Good things hippies acheived

1)Hippies promoted the values of love and peace, just like your mother taught you

2)Promoted freedom of choice, though they took it to extremes they are the reason people today are allowed to be who they want and don't have to conform to society. A wide range of personal appearance options and clothing styles have become acceptable, all of which were uncommon before the hippie era

3)Believed in living healthy, and polution free existances ie. organic food

4)used the american right of protest to show how the government was corrupt

5) supported the civil and women rights movements

6)Supported the right to question supuriors, and decide for themselves what was right and wrong

7)cooperative business enterprises, alternative energy, the free press movement, and organic farming were all politically motivated movements aided by hippies

9)because of hippies public political demonstrations are now considered legitimate expressions of free speech

10)the rights of homosexual, bisexual and transexual people have expanded

11) Religious and cultural diversity has gained greater acceptance

12) the hippie movement created new forms of music such as, folk rock, acid rock, heavy metal

All of that i found in only 20 minutes of searching, and all of those things are great and none of which would have never happened if not for the hippies

Try and pay attention.

I was referring to flag burners. People who burn the symbol of this country obviously do not love it. And if you are so opposed to this country then it only makes sense that you wouldn't want to stick around. I don't know how to make it any simpler than that.

What I think is disgusting is people who want to have their cake and eat it too. People who talk about what an evil nation this is, but enjoy the benefits of living here.

I know many a combat veteran who are opposed to flag burning. As a matter of fact, of all the combat vets I know none are in favor of it. But, by all means, please put your words into their mouths.

I never denied anyone the right to criticize any wrongs. I myself am no fan of the current administration. If you spent any time with me as an individual, or even just reading my posts on this forum, I'm a far cry from holding popular opinion.

Moving on.

I think it's fair to call self-professed Marxists or those who believe in the social tenants of Marxism, commies. I mean, that's what they are plain and simple.

Also if you were paying attention the only people I actually referred to as reds or commies were Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and the Viet Cong. Please by all means correct me if these people were not, infact, communists.

The fact is most war protesters of the Vietnam era were communist sympathizers. You can't deny that returning vets were spit upon and criminalized as baby killers. Nor can you deny that, as I stated earlier, lefty factory workers purposely sabotaged equipment. Neither can you gloss over Jane Fonda posing next to VC anti-aircraft guns. Guns whose purpose was to shoot American pilots dead.

well i sit corrected
anyway since i was five when my Dad returned from vietnam,i dont remember much about the era.thanx for the tutorial.

1. They only promoted the ideas of love and peace to their dirty hippy brethren. As stated before they had no qualms with sabotaging American war equipment (at the cost of American lives), spiting on vets, or (as I haven't yet mentioned) throwing rocks at firefighters who tried to put out a campus structure fire that they, the hippies, had started.

2. They promoted freedom from all responsibility. Not something really note worthy. Even if they are responsible for today’s fashion choices, that's a bit of a small contribution in the scheme of things. But oh no, greasers and bikers already had challenged societies norms.

3. Yep LSD, pills, and smoking dope make for a healthy lifestyle. But not nearly as much as not bathing (as well all know soap is a cancer forming agent).

4. That's something that had never been done before by anyone else in the history of the United States .

5. Only because their college profs. told them too. They weren't the driving forces behind either movement.

6. No their professors and hippy peers decided that for them.

7. I don't really refute this. Though your rank and file hippy didn't really contribute to any of these movements.

8. You skipped eight.

9. Only if they cater to a left-wing agenda.

10. I don't really see pervert-rights as a good thing.

11. Only if you're talking about the right religions and the right cultures.

12. Maybe folk rock and acid rock, but Heavy metal? Please. Your stretching it now. Heavy metal has more to do with rock and roll and classical music than anything else.

Yes rather than refute any of my arguments, make a jibe at my age. Real convincing .

Drugs of various kinds existed loooonnngggg before the hippies. They just chose to be open about it. They rebelled against the system and a war that was nothing more than a political agenda, with thousands of US soldiers dying for what? They were persecuted at the time, but later, it seems, they had a helluva point.

Yes lily,
and many died for their beliefs!!

you take me wrong sir.i wasn't taking a jab at you at all and why refute someone who obviously knows it all..

Hey, if anything I've stated is false then point it out.

You may not like the conclusions I've reached, but you can't deny the facts that I have used to support them (you do know how to differentiate between fact and opinion, right?).

Go for it if you want to, but don't hide behind a cloak of intellectual superiority when you won't attempt to refute specific statements I've made.

speaking of woodstock...check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHw9b4BBV9Y

Well I guess it all comes down to this as far as I am concerned.

"I must question everything, even if it means losing my faith, becoming a member of a border tribe among my own people. Tolerating blind obedience in the name of patriotism or religion ultimately takes our lives."
- Terry Tempest Williams

Carolina, all I know is your flag looks a lot different than the ones I refuse to burn. I know many combat veterans myself, son. At near 40 years of age I have also had a little more time to speak to my relatives and friends about their experiences in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War and our current conflict again in the Middle East. Some returning soldiers were spit on, others were not.....much depended on the region they were returning to. I do not advocate the abuse of our Veterans at all. I respect our troops 100%. They are doing what they have been ordered to do according to the demands of our govt. They fight in these wars because it is their job and their love for America, but what keeps them going in the midst of war is their devotion to their fellow soldiers. They are taking care of us and each other. Many don't agree with or understand what our govt. is doing anymore, but God Bless Them!......they fulfill the duties they were sworn to follow through.
Vietnam was a big political mess of propaganda and govt. control issues, and thousands of brave Americans died because of it. They didn't want to be their either. The hippies speaking out and fighting back against the system helped to bring attention to the problem......the govt. We lost Vietnam, and we left countless MIA's behind. We, the American people as a whole, failed the Vietnam vets. They should have come home to well-wishers and banners, balloons...something to show some sort of understanding and caring. It takes a village, son. The American people as a whole let the returning Vietnam veterans down. We shunned them. We were embarrassed by our "loss". The govt. turned their backs on them. It is inexcuseable.

Guess what? It is happening all over again. The govt. is using our troops for their own selfish motivation, and they try to rationalize it by pointing out how many thousands less have died in the Iraq war as opposed to Vietnam. Does that matter, though, if you have a loved one serving over there? Does it matter if they return for repeat tours, or their tours are extended in spite of them being promised otherwise?
Oh, and what about their return home from Iraq? What do they come home to? Walter Reed medical center? An inability to cope with the overwhelming amout of PTSD cases? Divorce? Financial strife?....This is a bit remeniscent of Vietnam to me in a number of ways, and I think we could use some hippies now. At least some good protestors who remain consistent and vocal. Groups of them who won't be quieted, because there are plenty of us now who are not happy with the current situation, but few who are willing to fight it and speak up for it. Hippies had their good points, for certain.

From Smedley Butler, USMC..two time medal of honor recipiant

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.
It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

we have been warned many times by our heroes...we allowed our government to use our youth for their own greed...shame on us....
vote Ron Paul...end the madness

My group of friends in PA are posting stuff about the Ron Paul revolution everywhere. I hope he does run.

What’s all this ‘son’ crap? Talk down to me if you want, doesn’t hurt my feelings, but it seems a little childish.

Also I couldn’t give a d*mn less of what you think about the rebel flag in my picture.

A good friend of mine is a WWII vet and had me get him one after seeing the one hung up on my wall (the one in the picture). In return he got me a St. Andrews flag.

My great-uncle who lead a Marine recon unit in Nam’ carried a rebel flag with him during the war and used it to signal helicopters for pickup (some of the guys in his squad joked about Yankee pilots seeing the flag and flying off without them).

I know a guy in Iraq now who has a Confederate flag, an American Flag, and a Betsy Ross tattooed on his forearms (he had them before the cut on tattoos below short sleeves). He’s currently flying both the Stars and Bars and the Rebel Flag in his sleeping quarters over there.

There are just some quick examples.

I have other flags on display in the same room, but I won’t go through the trouble to make an itemized list as I have no intentions on impressing someone with an obviously ignorant and skewed version of history.

As far as some being spit upon and some not, the point I was making was that the bulk of the spitting was done by hippies and the few hippies that had factory jobs were the ones making faulty equipment costing our troops lives. This was to demonstrate that their opposition to the war was obviously not based on U.S. deaths.

I’m not going to argue with the justness of either Vietnam or Iraq, or the treatment of returning vets, because I never said that I supported either war. On the contrary I already made the point, in this very thread, that I was opposed to the war in Iraq, but you guys seem more comfortable making assumptions and jumping to conclusions than reading what I have to say.

Once again read what I have had to say on the issue and understand my position that hippies have never acted on the behalf of the combat troops or returning vets. You don’t have to agree, but try to understand that this is my position. The evidence for Vietnam I’ve already demonstrated, try and have a look over that again, if you would. Today the lefties who say they care so much about the troops make jokes about the condition of VA hospitals such as Walter Reed. The issue to them is more about an opportunity for bashing the system than caring for the welfare of American veterans. I have no problem with bashing a corrupt system and I do believe the present one is indeed corrupt, but I care more about fixing the problems produced by such a system and taking care of the people who I feel need to be taken care of.

Edit: By the way, I read Smedly Butler's 'War is a Racket' long ago and agree with him. Go back and read my support of American armed neutrality.

So, Caolina, what DO you think about hippies???

I think everyone should grow their own!!!

hippies are groovy man.....

I believe that Ron Paul should be in our next Govt Administration, as President ,or Treasury secretary or any other high office or as advisor to Barack Obama, Also Dennis Kuccinich should be high up in our next administration in some position or also as an important advisor,too. We need all these Constitutional type folks, instead of these present day type Zionists. Yes, and get rid of the Private federal reserve system forever and this country could start healing over night. This is my dream, I hope it comes true very soon.

I love hippies. They're natures punching bags.

But, seriously... I think I've already expressed that I'm in line with the thinking that they are a cult of selfish, hedonistic bums. As I am anti-drug use, anti-drum/poetry circles, pro-nationalistic, and pro-bathing, I am naturally going to view the hippy cult in a negative light.

That doesn't mean for you to draw your own lines of conclusion that I am pro-system, pro-foreign involvement, pro-finance capitalism, etc., etc.

The frustrating part is where I'm accused of being pro-foreign involvement when I believe my first post in this thread was favoring armed neutrality.

But anyways...

All you Ron Paul supporters need to go ahead and register republican so you can vote for him in the primaries. You don't have to be a supporter of the republican party to do so (honestly I think both parties are frauds), but you do have to be registered as a republican to vote in the primary.

The NC primary is May 6th, you'll have to check with your individual state.

As for Barrack, he’s pro-gun control. I can’t vote for anyone who doesn’t support the constitution in it’s entirety.

Agreed Caolina.

Ron Paul supporters get registered.

Ron Paul is a must or it will be Hilary and basicly the end of the US as we know it.

We're all rooting for Dr. Paul over here in the UK too, shame we don't have someone similar or a proper binding constitution to defend.