The Old Hippies

Hippies from A to Z
by Skip Stone

The Old Hippies

Old hippies don’t die, they just lie low until the laughter stops and their time comes round again.

Joseph Gallivan

Whatever happened to all the old hippies? The millions who rallied,
marched, protested, chanted and boycotted? Are they now just rebels without
a cause? Or have they turned into apathetic yuppies? We must ask these
questions, because now is the time for them to come forth and accept the
powerful role for which they are destined.

When we were young, our ideals motivated us to challenge the system.
We wanted to change everything, to correct the wrongs, to reveal the hypocrisies,
to bring freedom and equality to everyone, everywhere. Now we are older
and presumably wiser, but are we still motivated by such high ideals?

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.

Jim Morrison

We were the essence of freedom. By rejecting the social program, its
values, its prejudices and its fears, we discovered something beautiful
inside ourselves yearning to be free. We were free to think, to do and
to be whatever we wanted. Once we stopped seeking and experiencing this
freedom, an important part of us stopped growing.

This is what happened to most of the old hippies. As they got older
they married, had kids, got jobs, took on much more responsibility. They
became part of the system. I wouldn’t describe it as selling out, it’s
more like adjusting priorities. Now it’s up to them to rediscover their
lost ideals and use the power they now possess to act according to those
once highly regarded principles.

Your children are not YOUR children

Kahlil Gibran

A common problem with the old hippies is that they want to prevent their
children from making the same mistakes they did in their youth. This is
the instinctual parental prerogative. However, the problem lies in thinking
that one’s youthful activities (considered ‘indiscretions’ in politically
correct terms) were a mistake! I hear this over and over again. I tell
you one and all: What you did in the 60s was very important! You were Free
in a way as you haven’t been since. Whether you smoked a joint, dropped
acid, had uninhibited sex, smelled like a buffalo, wore clothes you wouldn’t
get caught dead in now, whatever, it was the most perfect thing you could
do!

Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.

Bob Dylan (The Times they are a-changin’)

Decrying your mind-expanding experiences as innocent mistakes, belittles
yourself, and does you more harm than good. Then to inflict this attitude
upon your children is to commit a great hypocrisy. Politicians in the public
eye won’t come out and admit their questionable youthful activities and
so set a bad example. Why is the common wisdom to lie to your children
about your past? Do you believe that sets a good example? Do you think
kids won’t see through your hypocrisy? You will lose your children just
as your parents lost you when you did your hippie thing.

I’m frightened for your children, that the life that we are living
is in vain.

The Moody Blues (The Story in Your Eyes)

Old hippies everywhere, this is a call to arms! You are needed! The
children of today are our last, best hope to fulfill those beautiful dreams
we had. There are young hippies everywhere asking the same questions we
did. Only they’re not finding the answers! Everywhere they are faced with
politically correct brainwashed propaganda instead of truth! Get over your
lingering doubts about the past. It’s our future you need to be concerned
about.

 

The sage does not hoard.

Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more;

Having given all he has to others, he is richer still.

Lao Tzu

What are YOU doing to make this world a better place? Investing in mutual
funds? Buying that new SUV? Joining a country club? It’s time to GET REAL
again! It’s time to wake up! If you’re not part of the solution, you’re
part of the problem!!! Have you forgotten who you are? What you are? Why
you’re here?

We are here to make a better world.

No amount of rationalization or blaming can preempt the moment of
choice each of us brings to our situation here on this planet. The lesson
of the ’60s is that people who cared enough to do right could change history.

We didn’t end racism but we ended legal segregation.

We ended the idea that you could send half-a-million soldiers around
the

world to fight a war that people do not support.

We ended the idea that women are second-class citizens.

We made the environment an issue that couldn’t be avoided. The big
battles that we won cannot be reversed. We were young, self-righteous,
reckless, hypocritical, brave, silly, headstrong and scared half to death.

And we were right.

Abbie Hoffman

Want to remember that feeling you had before, when you felt you could
change the world? Maybe it’s time for you to reassess your life, your goals,
your programming. What really matters? Not just to you and yours, but to
us and ours. Your responsibility doesn’t end with your family. That’s the
cop-out that transformed the hippies into yuppies. It’s taken quite a bit
of maturity for these yuppies, especially the very successful ones to realize
that success is hollow if you haven’t really done something for the common
good.

Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power,

and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.

Jim Morrison

Cue Hippy Commercial: Are you tied down by job, kids, mortgage, and
credit card debt? Remember when you were FREE? What did that freedom taste
like? Do you think you’ll ever experience it again in your lifetime? Will
your children ever get a chance to be free like you once were? Or have
they already sacrificed their souls to please you by accepting the values
of this materialistic society?

We can change the world, rearrange the world. It’s dying – if you
believe in justice. It’s dying – if you believe in freedom. It’s dying
– let a man live his own life. It’s dying – rules and regulations, who
needs them! Open up the door.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (Chicago)

It’s way too easy to sit back in our comfortable homes, build our little
nest eggs and pretend that those scenes of violence, hunger, war, and ethnic
cleansing on CNN have nothing to do with us. You think we were naïve
when we thought we could change the world. Well guess what? WE DID! You
can point to the wonders of modern technology (we created them) and think
that it will solve our problems. Sorry, but that’s being naïve! Look
at what’s being done to solve these problems and think: What more can be
done? What hasn’t been tried? What can I do?

Feed them on your dreams.

CS&N (Teach Your Children)

Travel to foreign lands and see what industrialization is doing to them.
Just so we can have cheap goods from plastic toys to computers, other countries
are
having to turn their agrarian societies into industrial wastelands, where
there are no pollution controls, and the air, land and water is poisoned.
Where once there were fields of rice, now there are skyscrapers in choking
haze.

Look around and see how things have changed since you were a kid. You
think our emphasis on materialism, conformity and success is healthy? For
you, your kids or the planet as a whole?

Have you noticed the anger seething below the surface of many young
people today? The violence, the intolerance, the invasions of privacy and
the repressive conformity they face everyday? Is it really surprising that
this anger suddenly bursts forth with deadly results? Violence, it seems,
is the only way nowadays to express outrage at the system that succeeds
in getting attention. Once upon a time, we had peaceful ways of venting
our frustrations.

 

If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther (Soul on Ice)

Why wait until these problems appear on your doorstep, or perhaps your
child’s school? Our hypocrisy and apathy will come back to haunt us. You
CAN still make a difference. Get involved. Readjust your priorities. Spend
time with your kids. Be honest with them! Please! That’s all they ask.
Share your youthful experiences, your lost ideals, your beautiful dreams
for them and the world. Listen and learn!

That’s what real love amounts to- letting a person be what he really
is. Most people love you for who you pretend to be. To keep their love,
you keep pretending- performing. You get to love your pretense. It’s true,
we’re locked in an image, an act- and the sad thing is, people get so used
to their image, they grow attached to their masks. They love their chains.
They forget all about who they really are. And if you try to remind them,
they hate you for it, they feel like you’re trying to steal their most
precious possession.

Jim Morrison

Tell them about hippies. Hippies were real! We didn’t pretend and put
on airs. We didn’t fake anything. We weren’t selfish. We shared what little
we have. We were honest about our feelings and acted accordingly. Yes,
we were young, naïve, but somehow wiser than generations before or
after. We were concerned about the important things that now seem forgotten.
In our subsequent striving for success we have trampled upon those values
we once cherished.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

The Who (Won’t Get Fooled Again)

What hasn’t changed is the power structure that caters to the rich and
powerful. The government, industry, international trade, laws, and political
system are all biased towards those with influence. Money buys influence
and put those without it at a great disadvantage, and thus nothing has
changed.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the
government,

is to live under the government of worse men.

Plato

This is what the Antiwar, Civil Rights, Black Power, Environmental and
Women’s and Gay Liberation movements were about. Getting our due portion
of power and influence. Those who are oppressed, discriminated against,
disadvantaged all need a way to influence society to their benefit. Those
elements of our world that can’t buy influence need aware individuals to
represent their interests. These elements include the poor, the sick, children,
animals, ecosystems, and natural resources.

It’s a fool who plays it cool by making this world a little colder.

Beatles (Hey Jude)

Ideals are nice to visit once in awhile. Don’t be afraid. The only thing
that will change is you, for the better. If you know something’s not right,
why don’t you try to fix it? Just give it the attention it deserves and
you’ll have an influence.

So old hippies, ex-hippies, and those who regret never getting involved,
what are you going to do with the rest of your lives? What legacy are you
going to leave your children?

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Mahatma Ghandi

We need to find our voice again. Once more we must point out the system’s
hypocrisies and lies and say enough is enough. We must not let them rule
us with fear. We must stand together. United we stand, divided we fall
victim to the system. That’s how it’s been for over 30 years now. How many
more years will it take, before we’re allowed to be free? The answer, my
friend lies with you and me.