movement was the desire to live freely. Hippies were known to be extremely non-conformists, stating society to be attempting to brainwash the people. Technology was seen as dehumanizing; instead an emphasis was put on being one with nature. Being true to oneself was perhaps the most set upon idea of the movement, not conforming to becoming the
The 1960s Hippie movement emerged out of a collective feel for a different way of life. Two World Wars in the span of thirty years, together with the Vietnam War, left individuals seeking change. Emerged as a youth movement it drew its inspiration from similar past movements such as the German Wandervogel (migratory bird) and the beat generation. Hippies, a term first coined in 1965, placed their focus on the happiness of individuals. Emphasis was placed on being oneself, and not conforming to “the system”. Spirituality and eastern religion were held with high regard, having possibly been the cause for the rise of LSD, in order to extend one’s consciousness. Fed up with being told how to live by societal standards, dissatisfied …show more content…
They yearned for a lifestyle that was in tune with nature, spiritual, and would unite individuals. Eventually, followers of the Wandervogel migrated to the U.S, opened up health stores and promoted their ideas of healthy living, yoga, and even organic food. Following the Wandervogel movement, and two consecutive world wars, the beat generation, later to be known as beatniks, emerged. Consisting mainly of post World War II writers who, though not large in numbers, had an immense influence on America’s society at the time. Viewing capitalism as a destructive entity to social equality, they started questioning the system, and promoted freedom of expression in regards to openly discussing sexuality, especially homosexuality, believing repression to be unhealthy to the human psyche. The beat generation referred to their era as beat down, hence the term beat and beatnik as a follower, viewing eastern spirituality with high regard. Over the years a large number of beatnik followers moved to New York, and later became strongly involved with the upcoming counterculture Hippie Movement, many claim the beat generation had transformed into the hippie countermovement, rather than having been two separate movements. The early 1960s was the time …show more content…
The main grievance having been the Vietnam War, in which many friends and brothers of individuals were being drafted and potentially killed in Vietnam. This caused immense outrage, not only for the fear of losing a loved one, but also due to the amount of nuclear fire power both nations possessed, fearing and all out nuclear war which would wipe out the majority, if not all, of civilians. With the aim of bringing about peace, especially having occurred so closely after the second World War, protests with messages of anti-war were being held, trying to unite the world at such a time. Another factor which added to the movement was the widespread use of drugs, in particular LSD, as it is said that hippies generally stayed away from harder drugs such as heroin and amphetamines, due to their addictiveness. It strengthened the belief in their lifestyle as it was becoming more and more acceptable and mainstream. However, the main factor which seemed to have giving fire to the movement was the desire to live freely. Hippies were known to be extremely non-conformists, stating society to be attempting to brainwash the people. Technology was seen as dehumanizing; instead an emphasis was put on being one with nature. Being true to oneself was perhaps the most set upon idea of the movement, not conforming to becoming the