The 1960s

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The 1960s

It may have been a decade of a myriad of effulgent paintings and intrepid space excursions, but for most people, resplendent canvases don't come near the cranium when someone mentions the 1960s. So just what do we associate the decade with? The most intriguing part of our prior erudition: hippies, flower power, peace, love, drugs, and Woodstock! All of the preceding are the very essence of the '60s in America; all of them had a distinct impact on the world.

Presumably the most prominent aspect of the '60s was the evolution of the youthful generation into a powerful strong-minded group of people known as the hippies. Around the late '60s, there was a copious amount of young men and women who were just reaching their late teen years, re-evaluating their sentiment on important issues. But just what was a hippie? Hippies were mostly young people who were often characterized by long hair and flowing skirts. They had very confident convictions, particularly in regard to the Vietnam War. Because this new generation possessed a blatant loathing for the affect of Vietnam on the country, they rebelled against everything the war was about. This resulted in a shared conception of love, peace, and happiness. They held protests and anti-war love-ins promoting their ant-violence views, unity, and, also, drugs. Previously unmentioned, hippies were also druggies. Dr., Timothy Leary was a drug guru who was much loved for his preaching. He said things such as "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" and used new pronouns like "She" and "hir" to promote gender equality. He brought about a new philosophy that conceived that your state of consciousness is reflected in your environment. Leary had four exercises to a life of expanded intelligence: 1) Look at yourself in the mirror, change your manner of dress and your behavior so that you float like a god, not shuffle like a robot 2) Look around your home and throw out everything that is not "tuned in" to your highest vision 3) Make your body a temple and your home a shrine 4) You are a god, live like one!

As prevalent as hippies were, it astounds many people to hear that there was a subdivision of the group. Yippies, as they were called, were much like other hippies, only more extreme. The yippies were New Left radicals with a no-holds barred approach contesting every custom of society.

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