The Neo-Hippies
The hippies failed. Will the neo-hippies fail, too? One of my friends has become a neo-hippie (I hate to label him, but it keeps things concise :), so I've had several first-hand encounters with their bizarre lives. They are similar to the hippies in spirit, but much more practical. They are shrewd hippies, and they form local, regional, and national organizations and social networks that are almost universally focused on activism.
I'm not a neo-hippie, but I've helped them feed the poor, hung out with them around town a couple of times, and attended one of their parties at the bizarre "Bill Hicks(?) Resurrection Laboratory" (a rent-free converted warehouse with particle board Xmas trees in front and even stranger ornamentation on the inside).
It's not obvious to me that they will be able to sustain their way of life through old age (unlike the hippies), or if they are even making a difference beyond the immediate and the day-to-day. Because they are superficially intellectual, but not convincingly so, I cannot accept their arguments completely. Their involvement with activism does not seem to be totally rational and well-thought out. It seems reflexive, like a knee-jerk, or like something that they just naturally fell into (something that they identify with because of their particular mix of personal traits).
I'm not a neo-hippie, but I've helped them feed the poor, hung out with them around town a couple of times, and attended one of their parties at the bizarre "Bill Hicks(?) Resurrection Laboratory" (a rent-free converted warehouse with particle board Xmas trees in front and even stranger ornamentation on the inside).
It's not obvious to me that they will be able to sustain their way of life through old age (unlike the hippies), or if they are even making a difference beyond the immediate and the day-to-day. Because they are superficially intellectual, but not convincingly so, I cannot accept their arguments completely. Their involvement with activism does not seem to be totally rational and well-thought out. It seems reflexive, like a knee-jerk, or like something that they just naturally fell into (something that they identify with because of their particular mix of personal traits).