Reply #96: I knew hippies, sir.....

[H2O Man]

and you are no hippie! I'm not sure the source of your anger -- how could I be? you are but a post on a thread -- but I suspect that your hostility may be effecting your vision. "Hippies" were not just snotty-nosed rich kids, although snotty-nosed rich kids could certainly be hippies. But so couldn't rural farm kids. And teen-agers from small towns across America that listened to the Beatles and knew that there was something desperately wrong with their parents' world-view.

Did they change the world through decisive actions? Of course not. Few people/movements do. To create change in actions, you must create changes in perception, changes in the way people view their world. Did hippies help to do that? Sure. Along with several other cultural forces, they did create significant changes.

Can young people stop a war? Only by refusing to fight. So every hippie that refused to fight did their part as an individual,and by participating in mass protests, they did their part as a group.

We will only change society by changing individual('s) action. You are right that many hippies did not have a deep grasp of the concepts of peace and love and other hippie values. Some went on to become their parents. But many more went in the other direction, my friend, and became parents who instilled hippie values in the children they raised. A funny thing: there is nothing on earth more revolutionary than raising the next generation.

We are not going to reach a better society by being angry, pointing fingers, and creating divisions. Were the hippies perfect? No. But most of them did the best they could, as individuals, at the time. We are all, after all, sad and weakly human.

I'm curious: what have you as an individual accomplished that you consider superior to the hippie generation? And I'm not trying to put you on the hot seat. But if you have found a superior way, tell us about it. Thanks!