NEWSFLASH: The Hippies Were Right.

[garybeck]

5/2/07
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2007/05/02/notes050207.DTL&nl=fix

Go ahead, name your movement. Name something good and positive and pro-environment and eco-friendly that's happening right now in the newly "greening" America and don't say more guns in Texas or fewer reproductive choices for women or endless vile unwinnable BushCo wars in the Middle East lasting until roughly 2075 because that would defeat the whole point of this perky little column and destroy its naive tone of happy rose-colored sardonic optimism. OK?

I'm talking about, say, energy-efficient light bulbs. I'm looking at organic foods going mainstream. I mean chemical-free cleaning products widely available at Target and I'm talking saving the whales and protecting the dolphins and I mean yoga studios flourishing in every small town, giant boxes of organic cereal at Costco and non-phthalates dildos at Good Vibes and the Toyota Prius becoming the nation's oddest status symbol. You know, good things.

Look around: we have entire industries devoted to recycled paper, a new generation of cheap solar-power technology and an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth" and even the soulless corporate monsters over at famously heartless joints like Wal-Mart are now claiming that they really, really care about saving the environment because, well, "it's the right thing to do" (read: It's purely economic and all about their bottom line because if they don't start caring they'll soon be totally screwed on manufacturing and shipping costs at/from all their brutal Chinese sweatshops).

There is but one conclusion you can draw from the astonishing (albeit fitful, bittersweet) pro-environment sea change now happening in the culture and (reluctantly, nervously) in the halls of power in D.C., one thing we must all acknowledge in our wary, jaded, globally warmed universe: The hippies had it right all along. Oh yes they did.

more
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2007/05/02/notes050207.DTL&nl=fix

[EFerrari]

1. Of course they had it right. But, shhhhhhhhhh!

[Heidi]

2. And off you go to Greatest.

:kick:

[garybeck]

4. ya, the greatest page looks a little silly right now :)

took 220 responses to get that other threat to the greatest page. Just 2 for this one.

what does that tell you?

[Mrs. Overall]

110. Yes, some pretty "kooky" posts have been making it onto the Greatest Page lately

so I'm wondering if between now and Nov. 2008, if it should take a few more recommendations (like 10?) before a thread is nominated.

I hate to sound so nit-picky, but there has been some crap appearing there (Greatest Page) that isn't in the best interests of Democrats.

[Quantess]

117. FYI: that other thread got votes strictly for comedy relief.

I doubt anyone seriously supported the sentiments.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

157. I agree, it seems that certain posts garner 4 or 5 recs for no discernible reason.

They tap into the sentiment of a small but vigorously unenlightened minority here seemingly for the sole purpose of getting lamely adversarial posts on the Greatest page.

When Skinner started the Greatest Page, the bar was set lower than five, (I think it was three, IIRC) and then raised to five which has been working for a while.

Good suggestion! MKJ

[Control-Z]

165. Ain't that the truth -eom

[MaggieSwanson]

3. the hippies ARE right.

Present tense.

:hippie: :P

[garybeck]

5. Right on. I was at a

Phil and Friends show last night. we hippies are alive and strong, and we are still right.

[northofdenali]

175. You betcha, garybeck -

Here's the hubby and I on the Copper River in 1969 - the very LAST year my hair was longer than his!!



I haven't quit being involved, even when raising my daughter and taking care of my Alzheimer's plagued father-in-law (he passed in March). When you really CARE about others, you have to keep on keepin' on.

:hippie::hug::grouphug::hug::hippie:

[datavg]

182. You're Still Right...

...even if you wreck a two hundred year old political party?

That's what you're doing right now. You're gonna get us another Republican in the White House.

One thousand people per day move to Florida, and they're not hippies.

Five hundred people per day move to Arizona, and most of them are not hippies.

They're building schools and churches and freeways so fast in Texas that the concrete companies can't keep up with the demand. And the people keep coming...and coming...and coming. And they're not hippies.

The State of Tennessee is building something called The 540 Project, which is a 240 mile long hub and spoke freeway system in the Nashville area. Their population growth has been something to see, with all the auto companies (domestic and foreign) moving their offices and other facilities to the region...

...and they don't employ hippies.

Ohio and Pennsylvania are forecasted to lose at least one Electoral vote each in 2010. New York state will lose two or as many as three because of the mass scale deindustrialization that's been going on upstate since NAFTA. Those Electoral votes will go mostly to Florida...and there aren't very many hippies in the suburbs of Jacksonville, Orlando or Tampa. (Probably none in Tampa.)

Still think you're right?

[HooptieWagon]

186. wrong, but nice try to pull "facts" out of your rear

Lots of hippies in Tampa - we even have our own community sponsored non-commercial radio station WMNF 88.5, which is one of the largest in the US - $1.4 mil annual budget.

[MaggieSwanson]

187. I don't look like a hippie.

And I'm 36. You wouldn't know my lifestyle at a glance. I've been told I look quite republican as a matter of fact, a tactic that lets me in to events that the organizers would rather I not. Looks can be deceiving, and if you think the towns you listed above don't got no heart... maybe you just gotta poke around.

What is it about hippies that makes you bristle?

[ieoeja]

199. I dunno about that. I would say you look wiccan/pagan. Are you? n/t

[MaggieSwanson]

208. No, although I have

friends who are wiccan and pagan and I can identify strongly. But I also identify strongly with Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Methodists, Lutherans, and yes, even a few evangelicals.

I don't align myself with any particular group or philosophy. I guess I kind of take what I see to be the best and/or wisest of each religion and try to incorporate it into my life.

:hi:

[ieoeja]

198. "...and they don't employ hippies."

Hair halfway down my back did not stop me from amassing a very impressive resume. And while this still doesn't stop certain people from getting no further than the hair, the vast majority would fall over themselves trying to get me into their shop.

Every superiors I have ever had who gave me grief over the hair went on to get themselves fired for incompetence. Every single one of them, without exception. Which is sort of predictable. Obviously they have their priorities screwed up if the hair is even a consideration.

[datavg]

201. That Sounds Perfectly Reasonable...

...but I'm here to tell you you couldn't work in the several banks or insurance companies I've been to, not to mention the engineering firm where about half of the long term employees held security clearances.

[ieoeja]

202. Why?

I worked for a major international bank, but I can't work in the several banks you've been to. Why are your banks different?

I have spent most of my career working for the world's largest law firm, but I can't work for the insurance companies you've been to. Several people I know working for Blue Cross/Blue Shield would not pass your muster. What is the problem wtih the insurance companies you've been to?

I worked on a White House project, but you say I can't work for an engineering firm which employees people with security clearances. Why is that?

Seriously. Explain this to me. You seem to surround yourself with some extremely ignorant people.

[Iris]

204. Exactly. Hippies wouldn't WANT to work for those places run by ignorant people.

[ieoeja]

211. Absolutely.

I was asked once when job searching to cut my hair. Told 'em no. They called me back to say they decided I could keep my hair. I told 'em they could keep their job. Their initial "demand" said all I needed to know about their screwed up priorities.

[datavg]

207. No...

...but I don't surround myself with counterculture personality types who seem to seek out things to rebel against.

Once again, the party is full of this. It didn't used to be that way, and those were some of the best days the party and the country ever had.

I long for the early Sixties. God, do I ever. Chris Matthews does, too. He talks about it all the time.

[ieoeja]

210. Who is rebelling against whom?

Last time I looked for a job I warned the recruiter that I had long hair. She asked around her office and said it had been years since any of them could remember running into an issue with hair. And they do recruiting throughout the country.

You have long-haired country boys down south, long-haired hippies up north and long-haired rednecks in between. Outside the United States long hair is the norm in Latin America and Asia. Europe has long not given a fuck one way or another. And how's 'bout them long-haired and bearded folks throughout the Middle East and India?

You long for an era which is not just dead in the party, but dead in the United States except for a few pockets of radical reactionism. YOU are the radical nutjob, not me.

[datavg]

212. Sure...

...but it'll be "dead" until Murdoch and his buddies whip up the law and order contingent next year and pull all those southern and midwestern states into line.

I guess we'll see what we'll see.

[Iris]

213. "counterculture personality types" are not necessarily being rebellious.

Sometimes they are just being themselves. Just because they don't fall into the mainstream doesn't mean they are rebelling against it.

Chris Matthews - pffft..

Besides, the roots of what you are calling "counter culture" began long before the mid-1960's.

[Iris]

203. on the other hand, why would hippies want to be employed by "them"?

[TeddyKGB]

6. Wow, what a stunning rebuke...

...if I had actually said anything about "the hippies being wrong", which I didn't.

Fail.

[scarletwoman]

7. No, all YOU said was, "you kooks on the far left have got to go."

"Fail" yourself.

[TeddyKGB]

9. That's right.

I would never compare today's protestors (or their results) to what was accomplished in the 60's.

Today, it's a freak show. Today, it pacifies the protestors and is ignored by the powerful.
THAT is the point I was trying to make.

[Heidi]

10. Many, many DUers have participated in recent protests,

including at least two of the Admins of DU. Are we to assume that you're calling all of us who've protested "kooks on the far left"?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1876981

[Swamp Rat]

12. That's an understatement Heidi

We not only protested, we also organized, wrote articles, called congress members, educated even the most resistant, helped anyone who wanted to participate, I could go on and on.

The DU patriots and our brothers and sisters in other organizations are not one monolithic age bloc; we are all ages, from great-grandmothers to newly returned soldiers to very talented kids, like Ava.

:wtf:

[Heidi]

16. !

Hey there, friend! :hug:

[TeddyKGB]

13. Maybe.

For all the protesting that's been done, did it stop the war?
Has it ended it yet?

I'm merely asking everyone to consider that traditional protest in a world of corporatized politicians battling for the last bits of the world's fossil fuels might not be so effective.

They've changed tactics; why haven't we?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

14. Please expound on your more "educated" approach to dissent and protest.

I am eager to learn of your proposed tactics.

[TeddyKGB]

18. Beat them at their own game.

Raise more money (which is happening), start a news network to counterbalance Fox News, etc.

Those ideas aren't new; they've been suggested by plenty of liberal think tanks.
The conservative tanks have a 40-year head start on us; it's time to fight fire with fire.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

20. You mean a "far-left, kooky" news network?

[TeddyKGB]

22. Oh, I forgot:

End the use of screaming stealth protests (like on Bill Maher's show) as a debate tactic.
It's embarrassing and counterproductive.

How's that?

[Heidi]

24. If you think a handful of poorly-behaved 9-11 Troofers on Maher's show is representative of the full

spectrum of the progressive movement, you have much to learn. How's that?

[TeddyKGB]

26. Code Pink interrupting Congressional inquests

What good does that serve, other than for their own self-gratification and our collective embarrassment?

[Heidi]

27. Did that incident embarrass you?

Because I believe it was meant to embarrass the folks responsible for funding and otherwise supporting this $hitty war.

[Swamp Rat]

30. How much you wanna bet Cindy Sheehan is next?

:bounce: HAHA!

[TeddyKGB]

33. Did it work?

Those things are cut out of any network coverage of the events, with the exception of it being live on C-SPAN.

And once the room is cleared of the protestors, nothing changes, does it?

[Heidi]

37. Who are you? Mr. Instant Gratification?

Did the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in 1963 immediately eliminate bigotry and guarantee equal rights and equal pay for minorities? No, it did not. Did it raise awareness of those evils in our culture? Yes, it did.

You'll have to make a much better argument than you have so far to convince me that protesting the war is self-defeating. After all, President Kennedy initially discouraged the March on Washington. So, you'll be in good company when you finally admit you're wrong. :)

[TeddyKGB]

38. Because delayed gratification has worked so well.

Results, Heidi.

If you're going to take credit for the end of war (which is on track for what, 2013?), then you'd better be prepared to accept responsibility for what's already occurred.

Still think changing tactics is a bad idea?

[Swamp Rat]

41. "Still think changing tactics is a bad idea?" - Straw Man

Heidi is chock full o'tactics and so are most of us here at DU.

[cornermouse]

42. Volunteering in a soup kitchen isn't going to end the war either.

Starting a news network of our own is expensive and impractical. I doubt we could keep it funded and then there's the feeling of propaganda that comes from a news network that is basically devoted to a political cause. That's why I never watch Fox.

[TeddyKGB]

45. I didn't say I had all the answers, or that they were easy.

Abandoning "gotcha" protests, however, is something that could be done today.

[cornermouse]

53. I don't think so.

Protests are a visible, peaceful reminder that the people are not happy with the administration in power. They're also an encouragement for those of us who can't attend and protest. It reminds us that we're not alone in our dissatisfaction with the way the country is going. Like anything else, they're only part of the picture but they are essential. The rest of it, getting good grassroots candidates, calling and/or writing senators and representatives about your personal disapproval of the policies they are promoting, and above all else voting your conscience completes the rest of the picture.

[John Q. Citizen]

120. And you have taken the first step. You have finally abandoned going to all those

protests you were attending, and finally figured out weren't working?

So what's your next move now?

Are you starting a news networks? Keep us up to date on how it's going, when you will be launching it, and all. Do you have a launch date?

Is it going to be cable or are you going to be on the air waves?

[Heidi]

46. I was about six months old when the March on Washington took place,

so I'm hardly taking credit for it. And don't talk to me about taking responsibility. You don't know me. You don't know my record of community service.

Why do you insist on perpetuating the erroneous meme that protest is the _only_ thing progressives are doing? It's beginning to look as though you're here to discourage DUers from exercising their right to dissent.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Heidi]

51. You'll need to ask the Moderators why your thread was locked.

I am not them.

[TeddyKGB]

58. You mean you won't go to bat for MY right to dissent?

You were just celebrating everyone's else a second ago.

I think I can interpret that as maybe it's not rights you're concerned about.

[Heidi]

61. No, I won't go to bat for your right to call members of this community "kooks"

when the DU rules that we all (including YOU) agreed to upon call for civility. Calling entire groups of DUers "kook" and suggesting that they "have got to go" is not only uncivil, but inflammatory.

In no way is the OP in this thread calling you (or those who share your opinion) names or suggesting that you have "got to go." That's the difference.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules_detailed.html

[Danger Mouse]

80. You didn't just 'dissent' you told about half of the people on DU to shut up.

There's a difference. It was a personal attack. And many of your comments since then have been laced with personal attacks against the progressive movement, which encompasses a hefty share of DUer's.
Which is against DU rules.
Which might give you a clue as to why your thread was locked.

[Swamp Rat]

52. Maybe you should entertain the possibility that you are not listening to people

and have, quite naturally, received an appropriate reaction.

[TeddyKGB]

56. Or, more likely...

...not telling them what they want to hear.

You've done the equivalent of what those protestors do; shout down my every response.
No wonder you defend it.

[Swamp Rat]

59. I have not even begun to shout.

You received a large number of responses and reactions to your recent posting history by a lot of DUers.

Whether you feel put upon or upset by the reaction you received does not preclude the fact that you have not been listening to others the past couple of hours.

Maybe you are trying? :shrug: I cannot tell at this point.

In the end, I'll be happy knowing that you at least voted for a Democrat for president in 2008. :hi:

[Tsiyu]

105. "I have not even begun to shout"

he's not kidding.

Swamp Rat doesn't shout.

If you are so delicate that you believe discourse and discussion are "shouting" when views other than your own are being expressed, you are perhaps in the wrong place.

Calling people "kooks" is worse than shouting. It is demeaning to and dismissive of a lot of good people.

It indicates that the person calling others "kooks" might be judgmental, authoritarian, pompous and divisive.

These traits will not get a person far on DU....just a friendly hint








And hell yeah, the hippies are still right! :cool:

[Quantess]

109. I'm disappointed your thread was locked, too.

It was comedy gold!
Have I told you you remind me of Alex Keaton?

[John Kerry VonErich]

57. The Marches didn't work

The assassinations of 1968 accellerated the ideas. I do believe in protests, but make sure your mindset is on the know that it will never work but by god it will make you feel better:).

[Heidi]

62. "It will never work but by god it will make you feel better"?????

Uh, okay. I don't know of one protester who has ever been made to "feel better" by the possibility of getting pummeled by law enforcement, shot with rubber (or real) bullets or having police dogs set loose on them, though I guess there are some who get a charge out of being arrested for a cause. :shrug:

Seriously, to "feel better" or "vent" maybe one reason to protest, but it's not the only valid one. I think plenty of people do get a charge out of exercising their right to dissent while they still have that right.

[John Kerry VonErich]

63. I meant the vent

sorry for the confussion.

[Mojorabbit]

132. The protests

by the monks in Burma didn't work but they did acheive a purpose in raising awareness. Little by little a critical mass is reached then there is change. I believe in protests and there are huge ones planned for Oct 27 in some major cities. I will be there because along with all the other things I try to do to effect change, I will be once again able to look back and know that I at least tried. I raised my voice. If there is no visible dissent then the ptb feel more comfortable in continuing on their path.

[John Kerry VonErich]

140. But yet how does it always end up?

The monks believe in one thing, 100% they-don't-care-who-you-are nonviolence. It is my guess NATO might have something planned to liberate Burma, which goes against what the monks want it done. There are thing in life we might not have a choice.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

179. JKVE, staying true to form.

:hi: MKJ

[John Kerry VonErich]

200. What's MKJ?

nt

[peacetalksforall]

142. Yes, it's much better to stay home on the couch in front of the screen.

with all due sarcasm

[Ken Burch]

172. Does POLITENESS work? Does following THEIR RULES work?

Doesn't trying those things assume that the other side will play fair?

Do we have to fight on the other side's terms, when those terms are always rigged against us?

There are problems with the way protests have been run, but the answer isn't for self-appointed "mainstream" types to look down on the rest of us from an Olympian height.

[Moochy]

89. And what Is DU providing for you ?

If not an outlet for self-gratification. Maybe the embarrasment part is lost on you but... all good things in time.

[in_cog_ni_to]

155. "INQUESTS?" ROTFLMAO!

Inquest:

A legal hearing held by a coroner concerning the manner of death.


:rofl:

Code Pink is trying to stop the occupation of Iraq. Nothing else has seemed to work! They don't listen to the voters unless you're "IN THEIR FACE." Or haven't you noticed?:eyes:

[dickbearton]

169. Teddy, collective embarrassment, not. You sound like a Republican sycophant...

Or maybe a Republican stooge.

[Swamp Rat]

28. I think we are going to get a succession of straw man posts.

What do you think Heidi?

How are you, by the way? :hug:

[Heidi]

31. I think this is a chance to test your prophetic powers, Swamp Rat!

:rofl:

I'm good. Awfully happy to see you, primarily. :hug:

[Swamp Rat]

25. You mean, limit free speech on TV?

Isn't that what Bushler&Co are doing?

[TeddyKGB]

29. Please don't put words in my mouth.

I'm suggesting that the left should collectively reorganize and agree that this type of protest is counterproductive and pointless.

[Swamp Rat]

35. What do you mean by:

"End the use of screaming stealth protests?" - I did not see the show. I don't have HBO.

What is it about people expressing their anger, peacefully, a right protected by the U.S. Constitutional, that bothers you?

Let's get to the root of the problem.

[TeddyKGB]

36. Do you have YouTube?

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFmqZVUG7Mw

[Swamp Rat]

39. I find Bill Maher's behavior repulsive in that video.

If millions of people saw that, I think this is GREAT!

How often does the topic of HOW 911 HAPPENED, including other theories, besides the government sanctioned one, gets heard?

Yeah, it was private property, and Maher had the right to have them thrown out, but look at the wasted opportunity on Maher's part. He could have used the moment to open up the discussion on the topic while silencing the protesters, by giving them a bone.... whoops! Maher thinks any other theory about building 7 is nuts! That's a good doggie Bill!

[TeddyKGB]

40. Then you're nuts.

I find it very sad that the far left complains about the right's pseudoscience when it comes to evolution and climate change (which they should), yet employs the same tactics when it comes to their own pet project, 9/11 "Truth".

And it IS pseudoscience.

[Swamp Rat]

44. Ad hominem is a very poor debate tactic

Just some advice.

"'their own pet project, 9/11 "Truth"." - Straw man. No one is arguing "who has ownership of the truth." That is a logical fallacy.

"And it IS pseudoscience." - Your opinion about something based on who knows what.

[TeddyKGB]

47. Who knows what

Popular Mechanics, the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission, common sense...

[Swamp Rat]

50. Now you are rambling.

Please, coherent sentences with a clearly stated point.

I like Scientific American; I am interested in ANY 9/11 report; I have read Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" a few times.

[Zodiak]

65. I've got news for you

Popular Mechanics is not science.

Science can be found in peer-reviewed journals....Popular Mechanics is not peer-reviewed.

Oh and neither is the 9-11 Commision report nor your opinion about common sense considered science, either.

[bagrman]

123. Sorry the 9-11 commission was headed by a guy that ran Booshes reelection.

It doesn't even talk about bldg.7.

Latr

[Swamp Rat]

23. Let's do it!!

How about "The Farout Kooky News Network" - FKNN!! :D pronounced like, "ff'ckin'." :evilgrin:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

108. I am soooo in!

We can start by hiring wackos like lala rawraw, autorank, calimary and the like. Wouldn't that be kooky KGB?

[Swamp Rat]

21. Ok, what do you suggest DUers do in order to raise money for starting a news network?

Are you suggesting posters at DU start a TV news network?

Count me in. I'll do some of the graphics.

[acmavm]

54. Beat them at their own game? Like block their legislation, cut off their

funding, keep bringing bills back up again and again, refuse to answer questions?

That would take a spine.

[me b zola]

69. This is for you and the dlc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BDQ6mQzOKQ&mode=related&search=

[lligrd]

115. We Don't Have 40 Years

so you are going to have to come up with some faster moving tactics than that.

And you should quit focusing on the random acts of a few. As long as we have any rights, there will always be people who use them in ways that you do not feel appropriate.

Now lets hear some of your ideas that will show results quickly enough to save our country.

The only one I can think of, is enough people getting pissed off and protesting. Of course, waiting for enough to get pissed off is taking far too long.

[Heidi]

15. I don't want to participate in the continuation of a flamefest,

since your thread has been locked as flamebait.

Here's a tip: if you're genuinely interested in meaningful discourse about the efficacy of protest, you'll make a lot more headway if you don't start with the premise that we're "far left kooks" who need to "get out."

[Luminous Animal]

17. Since the other thread was locked.

Here is my response to your response to me:

It people like you who promote perception over reality. You came here to belittle modern collective action as a tired tactic from the 60s without insisting that it has been an important tool throughout history. You elevate the lone volunteer over protesters as if they are too icky, too dirty fucking hippy, to give respect to. You use your disagreement of the message of these two protesters to belittle and smear the one most effective tactic of progressive change.

I see your point. You are buying into and promoting a lie that keeps most people afraid to take action.

[Quantess]

119. The wisest, truest post yet!

:applause:

[Swamp Rat]

19. You did not "merely asking everyone to consider." You were very rude.

How about an apology?

Then, perhaps, we can start over and DISCUSS why our protests did not stop Bushler from making war.

[H2O Man]

60. To an extent

that is not accidental.

Clever user-names often provide insight.

[unpossibles]

82. did it stop the war? not yet

BUT, it has helped change public opinion of the war, to the point where now a large majority are against it. I think that is an important first step.

Also, in the same vein, educating people and spreading awareness about issues is a very important tool, and I would say perhaps the most important tool for changing the government. One of the biggest problems we have is, as you mention, their propaganda such as Rush and FOX. We should not counter that with more propaganda - not only is it not a good tactic, but would be transparent and open to attack from them; it would just reinforce the idea of "liberal media" and would do us no good.

Instead we need to encourage people of all political stripes to not be lazy with information, to do some looking into anything they hear from Rush before passing it along. We can fight them at their own game without sinking to their level.

Yes, there are a handful of folks who "make us look bad" I suppose, but I'm not sure they are a bad thing.

[monktonman]

127. Still hanging on the fringe there Mr. KGB?

Please never stop posting on DU.
Your the best man!

[me b zola]

68. If you would bother yourself from your throne to participate in a march

...you would understand how ridiculous your thread is..oops...was.:hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

71. I'm a freak show?

Whoda thunk it? Wow.

[burythehatchet]

84. Your opinion is grossly uninformed.

[Vanje]

101. My grey-haired Mom(76) and Dad(WW2 vet)

protested in the streets of Portland, against our entry in Iraq, along with my grey-haired Uncle(WW2 vet) and Aunt.


They are not freaks.
Their activity was not a freak show.

[Warren Stupidity]

160. Yeah, unlike say, the levitation of the pentagon.

Exactly how old are you anyway?

[defendandprotect]

184. Didn't that happen on 9/11 . . .. ????

Cheney did it -- !!!

[LanternWaste]

195. I think the best you can out forth is that...

I think the best you can out forth is that today's protests aren't working quickly enough.

I didn't happen very quickly in the sixties-- the anti-war marches went on longer then than our current anti-war marches have.

I don't know of one anti-war marcher who feels pacified.

The marches were ignored as long as possible in the sixties, longer than they've been ignored in the here and now.

So if that is indeed the point you were trying to make, I think it's the wrong point...

I can understand your frustrations with the conflict-- but that's some pretty unmitigated gall to blame those who are doing what they can.

[stlsaxman]

43. and let's not forget "The ones that didn't sell out think protesting a comedy show is a good idea"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2099480&mesg_id=2099565

So the occupation of Iraq is a "comedy show"??

Let's ask the hundreds of thousands of innocent dead Iraqis how funny they think it is...

Who's supplying the laugh track to your news?

We "dirty hippies" STOPPED the war before and we're gonna do it again.







edited for grammar :hippie:

[Swamp Rat]

48. Right on!!

You hippie kook! :D :hi:

[stlsaxman]

73. yup! that's me!

old hippie kook!

[TahitiNut]

102. Uh-huh...

It's all about you. :eyes:

[in_cog_ni_to]

151. Here, refresh your memory. "Kooks on the far left." ...... "Pot makes you paranoid."

That's right; the hippies are now collecting Social Security.
I'm a yellow dog Democrat, but you kooks on the far left have got to go.

On protesting and "9/11 Truth":

A long time ago, war protestors scared the crap out of Nixon.
Didja notice how Bush & Cheney didn't blink an eye?
It was new and effective in Selma in 1965; now, it's masturbation.

I'm glad it makes YOU feel better that you think you're working for social change, but give me a guy that volunteers at a soup kitchen over a protestor shouting at the top of his lungs and holding a sign. I'm just sorry I wasn't a member of Bill Maher's security; I would've got some real pleasure throwing those assholes to the pavement.

And conspiracy theories?
Pot makes you paranoid.

If you believe for one second that you can keep a secret between 5 people in an age of MySpace and Facebook (or even in 1963, when Kennedy was shot) -- or that you believe Bush or Cheney has demonstrated anywhere near the impossible competency necessary to pull off 9/11, then you're beyond help.

Seriously, go away.
Ever time you open your mouth, a Republican somewhere gets 5 votes.

End rant.

[reggie the dog]

153. yellow dog?

What in the hell is a yellow dog Democrat? Blue Dogs, Yellow dogs, did they open a fucking kennel or something?

[in_cog_ni_to]

154. LOL.......Arf! Arf! Here's an explanation for you:

If the only candidate on the Democratic ticket is an old yellow dog running against a highly regarded Republican, you would vote for the yellow dog. Period.

[reggie the dog]

163. thanks

perhaps we could change it to "freindly dog". I would hate to vote for a mean dog.


My dog reggie is friendly. can he run for seanate from Alaska?

[Quantess]

177. Sure! A chimp can be president.

A dog should be able to run for senate.

[scarletwoman]

8. Yes, we WERE right, we ARE right, and we will CONTINUE to be right. (nt)

[democrank]

11. Yes we were....and still are.

~PEACE~

[Manifestor_of_Light]

32. I explained this to my college kid.

I told her how we wouldn't have stores like Whole Foods, health foods and organic foods being respectable, and casual clothes and long hair on guys being OK in some places, unless the hippies had started growing sprouts and all that stuff.

The mainstream co-opts and dilutes the message, but it still gets out there.

My ancient liberal father told me "Jane Fonda was right about the war". He was an old union organizer.

I'm a third generation Democrat. Grandma voted for FDR and dad voted for Norman Thomas.
When I was young, I didn't have to protest conservative parents, so that saved a lot of energy. They were already against the vietnam war.

The first politician I remember mom griping about was "That Bastard Richard Nixon". That was his full name in our house.

We didn't have pictures of Jesus on the wall. We had pictures of John F. Kennedy.

[Perry Logan]

34. As Mr. Costello says, "What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?"

[stlsaxman]

64. Actually, that's a Nick Lowe song... but perfect nonetheless

"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding"

As I walk through this wicked world,
Searching for light in the darkness of insanity,
I ask myself, Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain, and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know,
What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?

As I walked on through troubled times,
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes,
So where are the strong?,
And who are the trusted?,
And where is the harmony?,
Sweet harmony

'Cause each time I feel it slipping away, just makes me wanna cry,
What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?

Where are the strong?,
And who are the trusted?,
And where is the harmony?,
Sweet harmony

'Cause each time I feel it slipping away, just makes me wanna cry,
What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?

[H2O Man]

55. Wow!

Great OP -- nominated, for sure -- and interesting thread that follows.

I always liked hippies. I was never one, although some people assumed I was, due to length of hair. But I have many friends who were/are hippies, and they are positive energy sources. And some of their children are wonderful social workers and school teachers, etc.

[Thickasabrick]

66. K&R....made my Sunday!! n/t

[malaise]

67. K & R

for the truth.

Imagine!

[JohnnyLib2]

70. Maybe you had to be around in those days, living with a draft number,

to understand. Was, do. Recommended.

[Historic NY]

74. I remember.........

Thank God it ended........I was't a high number either. I still have my card somewhere.

[Wilber_Stool]

77. I got drafted 10 Sept. '69.

Two months later they went to the lottery. My number was 364. And so it goes.

[KG]

72. really, if the loyalists don't the 'far left looneys' around, i'm sure there are other movements and

politcal parties that would welcome their vote and support.

[Warren Stupidity]

161. loyalists ... I'm starting to like that framing.

It is the best description of those who refuse to admit what is going on.

[lonestarnot]

75. Hey.

Right on. :hippie: :smoke: :toast:

[Triana]

76. I haven't looked but that MUST be Morford, right?

I LOVE Mark Morford!

K & R... heheee!

[L. Coyote]

78. NEWSFLASH: The Hippies ARE Right.

And they aren't DEAD dead until the morticians takes their tie-dyes of their cold, lifeless bodies! :rofl:

[randr]

79. I look around and am astounded

The world as it was before the cultural revolution is gone. Our image of the world and our place in it has evolved!
We do have a better environment, better food, a more progressive approach to educating our children, and an active grass roots sense of social responsibility.
One of the tenants of the hippie culture was to "drop out" of the plastic society and recreate one of our own. All over the country there are communities that resonate the with the new-age ideals that grew out of this movement.
The idea that you can change the world by making one neighborhood at a time more beautiful has brought us to where we are now.
However, while the hippies were successful in creating the infrastructural elements-- organic farms, a national health movement, environmental consciousness, progressive schools, et al-- they never successfully entered the political field and have not yet to affect the larger world around us, with the exception of localized environmental issues.
As an elder hipster, I can tell you many of us had hoped this would be our children's' crusade.

[stlsaxman]

87. "One of the tenants of the hippie culture was to "drop out" of the plastic society..."

Plastic People
by Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention

Ladies & Gentlemen . . . the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES!

Mah Fella Americans . . .
He's been sick...
And I think his wife is gonna bring him some chicken soup.

Plastic people
Oh baby, now . . .
You're such a drag

(I know it's hard to defend an
unpopular policy every once in a while . . . )

Plastic people
Oh baby, now
You're such a drag

(And there's this guy from the CIA
and he's creeping around Laurel Canyon . . . )

A fine little girl
She waits for me
She's as plastic
As she can be
She paints her face
With plastic goo
And wrecks her hair
With some shampoo

Plastic people
Oh baby, now
You're such a drag

(I dunno . . . sometimes I just get tired of ya, honey . . .
it's - Ah - your hair spray . . . or something.)

Plastic people
Oh baby!
You're such a drag

(I hear the sound of marching feet . . .
down Sunset Blvd. to Crescent Heights,
and there, at Pandora's Box, we are confronted with . . .
a vast quantity of PLASTIC PEOPLE.)

Take a day
And walk around
Watch the nazis
Run your town
Then go home
And check yourself
You think we're singing
'Bout someone else . . . but you're

Plastic people!
Oh baby, now . . .
You're such a drag

Me see a neon
Moon above
I searched for years
I found no love
I'm sure that love
Will never be
A product of
Plasticity

[toddaa]

100. Careful with Zappa, he had an endless supply of contempt for most hippies

Who Needs The Peace Corps?

What's there to live for?
Who needs the peace corps?
Think I'll just DROP OUT
I'll go to Frisco
Buy a wig & sleep
On Owsley's floor

Walked past the wig store
Danced at the Fillmore
I'm completely stoned
I'm hippy & I'm trippy
I'm a gypsy on my own
I'll stay a week & get the crabs &
Take a bus back home
I'm really just a phony
But forgive me
'Cause I'm stoned

Every town must have a place
Where phony hippies meet
Psychedelic dungeons
Popping up on every street
GO TO SAN FRANCISCO . . .

How I love ya, How I love ya
How I love ya, How I love ya Frisco!
How I love ya, How I love ya
How I love ya, How I love ya
Oh, my hair is getting good in the back!

Every town must have a place
Where phony hippies meet
Psychedelic dungeons
Popping up on every street
GO TO SAN FRANCISCO . . .

Hotcha!

First I'll buy some beads
And then perhaps a leather band
To go around my head
Some feathers and bells
And a book of Indian lore
I will ask the Chamber Of Commerce
How to get to Haight Street
And smoke an awful lot of dope
I will wander around barefoot
I will have a psychedelic gleam in my eye at all times
I will love everyone
I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me on the street
I will sleep . . .
I will, I will go to a house
That's, that's what I will do
I will go to a house
Where there's a rock & roll band
'Cause the groups all live together
And I will join a rock & roll band
I will be their road manager
And I will stay there with them
And I will get the crabs
But I won't care
Because . . .

[Cetacea]

128. I think that song was aimed at fake hippies

The rest "We're Only In it for the Money" was a jab at fascism, police brutality, and other areas that sound as relevant now as when the album was released. Not a big Zappa fan, but this one was probably his best.

'In the The Penal Colony is still absolutely scary, especially in light of Guantanamo et al..

[toddaa]

130. Perhaps, but as a devout Zappaphile, I've never come across anything but scorn for hippies

He was merciless in his ridicule of the San Francisco scene. Frank's politics were strange and he had an authoritarian bent that rubbed a lot of the musicians he hired the wrong way. One thing's for sure, he was far from a left wing progressive.

[Cetacea]

141. I agree.

I like that particular album, but I don't like Zappa per se.

[randr]

170. Frank played the San Franciso clubs

such as the Avalon and Filmore in the day.
I personally smoked a few with the man and I certainly felt no contempt.

[cornermouse]

81. Non Sequitur. Then again, maybe not.

The Rose

Some say love it is a river that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose

[burythehatchet]

83. liberals are always right.

[eileen fleming]

85. YIPPIES

In 1968 Chicago Abbie Hoffman spoke to the children of the '60's who had planned on spending the night in a city park after their long day of 'lobbying' at the Democratic Convention.

Mayor Daly sent word to Abbie that the multitudes were not welcome in his park and the cops were on the way in.

Before the Chicago mob with badges clobbered the heads of the children of the '60's, Abbie stood at a microphone and quoted Christ:

"I send you out like little lambs into a wolves den. Remain as harmless as doves and cunning as snakes."

If the doves had consulted Webster's, they first would have had a laugh at the two words cunning is sandwiched between.

Then they would have learned that cunning means one must be skillful, clever, sly, crafty, and do things with skill and ingenuity. To be cunning is to be attractive; cute and cleverly proficient.

The doves lacked cunning and thus got there heads clobbered in and many hippies were transformed into yippies; the requirement being baptism via billy-clubs.

Nothing has changed much since 1968, for power continues to resort to violence and nonviolent resistance takes cunning.



Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor
Http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu."

[ThePowerofWill]

86. The Hippies had a few things right, not near everything though.

Free love? Nope, wrong, made way to many lil' hippie children that no one really wanted, and transfer of std's.

Overuse of psychedelics? Nope, wrong shit rots your brain after so long.

Lack of bathing? nope, who wants to smell like feet, and ass all the time?

Peace and love? Nope, pacifists always get their ass kicked in in the end.

[cornermouse]

88. bye bye.

:nuke:

[onehandle]

90. Those were the Hippies in Life magazine and Scooby Doo.

Try cracking open a book for a change.

[Heidi]

92. Shaggy wasn't dirty!!!!

He was just drawn that way. :P

[Cetacea]

129. Exactly. n/t

[KG]

95. hey, Neidermeyer! i thought got fragged in VN?!

[devilgrrl]

97. You watch too much television

Never mind that you've just described the current conservative base to a tee.

[Name removed]

98. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[conscious evolution]

189. This Georgia hippy has a well available

The local hippies will be the only ones in Atl who DON"T smell!!!

HaHaHa!!

Actually we will probable be giving out water to the surrounding neighborhood so don't hold me to that.

[H2O Man]

112. The hippies' champion

was Muhammad Ali. The champ always loved the hippies. He was a pacifist, and refused the draft on religious grounds. Old Uncle Sam looked far and wide for someone to "kick his ass," but Ali was and is The Greatest! Ha!

[Kali]

114. can't we all eat the pizza together now?

cumBYE-ya, baby

[ingac70]

135. feet and ass?

So why do I get told that I smell like a hippy when I bathe with patchouli or sandalwood soap?

The assholes that spout "hippies smell" need to pick one of the theories as to why hippies "smell", either the stuff they supposedly bathe in or their supposed lack of bathing, and stick with it.

And they also need to decide whether hippies are the cause of unwanted children or abortion. I mean, the "free love" movement came on the tail of the birth control pill.

[stlsaxman]

144. What are you- Twelve?

no way in hell you could have been there.

Free love? yup! my sisters in the sexual revolution were right there with my brothers and one thing that came with that new freedom was learning to respect ourselves and others. We had birth control, back then. We used it, too. And how do you fuckin' know the children we did have weren't wanted?!?! There was always a shot of penicillin to cure the std...

I know LOTS of folk that used plenty of psychedelics. Their brains are much more active than yours, pal! And far more open, i might add.

I always bathed! All my friends always bathed. We wore old clothes but they were always clean.

Peace and love? you bet! pacifists always had both peace AND love, until of course, violent assholes that were jealous of us hippies getting laid all the time had to prove their "manliness" by kicking a hippy's ass.

... okay i'm done preaching- now go away.

[reggie the dog]

156. what

planet do you live on?

free love just means recreational sex, not unwanted pregnancy, CONTRACEPTIVES exist

psychedelics are fine, alcohol is worse for your brain in the long term than cannabis

Lack of bathing???well bathe if you can. Most old hippies I know had nothing against a bath in their youth.

Peace and love, you say pacifists always get their ass kicked in the end.

What about Ghandi, too obvious??? The Orange Revolution in the Ukraine?????

You are going to have to do much better than that around here.

[Webster Green]

176. Stereotype much?

Holy Shit! What a simplistic, dumbass view of what the hippies were all about.

Get a clue!

[D23MIURG23]

180. 93.

Welcome to the DU.

[Name removed]

192. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[devilgrrl]

194. Go take a shower - you smell like ass!

Jock!

[LanternWaste]

197. Wow...

"Free love? Nope, wrong, made way to many lil' hippie children that no one really wanted, and transfer of std's."

How many little hippie children? Numbers, statistics...? Any peer-reviewed articles about demographic shifts due to "little hippie children"?

"Overuse of psychedelics? Nope, wrong shit rots your brain after so long."

Same with beer-- same song, different day.


Lack of bathing? nope, who wants to smell like feet, and ass all the time?
I go camping a lot-- we'd laugh at you, little guy.


Peace and love? Nope, pacifists always get their ass kicked in in the end.
Yet the messages of Jesus and Gandhi still endure....


Put down the six-pack of Pabst, and turn off Judge Judy. There's a LOT of books out there!!!

[Iris]

205. Excellent response!

Wanted to respond in a similar way but couldn't have done it better than this!

Thanks!

[Fly by night]

91. Thanks, Gary. We hippies are STILL right. A tribute to the "back to the landers" who still sustain.

Although it's harder to grow hair on my head than on my back these days, the world view and vibe remain in my heart and under my feet. Thank the Goddess.

I am typing this from my cabin on a farm that I bought (with five partners) back in the heyday of the "back to the land" movement -- 1969-70. We bought a house and 27 acres for $3,000 back then and, two years later, added another 120 acres for $10,000. Bought the land with a life estate agreement with the old couple who lived here before us, and enjoyed seeing Miz Kelly live to be almost 99 years old. Slept under one of her hand-stitched quilts again last night -- her Dresden Plate design -- that she sold me for $10. I was always her "tent boy" since I lived in a tent under a spreading black walnut tree by the creek one summer out here. (I still remember her introducing me to other granny-women, her fellow midwives out here, with the words, "I want you to meet 'tent boy'. He's good people.")

Although my other partners wandered away and sold out their interests in the farm to me over the years, my heart has always remained here. Wrapped in the quiet beauty of fourteen ridges and thirteen valleys, four creeks and a waterfall, no neighbors in sight or within shouting distance (but available in a heart-beat if I need them, or they need me.) And because my body lingered also, I was able to trade some hippie sensi-bility and appreciation for the learning of lots of farming and basic survival skills, passed down from the loggers and moonshiners around here to a new generation of us who had arrived with differently fueled "illegal smiles".

Instead of isolating ourselves and working only on our own farms, my other hippie neighbors and I proved our worth (and our commitment to community) by helping our older neighbors get their square bales into the barn on stormy summer days, by building and renovating our little town's square and community center and then by taking the stage together in those homemade venues to sway to the beat of bluegrass and blues. For all of our Democratic ideals and voting histories, we were accepted locally not only by the many "yellow dog" neighbors out here but by everyone here who knew that -- at heart -- we were deeply committed conservatives too. Working to conserve clean water and air, working to conserve extended families and welcoming communities, working to conserve the "commons" within which all voices were welcome, working to conserve our community schools, working to support those elders whose children had abandoned this way of life and moved to the cities, working to conserve the Native folk wisdom embodied in our home-grown pain medicine (and mood-altering antidote to the depression of serious illness and old age) that our Goddess had bestowed. (Magic seeds don't grow beans, but they sure make beans and fried 'taters taste better.)

This morning, almost forty years later, I awoke in the same cabin, now equipped with indoor plumbing and the internet, prepared to spend my day planting late fall greens and annual ryegrass as a cover crop in my four decade organic garden and to go "deadhead" the zinnias in the little town square's flower beds that I still tend. While there, I might stop by my town's only diner to share a moment with the elders and the other balding hippies (now considered elders out here too), trading words of thanks for an autumn that has finally arrived and the much-needed rains that brought it here. I will take note of the framed copy of a cover story about me ("Marijuana Martyr" -- www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Cover_Story/2007/04/26/Marijuana_Martyr/index.shtml ) that the diner owner has placed prominently on the wall (next to the pictures of our local church groups and high school basketball teams) to welcome me home from my 18 month stint in a federal Bureau of Prisons halfway house. (She tells me that framed cover story will never leave her wall, in partial thanks for the help I gave her husband before he died.) And if I have the energy left as the sun sets behind my western ridge at 4:00 pm, I will drive north to the outskirts of Nashville to sit in a circle of other Tenase hippies gathered to hear wisdom from three elders from within our midst, and to share the fruits of our fall gardens (me bringing homemade pumpkin pecan bread).

Yes, the hippie ethos is alive and well in Fly Holler, TN this cool autumn morning. We've known all this time that, truly, "it is all good". Good enough to conserve, good enough to share, good enough to cherish, good enough to work hard to hold on to. Good enough to give away.

Peace out.

[H2O Man]

96. Years ago,

the house I now call "home" was inhabited by a group that would fit the description of "commune." There were lots of adults in relationships that I never felt the need to define, and many happy and intelligent children. I used to stop by for a variety of reasons, all good and legal, that ranged from playing board games to exchanging books. Also, some of the women provided a progressive day care service, while other adults worked in a land-scaping service.

I'm still in touch with some of them. If I have a question about the care of certain trees, the young adults are happy to provide free advice. If I'm in need of a certain book, I can go to the local state university and find a friendly face who will help me.

[Heidi]

99. Thank you for standing strong, fly by night.

And thank you for this post. :hug:

[burythehatchet]

103. I could smell the air in your valley when I read that

Thanks. Your model is the future, the very distant future. The world will eventually come around. The natives essentially had it right. Unfortunately it might take an apocolyptic event to convert the most hardheaded among us.

[Mrs. Overall]

107. Great Post! Thanks!

[Ghost in the Machine]

116. Here's what else hippies can do:

What is the Farm?
A: The Farm community is a cooperative enterprise of families and friends living on three square miles in southern middle Tennessee. We started the Farm in the hope of establishing a strongly cohesive, outwardly-directed community, a base from which we could, by action and example, have a positive effect on the world as a whole.

The Farm is a human scale, full featured settlement founded by Stephen Gaskin, and 320 San Francisco hippies in 1971 as an experiment in sustainable, developmentally progressive human habitat. Being 'full featured,' it has all of the usual implements of village life--grocery store, medical clinic, filling station, schools, water systems, pharmacy, post office, cemetery, and scores of businesses and residences. Being 'sustainable,' it attempts--in all aspects--to harmlessly integrate human activities into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. Being 'developmentally progressive,' it has a history of constantly pushing the envelope of what is economically feasible or even possible. While failures are an integral part of the experimental process, The Farm's successes are numerous and dramatic.

Among ourselves we try to use agreement and mutual respect to generate a friendly working environment. We recognize that there are many paths toward realizing personal ideals and that people have a wide range of individual social values, but as a group, we do not accept the use of violence, anger or intimidation for solving problems. The fabric of our community is created by our friendship and respect for one another, and for our land. The institutions we have developed to organize our community have changed over the years and will probably change more. The Farm is not really what we are doing--it is how we are currently doing it. It is a process, rather than an end-result.

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Where is the Farm?
The Farm was settled near Summertown on 1750 acres of rolling hilltops in the poorest county in rural Tennessee. It is 30 miles from the nearest hospital, 50 miles from the nearest interstate highway, and 75 miles from the nearest major city. It is also 35 miles from the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. The early community settlement was built entirely from salvaged, recycled and local materials. A $1 road grader cut the roads. A $1 railroad tower provided the public water supply. Scrapped schoolbuses and army tents provided shelter from below-zero temperatures until the sawmill could begin milling native oak and salvage crews could harvest old tobacco barns, factories, and condemned houses. On a budget of $1 per person per day and no grants, no food stamps, and no welfare, the 320 original settlers bought the land, erected the buildings, and became agriculturally self-sufficient within 4 years.

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Why Tennessee?
In the mid - 1960s, many people went through a cultural change that took them away from their roots and cast them adrift, searching for something better. Disillusioned by the Vietnam War, disturbed by increasing violence and injustice in the nation, encouraged by the successes of the Civil Rights and other movements, and empowered by the strength of their numbers, many gravitated toward the West Coast, looking for alternatives. A hysterical nation reacted to the Hippies by pursuing them in their homes and workplaces and locking them up in prison, where many remain today. In 1970, a caravan of more than 300 of us left California to start an experimental community where our ideals could find expression in our daily lives. At $70 an acre, Tennessee gave us access to a large amount of land at an affordable price.

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What are our religious beliefs?
The Farm is a nondenominational church. We like to call ourselves 'free thinkers,' because we discuss religion and philosophy in terms that do not exclude any possibilities. People come to the Farm from a variety of religious traditions and disciplines and find those views treated with honor and respect. While individual practices may vary, our group practice is an on-going, free-ranging discussion. We consider ourselves to be a spiritual community. In keeping with our deep reverence for life, we are pacifists, conscientious objectors, and most of us are vegetarians. On Sunday mornings many of us like to gather for group meditation and church services out in the meadow.

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How is the community managed?
All members of The Farm are expected to contribute to the financial upkeep of the community through their earnings. Since our community operates like a small town, it has some of the same needs. We maintain our own roads, municipal buildings, and public water system. Community policies are arbitrated and implemented through an elected board. Important questions are discussed at town meetings and decided by community votes. We don't always reach complete consensus, but we generally try to have a high level of agreement in everything we decide.

http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/About%20Us/6`FAQ.aspx

[L. Coyote]

118. Thanks for this. They "still come out of the woods" every year at the Oregon Country Fair

Oregon Country Fair 2007
http://jqjacobs.net/photos/fair/index.html

[Bennyboy]

126. String Cheese Incident has a great song about the OCF....

"Shantytown"....

[Peregrine Took]

121. What a story! Are they still after your farm? Can I send a donation?

[Fly by night]

122. Yes they are. And yes you can. Thanks kindly.

Go to www.saveberniesfarm.com and click on "donate".

Thanks for the thought and for the help.

If we never stop fighting, we cannot lose.

[Terri S]

131. You got it!

This may be a silly question, but have you contacted people like the MPP? link ... people like Bill Maher, Willie Nelson, Montel Williams, etc... who have been really vocal about medical marijuana?

I just shake my head when I read this kind of thing..one of the thousands of things I will never understand in this twilight zone world..

:hug:

[Fly by night]

133. MPP is doing a documentary on my case. They'll be here next weekend.

In addition to MPP, NORML, Americans for Safe Access, Cannabis Consumers Campaign, November Coalition, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and many other organizations that favor cannabis liberation have been very supportive. I definitely appreciate all the support.

I also appreciated the TN legislature allowing me to speak in favor of re-establishing our state's medical cannabis program, a successful program that was disbanded in '92 when the first Bushitler cut off access to the fed's pot farm product for AIDS and cancer patients here (and in all other states).

[Terri S]

125. This may be the best post I've ever read here!

Makes my heart smile to know that a kindred heart beats in Fly Holler, TN. What a wonderful story. Wish I could be there to share the beauty and the pumkin pecan bread.

[zalinda]

137. Great place, I wished I had gone that route

but, being a girl, back in those times, it was a little harder to strike out on your own. Instead, I'm living in the city, which I hate and dancing as fast as I can for money for a roof over my head. I'd love to be quilting or knitting for charity all day, but alas, the fates didn't have that in store for me.

I hope everything works out for you.

zalinda

[malaise]

158. That's a great post

What a great life. :D

[reggie the dog]

159. it is an honor

to post on the same board as you. I had read about your story before. Hats off to you. It appeared to me from that that you convinced a whole town about the merits of cannabis, and from reading what you now seem to have rubbed off more than just that out in your neck of the woods. This other person posting is just a hater that hates what you and folks like you have done to the USA. I, on the other hand, am profoundly greatful. Peace from an 28 year old gen xer.

[Le Taz Hot]

93. Whadd'ya mean

WERE right? We still are! :hippie: :smoke:

K & R

[cooolandrew]

94. Fear prohibits the flow of who we really are. "Go with the flow man!"

[burythehatchet]

104. Remember the debate about whether to invest in nuclear power

hippies asked where the waste was going to go.

[MsMagnificent]

106. I can't think of anything the hippies got wrong

And all they get is disparagement. All they are, now, is mocked.
(Just like any American recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.)

Well, guess what? The next generation is going to be a hippie generation
--if just to irk their hippie-hating parents! :)

Mark my words.

& I can't wait!

[reggie the dog]

162. gen x

had a lot of points in common with the hippies, we hated Reagans America and the economy we inherited so many of us "dropped out" or looked for alternative ways to do things, run businesses etc. We rebelled against Reagan's just say no, and Reagan's greed, as well as Reagan's straight laced fashion style.

[Jolly Sapper]

111. I don't think it matters much...

whether protests work, all by themselves, to create a change. So long as you tried to do what you think is right, for the right reasons. Just because somebody wants to do the right thing doesn't mean that they will succeed. Then again, just because the hippy dippy tree huggers didn't see an immediate change in how the nation worked doesn't mean that the ideas the hippy dippy tree huggers had were wrong (or even failed). Some things take time..

Good article by the way, as someone who went from not thinking too much about all of those "hippy" things to living on 60 acres with the wifey slowly turning the place into a working farm, it seems to have pointed out a nice change of events.

[Beam Me Up]

113. Old Hippie Here

Exposing US fascism since 1966.

[John Q. Citizen]

124. Hippies Saved this country once and we''ll do it again. It's just in our nature.

In fact, i am so inspired by this post, Fly by Night's post, and Yoko Ono's imagine peace tower, that I'm going to attempt to change my avatar today from the upside down flag distress symbol to something more hopeful and positive.

It's a good day to reflect on the successes of the hippie movement, and to imagine our future challenges and opportunities to create something beautiful.

edited to add- By the way, my mother, who was sort of a Bohemian in her own way, but never saw herself as a hippie in the slightest once said - "I will always be grateful to the hippies; They made it alright for me to not have to put my hair up in curlers before heading down town."

and a more concise and heartfelt tribute to hippies I've rarely heard. I think that kind of sums it up in an almost poetic way.

[Blue_In_AK]

134. Boy, can I relate to your mother!

I naturally have very straight hair, and all through high school I struggled mightily to get that Sandra Dee flip look, which was next to impossible in hot, humid Houston. The torturous brush rollers, the lung-shriveling hairspray. It was so liberating to finally be able to "let my hair down" -- both literally and figuratively.

I'll be a hippie til I die. :hippie:

[John Kerry VonErich]

136. The hippie mentallity, unfortunately, is a dead cause

for 2 opinionated reasons

1. Now a days the movement is outright ignored. What was once peaceful group was taken over by anarchists when it comes to fighting the establishment, tired of being ignored and looked down upon.

2. IMO, Charles Manson was the beginning of the end for the movement

[Quantess]

138. The OP is a response to this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2099480

[John Kerry VonErich]

139. Didn't know that

sorry about that

[Iris]

206. I don't know about that. Recently read "Sleeping Where I Fall" by Peter Coyote.

Gave it to dh to read and we are both rethinking the way we approach life. Or, rather, I should say re-embracing our approach to life as we had many mentors along the way who embraced and live the life.

[Neoma]

143. You mean 'Hippies ARE right'.

I'm hip, I'm cool.

[bluerum]

145. Democratic national convention, Chicago, 1968. They took a licking

and kept on ticking.

Those were crazy times.

No one could accuse the Chicago cops of discrimination. They savagely attacked hippies, yippies, New Leftists, revolutionaries, dissident Democrats, newsmen, photographers, passers-by, clergymen and at least one cripple. Winston Churchill's journalist grandson got roughed up. Playboy's Hugh Hefner took a whack on the backside. The police even victimized a member of the British Parliament, Mrs. Anne Kerr, a vacationing Labourite who was Maced outside the Conrad Hilton and hustled off to the lockup."

Wikipedia entry,,,

[EVDebs]

167. 1970 YIPPIES invaded Disneyland and the Chicken'OTheSea pirate ship

and put up a giant "Free Mickey Mouse" banner.

I was 16 at that time and was laughing my ass off. Crazy times indeed. If anyone has a jpeg of that event could they please post it ? BTW, here's a news story of that timeperiod,

Heave-ho: Will pirates take over Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2003292457_webdisney06.html

[earth mom]

146. I was too young to be a hippie, but I believed in their ideals & am glad to see em around DU today!

I still BELIEVE.

:hippie:

NGU!

[in_cog_ni_to]

147. I love this article. Morford is so spot on.

<snip>these commercial cretins should instead buy some karma credits from the former hippies themselves. You know, from those who've been working for the health of the planet, quite thanklessly, for the past 50 years and who have, as a result, built up quite a storehouse of good karma. You think?<snip>

It was, always and forever, about connectedness. It was about how we are all in this together. It was about resisting the status quo and fighting tyrannical corporate/political power and it was about opening your consciousness and seeing new possibilities of how we can all live with something resembling actual respect for the planet, for alternative cultures, for each other. You know, all that typical hippie crap no one believes in anymore. Right?

Thanks for posting this. It's seems as though a couple of people needed a history lesson.

[Terri S]

148. :)

:hi:

[codjh9]

149. Yep, that's pretty much the truth, while the Right thinks the 60's were the worst decade of the 20th

century.

[omega minimo]

150. NEWSFLASH: The Punks Were Right. Still Are. Didn't Go To Sleep Like The Hippies/Yuppies

(Real hippies like Fly By Night excepted... there are some who continued to live their values)



Morford is a good writer and a satirist, always worth reading his pieces from start to finish.



"Of course, true hippie values mean you're not really supposed to care about or attach to any of this, you don't give a damn for the hollow ego stroke of being right all along, for slapping the culture upside the head and saying, See? Do you see? It was never about the long hair and the folk music and Woodstock and taking so much acid you see Jesus and Shiva and Buddha tongue kissing in a hammock on the Dog Star, nimrods.

"It was, always and forever, about connectedness. It was about how we are all in this together. It was about resisting the status quo and fighting tyrannical corporate/political power and it was about opening your consciousness and seeing new possibilities of how we can all live with something resembling actual respect for the planet, for alternative cultures, for each other. You know, all that typical hippie crap no one believes in anymore. Right?"



If any "old hippies" want to claim they have been "right all along" -- and not just "right" back before they tuned out and sold out, then they will have been active these 2+ decades "resisting the status quo and fighting tyrannical corporate/political power and it was about opening your consciousness and seeing new possibilities of how we can all live with something resembling actual respect for the planet, for alternative cultures, for each other."

[BrklynLiberal]

152. Morford hits another homerun.

[roxnev]

164. Beside Idiots

Who ever said you was wrong

[truedelphi]

166. Google "EcoWatts" and learn that an entire division of government

Over in Britain is considering this technology to use in supplying energy to the low income fakmilies that qualify. (In Great Britain, the government assumes the burden of paying for the poor's energy useage - and therefore they want to find a low cost alternative)

Through a system of heating coils (As I understand it) this technology gives off one and a half to two times the amount of energy that is supplied to it. No One really knows how it works, though there is specualtion in the scientific community that it works through the arrangement and collision of sub-atomic Hydrogen particles - a part of the new physcis that science is still trying to frame into a logical model.

Others, of course, speculate that it doesn't worka t all.

But, as the saying goes, only time will tell.

[orpupilofnature57]

168. What da ya mean "Were" right?

[NMMNG]

171. They still are!

:thumbsup:

[RoccoR5955]

173. For once...

Some acknowledgment that I have been correct all these years.
As a long time hippie, I can tell you that our decisions way back when were well thought. Yes we were stoned a good part of the time, but we could still use our heads for more than something to grow hair on.
Our strength is in our diversity, and drawing from the beliefs of cultures from all over the planet (and some from other planets as well). We embrace these values, customs, beliefs, technologies, as well as anything else we deem thoughtful, and take them as part of our own crazy rainbow quilt of culture we call "counter-culture." The key is self sufficiency, treading lightly on our only planet, and giving back to the community. I thought that those of us who did not sell out, and remained out of the mainstream, would have an effect on it.

I worked for the local regional food co-op warehouse for quite some time. When we went out of business, it was because people could find the things that we sold, in the mainstream. We accomplished half of our 'mission,' which was to show people that there was good food that was not processed, and mass produced. That food without preservatives and chemicals was, in fact, better for us.

The half that we failed at, though not completely, was getting them to buy their food in bulk, as a group, as a community. In some areas food co-ops thrive, but in others they have gone by the wayside, for the big box store, which provides some assortment of healthy products for people to choose from. I say that this part was not completely a failure because I am seeing community serviced agriculture come in and provide seasonal, local food to people, at a fraction of the cost for comparable organic vegetables in the local market. This gives me some hope that some of us are moving in the right direction as a society, and we may get it correct eventually, if it's not too late to take care of our Mother Earth...


Maybe I can get out of this darn depression yet, who knows?

[orpupilofnature57]

178. Your Absolutely Cool ,and don't worry about that depression ,it's good sense.

Coop mentality was infiltrated by Narcissistic Fibrosis and general Yuppie-dom, designer mentality.

[L0oniX]

174. I am right? Ok I lived on Hate street just 2 blocks up the hill from Ashberry.

[TechBear_Seattle]

181. The only pity is that it has taken 35+ years

Imagine if Hippie believes had become so mainstream back in the 60s.

[conscious evolution]

190. True movements of the people take time

Like the acorn takes decades to become a large oak tree conscious evolutions in society takes time.


to add: Who here thinks it is time for another summer of love?

[defendandprotect]

183. And they're still changing minds for the better -- Unfortunately . . ..

the few elite suicidal among us still lead in destruction --
destroy, destroy, destroy ---

But -- cheers to the Hippies -- !!!

Thank you!!!

[BigBearJohn]

185. Agree 100%

[DemReadingDU]

188. morning kick

This is my daughter, she is only in her 30's, but she has always been a hippie.

[carly denise pt deux]

191. I am so glad to see this article, let your peace flag fly!

I was a hippy from birth, then the 90's hit and I spent a small amount of time trying to be a plastic urban soccer mom, it just didn't work out for me, so I went back to my roots and am feeling much better.
Carly

[SupplySideLiberal]

193. As an old hippie

who doesn't look like one on the outside but still feels like one on the inside, I think we got some big things right, and some big things wrong.

Forget consumerism, love your brothers and sisters if you want to be happy, things can't do that for you. I think we got that right. But primitivism is pointless. Why not enjoy the internet and other comforts that are harmless and make life easier?

God is love and God is within you. But LSD and other drugs don't work long-term to make that real and they are bad for your health. Yoga and meditation, yes! Narrow-minded cults and dogmatic religion, no.

Everybody having enough is more important than having a big pile of gold for myself. We got that right. But I humbly think socialism has proven to be a bust. Economic growth is the key (please don't hate me!).

Beans and rice and veggies are better for you than animal corpses and corporate fake food. Medical science is vindicating that big time. But be careful to eat a balanced diet (many of us didn't back then).

Speed kills. A new generation is relearning that sad lesson.

Rock and roll will never die! At least it's not dead yet.

Every human has equal dignity. Forget about color, or, rather, celebrate all the colors and all the cultures.

The heads, called hippies by the media and later ourselves, did get a lot of things right!

[Blue_Tires]

196. ttt

[defendandprotect]

209. They're timing was also right for the enlightenment they were trying to bring ---

it was probably our last best opportunity to respond to Global Warming --

and pollution of the planet -- overpopulation ---