What sort of things did hippies do and how did they stand out from other people and how were they regarded by the community?

Answer 1

"have long hair they were necklaces and were head bands."

this is a horribly incomplete notion of what a hippie "was" and "was doing".

TRUE hippies, and i won't sugar coat this so as to not mislead people.

TRUE hippies were a new take on the beat generation. Wikipedia generally defines the beat generation, stating "Central elements of "Beat" culture included experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of exuberant, unexpurgated means of expression and being."

The "hippie" was the new social vehicle for this aging wisdom. Hippies had beards, long hair, strange fashion, headbands, necklaces, and other questionable hygiene decisions because it was all meant to REFLECT a knowing that society's social and fashion norms were neither here nor there; ENTIRELY subjective. The hippies meant to highlight this fact by demonstrating their unwillingness to comply, which was only strengthened by the numbers doing it. This was effectively rebelling against fashion, rather than a fashion revolution. It was not about the superficial ideas of fashion as they are sold to people today. A true hippie first believes a series of self evident wisdoms which manifest in their individual image and style, RATHER than picking up a style to try and sell your inner self as is popular today. Hippies were the real rebels. They knew why, instead of just knowing they wanted to.

Hippies did drugs. Although they tried many, the class of psychedelics is most acredited and most responsible for the spiritual influences upon the subculture. Back then psychedelics like LSD and psylocybin (the active compound in shrooms) were widely known. Both enhance one's awareness and appreciation for the natural world, and allows us to view this world from a lens of perspective different from our own, while also allowing oneself to regain control over the ego, making it work for the soul, rather than seeking it's own pleasure at the expense of a greater satisfaction, a greater good.

The hippies were responsible for such forward thinking as clean energy, anti dogmatic spirituality (spirituality without the politics of religion), new forms of sexuality including non monagomy, new forms of governance revising the faults of capitalism, organic farming, sustainability (support yourself, do not depend), and anti materialism ie technology is a tool to humanity, not it's savior.

Romanticized recounts of the hippies of the sixties are often void of ANY of the wisdoms that hippies understood intuitively. If you want good content on the ideals, read The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, Be Here Now by Ram Dass, and watch Easy Rider.

To put current times into perspective, the baby boomers are Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Today's twenty year olds give or take are the Luke Skywalker. We must remind the now middle aged, largely middle class that THEY found the solution, but we can refine it, and together restore peace to the world.

Please let me know if i should delve deeper into any one of these issues.