Compare And Contrast The Hippie And The Counterculture Of The 1960s

Hippie and the American Counterculture of the 1960’s Hippies were the young generation, middle class, who dropped out of regular society to promote peace and love. These free spirits did not always practice activities that appealed to the older generations. They listened to rock and roll, did illegal drugs, and had underage sex. Their intentions were no all bad. The counterculture changed in the 1960’s, this came with the rising of the hippie culture, and what they stood for and how they had a positive effect on social change. These young free lovers pursed a life full of love and peace. The counterculture in America changed in the 1960’s. Some young kids chose to go against the war and join the fight for civil rights. Other young kids

They stood against war, materialism, and conformity. Hippies “advocated individual freedom, or allowing people to “do their own thing”” (Kauffman). They hippies promoted things such as drugs, rock and roll music, and “free love” (Kauffman). There were two different views on the lifestyle of the hippies. Were the hippies making a movement in society and politics, or were they just young kids, who were lazy and did not want to abide by their parents? The ones who were against the hippie lifestyle, “argued that they withdrew into drugs and sex to avoid a world they did not approve of”(Kauffman). These people believed that the lifestyles the hippies were living was dangerous and out of hand. Their drug use of marijuana and LSD dulled their minds and made them not be able to offend themselves. The free love practices of the hippies were transmitting a lot of sexual diseases. The critics said the irresponsible acts of the hippies would fall back on society. They were using drug abuse treatments and costing the city of San Francisco thousands of dollars. Not everyone was against the peace promoting, longhaired youth, who spent their time taking unconventional drugs. To these people hippies “were putting into practice the nation’s founding ideals of freedom, justice, and individuality”(Kauffman). They were not lazy; they used their life styles to set an example for everyone else. They were inspiring the

Many went back home to their parents, some overdosed, and very few stayed in California to continue living the hippie lifestyle. The changing of the counterculture in the 1960’s, followed by the rise of hippie culture, and they way they lived and what they stood for was an important change in society. The hippies advocated drug use, sex, rock and roll, and of course peace and love. While the hippies did die out, they left some things with society. Their fashion sense was “ copied by mainstream society and continues to resurface periodically” (Kauffman). They opened society to being more open about their sexuality. The hippies made an overall change to the society in the