C. M. Barrett
Sep 4, 2018 · 1 min read

This is a very provocative article, and I agreed with the vast majority of what you said. Anyone who reads the work of Barbara Ehrenreich gets my attention.

Re: hippies, though, not so sure. We’re now talking about my generation, and from my first-hand perspective, I’d say that the label was applied to two very different kinds of people.

The first were social activists, often pacifists. Some of them ended up buying farms in Vermont, and other rural regions, and living genuinely simple and frugal lifestyles. Others stayed politically active. Many of the men risked jail for draft resistance; some did time. Many of the women became leaders of the feminist movement.

The other group was white, middle-class people who wanted to take a vacation of indeterminate length from their future immersion into the world of their parents. In style (clothing, language, musical preferences), they aped those of the first group, but they lacked commitment.

For my part, I’ll skip the word “hippie” altogether.

Thanks again for an absorbing read.

    C. M. Barrett

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    Friend of dragons, cats, and other troublemakers. Author of the series, A Dragon’s Guide to Destiny and Dystopia in Drag. Visit cmbarrett.com.