The Vietnam War And American Values: Hippie Culture

Hippie Culture

During the nineteen sixties and seventies, and new wave of young adults hit cities across the

United States. Starting as groups of college students, these eccentric juveniles were known for their political defiance, distinctive fashion styles, large music festivals, and swarming the city streets with anti-violence protests. These groups of counter culturists originated in the United

States as a result of the Vietnam War. As many of these people protested this war, they began to disobey the government increasingly, always finding new reasons to rebel. Hippies usually considered themselves to be unheard, causing them to form new societies, religions, economic policies, and ways of life. Hippies attempts to reform US societies began

Over the years, hippies have proven to be the “outcasts” of American society. From their political views, music, drug use, and fashion, hippies have left an impression on today's world. In

The Hippies and American Values: Second Edition, author Timothy Miller explains many of the ways in which hippies differed from everyday citizens. Miller (1992) says “The hippies saw themselves as the people of the zero, the vanguard who would build a new society on the ruins of the old, corrupt one.” Hippies were the results of the “baby boom” period. They wanted to be the change in their society, rejecting government authority and famously not trusting anyone over

Grimes 4 the age of 30. Hippies became the voice of the youth, freeing themselves from societal norms and making drug use a part of everyday life. Miller references another writer, Chester Anderson

(1968), who says “It’s the hippies who are developing an ethic and morality for an over- populated world; It’s the hippies- ONLY the hippies- who are speaking to the youth of

America.” These ideas represent the hippies' political defiance, and they have also had a

In What is Hippie Music? A

Crash Course with Robert Forster, author Robert Forster describes what is really defined as hippie music. Forster (2014) says “It’s to do with exploration, to do with possibilities. The original ideas of hippie; fresh feels, new sound, sonic exploration.” In the 1960s, hippie music was like no other. Forster does an excellent job of emphasizing the new ideals that the music represented. Forster says, “It was the coming together of these traditional folk and psychedelic music styles that gave the hippie counterculture an iconic soundtrack- one that lives on today.”

The combination of these genres furthered the separation of hippies and the rest of society.

Forster discusses some of the important artists of the iconic folk and psych combination during the counterculture era. One of the most iconic artists who is commonly associated with the beginning of hippie music is Country Joe and The Fish. This band formed in Berkeley,

California released their first hippie hit, “Section 43,” in 1966. Forster follows up with “While

San Francisco was the heartland of the hippie movement, the psychedelic music associated