Hippies were in love with each other

For people that wanted so badly to separate themselves from mainstream culture, it’s amazing how even hippie teenagers were followers of one another. Famous people like Leary and Kesey were so into drug culture and in many ways fed off each other. Because they were famous they were also idolized by teens who wanted to be hip just like them. Drug culture, behavior and fashion was mimicked and spread through the hippie generation.

I think it’s funny the way they thought about the drugs they took. They thought these drugs made them part of this special group that allowed them to separate mind from brain and have other super-human qualities. But I think they got so caught up in the drugs that they underestimated or forgot the capabilities of the “sober” mind. I especially like the part where the Hell’s Angels, the Pranksters, and a few others held a meeting to debate the anti-war movement. All of them were tripping on acid- except Ginsberg- and it was he that reached the negotiation by singing a song that everyone else joined in with. The rest of the meeting’s attendees where probably all loving their trip too much to even remember or care about the purpose for the meeting in the first place. Drugs united them all in some way...perhaps by making them forget their differences in beliefs. All that mattered was that they were high and loving life.

Also, page 91 informs about the introduction of new fashion shops like Hung on You and Granny Takes a Trip. These shops were able to real people in because they had the clothing that defined people as “hippie”/ “cool.” People couldn’t even see the clothes from the outside of Hung on You but instead needed to climb down a pole in order to even get into the shop. This weird entrance route was probably set up to distinguish these clothes wearers as “special”… part of the elite group of teens that distinguished themselves from mainstream society… but really they were being reeled into just another group that suffered from conformity regardless of their intentions. The hippies may have been able to separate themselves from mainstream/ conservative culture but they were followers of each other… conforming to the fashion trends and behaviors of the generation of hippies.