Are Hippie teens Hip?

Lately I have noticed that my little sister has been wearing a lot of peace signs and hippie symbols. I was thinking about how everything seems to be playing out in reverse of how it originally was when the decades are coming back. So I figure it is about time for the sixties and seventies to come back in style. But the real questions is whether the hippie attitude will return or if it will be just the style.

When I look around, it is clear that the hippie way isn't dead. People still play and listen to the music of that time, they still have some of the same beliefs, and they do some of the same activities. But modern hippie followers aren't really protesting anything. They are just doing this for the good time and because they like the sound and/or atmosphere. The feeling of family for all and inclusion is great but I do wonder if there isn't something that they could be fighting for.

In 1963, when the US started the Vietnam war, the war was against an enemy that had made attacks but hadn't declared war. We were fighting an enemy that wasn't a major threat to us at the time. People who were hippies were fighting against being in Vietnam when it was a civil war and didn't really need to involve us. Just because we had set up their government prior to the war didn't require that we help keep that government in power. But the government was trying to contain communism and letting Nam fall would have been contradicting to our goals.



The world is circling back to the point where we were with Vietnam. We started the war on terror because of the September 11th attacks. The Bush Doctrine which was put in place after that was that of preventative war. That means we were fight against a group that wasn't a huge threat. We didn't learn our lesson and we have installed a government in Iraq and afganistan that are corrupt and falling apart. People aren't happy with war but for some reason people aren't as openly protesting what is going on. If they did they could be real hippies. Right now they are too caught up in American issues and social life to protest what is going on in the world. Music is caught up in sex, drugs, and romance and hasn't had the motivation to change its ways and write music with meaning and validity for the world.

So that is where we are stuck. The hippies are just doing it for the fashion and the musicians won't use there talents to protest the world issues. My opinion is that hippies could easily come back but I doubt it will ever be exactly the same as it as before. It's only a matter of time before the next generation finds a reason to try and change the world.