hippie paper

Hippies, Vietnam, and the Anti war culture.

In 1959, the United States went to war with Vietnam. This was a war without distinct battle lines or fixed objectives, which made the traditional concepts of victory and defeat, become blurry. Many people became upset about what happened and took a decidedly peaceful stance on this war. They eventually earned the name “hippies”. As a result of the displeasure with the Vietnam War, the hippie culture has impacted music, movies and TV shows during the 1960s and 1970s.
The Vietnam War angered some of the nation, because it was a very long war, most people thought it was unnecessary. When the U.S went to Vietnam, we had a huge investment of blood and money, a lot of soldiers fought in this war and we spent a lot of money on it. But we could not achieve our goals of; the liberation of all occupied countries and colonies from the Cold War. It tore the nation apart.
Politics played a huge role in the Hippies’ lives. Having strong feelings that the Vietnam War was very unnecessary, and had mixed feelings on the Civil Rights Movement, the Hippies made their beliefs of peace, love and happiness and more known to the world. They did this in many ways including musical shows, pacifist folk songs, and through peaceful sit ins. But none of their actions were more seen and heard of than their protests and rallies. They put together a protest larger then ever before. Once organized not just hippies came, but students, intellectuals, radicals, and citizens of all classes took part in it. This protest was held in Washington D.C around 1969 in the heart of the country. 250,000 protesters gathered for one common goal. They wanted their troops to come back home and for the United States involvement in the war to be ended.
On November 5th 1966 in New York City there was a walk for Love and Peace and Freedom over 10,000 people showed up. They showed their dislike for the war using their anti war protests and leaflets, anything they could do they would do it.
All hippies were young 15-25 years old. They left their families and did it for many different reasons. Some rejected their parents’ ideas, some just wanted to get away, and others simply were outcasts who could only fit in with the Hippie population. Most Hippies came from wealthy middle class families.
There were counter-cultures before the Hippies were named that. The Bohemians started in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. They were artists, writers, musicians, and others who had not found their spot in conventional society. But because Bohemians lived in their own little areas, the middle class did not see too much of these types of people but those they did not know, they did not like. The middle class looked down on them because they were “lazy and immoral” the dislike was mutual. The poets and the painters, for the most part, did not care who approved of their lifestyle. The other counter-culture arose in 1948, John Clellon Holmes, a novelist, and Jack Kerovac, a poet, came up with the term “beat generation” to distinguish themselves from the Lost Generation of the 1920s. The phrase became famous when the New York Times Magazine published an article by Holmes named “This Is the Beat Generation”. Like all bohemians before them, the beatniks, as they were commonly called, were a small group of struggling writers, artists, musicians, and malcontents. Though few of them left their mark in history, they began a new trend that would evolve into the hippies of the 60s and beyond. They were famous for both their controversial work, be it their music, poetry or artwork and their lifestyles; they were promiscuous and were quite willing to experiment with drugs. But more than anything else they offended middle-class values because they seemed to live happily without the stresses of day jobs. Some didn’t have jobs, but the ones who did didn’t take their jobs so seriously.
Hippies did not pick their name, Michael Fallon, a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, wrote a story in 1965 about a new bohemian lifestyle. He got that name by shortening Norman Mailer’s term “hipster” and applied it to the second generation who moved into the Haight Ashbury district from North Beach. Though hippies only worked a little, they still had a little amount of money, most spent it on drugs like; marijuana and LSD. In which the hippie lifestyle included a lot of. Most hippies used these drugs to get away from their every day living for a little while. Be it family issues, or just life in general, drug trips helped them get away from the “real” world and move on to a complete other world where everything is ok, and will just get better.

Another big part of the hippie lifestyle was the press. The underground press was written by hippies so of course it would support the protests. It wrote about music, advertised (and staged) rock concerts. They let the hippie community know where to find free, or cheap food, clothing, medical care, and the best head shops (places to buy pipes, rolling papers, and other drug paraphernalia). They also wrote about sex, drugs, and religion. Hippies have appeared in movies like Dazed and Confused, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Hippies started to like music more when they smoked marijuana, it was more meaningful.
A second part of the hippie lifestyle was their music. They used music in many different ways, like storytelling, being peaceful, and even during protests. Music was a part in the drugs as well. Many big musicians were around during this time like; Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin to name a few. Many of these musicians made it into the media.
Hippies have left a lasting impression on American society. Many of their beliefs are believed today, even though now not so many people act on their political, and other feelings. We still have a war going on now, which angers people. As a result of the displeasure with the Vietnam War, the hippie culture has impacted music, movies and TV shows during the 1960s- the1970s and even today.