New Left Vs Hippie Movement

The baby boom was not only the birth place of the largest amount of children born at one time, but also birthed ideals that would eventually overcome those children as they grew up. Two big ideas that came from the baby boomer generation was the Hippie Movement and the New Left. The Hippie Movement consisted of large groups of people who believe in peace and love and rejected all norms of society. This included dress code, music choice, drug use, jobs, and sexual experiences. The New Left which was more political and more about doing than saying as the Hippies were, also rebelled against anything controlled by adult authority. These groups gathered many supporters during there duration active, however they both had there positives and negatives

Firstly the movement, as shown the film Summer of Love, brought thousands upon thousands of young people into one area for a similar goal. It shows people all came together regardless of skin color and backgrounds to join together for the goal of love and peace. The hippies also came together to help one another be it with food such as with the free meals the Diggers or even the Free Store. “Everything came into the Free Store. Everything,” one person remarks at the memory of the hope that it gave people and the kindness it showed that other people had (Summer of Love.) Newly entered Hippies could go to the free store and get what ever they needed with no actual money. The Hippies also had their own Sex Education classes as well as lectures to help keep people aware of the dangers of STDs and other harmful things among them. The Hippies also had a huge sexual revolution where everyone got to express themselves however they wanted without restrictions and rules. This was also very liberating for females who “ could have sex whenever they wanted,” (America Divided 146.) Who were always limited to only men and only until after they had been married. This movement let them feel more control over their own body and free to pick any

The Hippies joined together for peace and love, however they had no idea how to come about this peace at all. They rejected all other ideas yet could not come up with an actual solution, instead they ran from it all. As stated in America Divided page 145, “One way to understand this complex, but seldom boring, phenomenon is to focus on sex, drugs and Rock & Roll.” No one wanted to focus on the other many serious issues at hand, such as the war in Vietnam, racism that flourish no matter the laws, and gender issues. Another negative aspect was the result of the free love rule that went around was the down side to it. The fact that sex was promoted at all times and with whoever you wanted, “The male libido…often led to rape, unwanted pregnancy, and or abandonment,” which showed the decline of respect that women got within this time. Men saw them as pleasure tools and nothing more and did as they pleased. Drug usage was also another negative point of the Hippie movement, as well as the lack of responsibility that young people of this time did not want to take on. As one person said about her own thoughts on the movement, “We really thought drugs were gonna change the world. We really did,” (Summer of Love.) However with the rise of bad trips and the increase flow of other drugs, the movement went from very lively and welcoming, to very wrecked and truly