The Hippy movement was called the counterculture because it rejected the prevailing social norms. It succeeded as a cultural revolution, but not as a political one. We failed to overturn the power structure (this was not everyone's goal). When we tried to field a presidential candidate, George McGovern, we learned the futility of working within the system and playing by their rules. 

Culturally we swept away the social mores of the previous generations. We experimented with alternative lifestyles, using our own inner guideposts of Love, Peace and Understanding to light the way. Anything that conflicted with these dearly held beliefs was rejected. 

We liberated both sex and love from conventional stereotypes and found their deeper meaning, as the way to connect with the universal energy. We focused everyone's attention on the environment, showing how centuries of human abuse had taken their toll. We redefined the meaning of peace on an individual and collective basis. How peace within and peace without are tied together. We discovered that what's in your heart influences the state of affairs around you. 

We learned activism and organized and demonstrated against the Vietnam War, and the inequities and hypocrisies of our system. We stood up to abuse, whether verbal, physical or emotional to get our points across. Many of us put our futures in jeopardy to prevent others from having to go to war. 

We highlighted the abuses of government, corporate greed and problems inherent in the system, which led to many regulations now in effect to protect individual and environmental rights. We started the health craze by examining our lifestyles and our unhealthy consumption patterns. We pioneered healthy alternatives and living with nature rather than destroying it. 

We expanded our minds and in doing so we cast off the shackles of social conformity. We, each and every hippy, by our vivid existence, stood as examples of freedom which threatened and still threatens the conservative social fabric of America. 

Our art, music and literature stand above the garbage produced by the more recent mass consumer culture. Those achievements stand as a testament to the exceptional creativity, and innovative thinking that flows from free minds. 

Being a hippie is much more difficult and demanding than conforming to society's dictates. A hippie accepts a higher level of social, ecological, ethical and moral responsibility than most people are willing to accept. Unfortunately, this often puts us at odds with the system. Our consciences won't allow us to follow along like sheep. If we must, we will rebel again and again. 

We haven't all overdosed or sold out to the system. We exist on the edge of society, awaiting the call of a new generation to lead the charge. Many of us are in the system, dormant agents ready to awaken and do what is required. New parts of this system (The Internet is one) are our creation. We are already using them to our advantage. 

We are ready, willing and able to lead other generations in the good fight to transform our society into one more understanding, more active, more balanced with nature, and more respectful of individual rights and freedom. Once again we stand at a threshold where we can either descend into an ever more totalitarian system, or free ourselves to become one harmonious species, with unlimited potential. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!