A group of people, a belief, a culture, however you wish to call it was famously known for their love for their relaxed personalities and freedom of expression. They were the hippies of 1960, then a new culture made up of the younger population. They didn't follow the teachings of their elders, and rejected them for an alternative culture that was their very own. The Hippy Movement started in San Francisco, California and spread across the United States, through Canada, and into parts of Europe. .
The hippies shocked America with their alternative lifestyle and radical beliefs. They came from many different places and they had different backgrounds. They left their families for many different reasons: because they didn't believe in their parents' ideas, or simply because they just wanted to get away. They came from different classes: rich, poor and middle-class, the bond of non-conformity united them. Their messages were simple: freedom, tolerance, love, and of course, peace. .
The conservative people saw them as aliens. Their psychedelic themes were though of as foolish, and their beliefs too extreme. But to the hippies themselves, being a hippie was a matter of accepting a universal belief system that transcended the social, political and moral norms of any established structure. Below are excerpts from the book Hippies from A to Z by Skip Stone regarding the hippy values and ways of thinking.
The Way of the Hippy.
"To be a hippie you must believe in peace as the way to resolve differences among peoples, ideologies and religions. The way to peace is through love and tolerance. Loving means accepting others as they are, giving them freedom to express themselves and not judging them based on appearances. This is the core of the hippie philosophy." .
Sex, Love & Hippies.
"The concept of Free Love as expressed by hippies meant you were free to love whomever you pleased, whenever you pleased, however you pleased.
