My View of Hippies
Hippie has grown as a cult among both young men and women. These people dress, eat and live as they like. They feel they have the right to defy the established social order. The fact that most of them belong to the upper class of society is no comfort. Some of them are well educated and want to see the world.
Since they have enough money to spend as they like one cannot imagine the life they lead. Hippie is a revolt against the established way of life and according to them against the hypocrisy of the older generation. Whether hippie is the answer, one is never sure.
These hippies wear tattered clothes. They appear to be unkempt and unwashed and are unashamed to show their untidy beards. They live like poor people on the streets. Hippies resort to all sorts of drinks. They are a menace to law and order. Both men and women mix easily with no sexual inhibitions. They believe in free sexual relationships. Though they live strangely they are careful not to rub the law on the wrong side. For people belonging to the last generation and having been brought up under strict discipline, the very sight of hippies is disgusting.
These people find nothing worthwhile in their lives. They find that education is shallow and meaningless. They find formal learning in which classes are conducted by half-baked professors and lectures disgusting. Most hippies are of high IQ order they find nothing to contemplate or discover in the educational institutions. Again modem homes especially in the west are not conducive for the moral growth of the youngsters. Parents are not an influence in building their characters. Broken homes may be one of the reasons which drive away from the youngsters from home to seek pleasure outside. They develop wrong notions about sex and marriage. The influence of the church and religion has weakened such that the youngsters cannot turn to the church. The sermons sound shallow since those who deliver them do not follow what they preach. In short, the basic influences to help youngsters keep their mental, physical and moral values in tight reign has crumbled.
Hippie is not prevalent in countries where the family unit is not shaken. Parental example is very important. Children who are neglected in their childhood tend to pick up bad habits, neglecting household responsibilities, and encourage hippies among their teenage children. Educational institutions can play in structuring the character of youth. If teachers are really what they profess to be and practice what they preach, they can guide and mold the character of the children under them.
The youth today need direction and who else but parents and teachers can wean children from taking to bad habits.