Re:Do We Live in a Society Without a Counterculture?
by zamfi on Thursday February 02, 2023 @03:04AM
(#34623602)
I think you're putting words in my mouth: I didn't make any claims of the '60s counterculture being hippies or any other specific movement, let alone being political. Further, the '60s counterculture was a bunch of groups with often very different goals.
Beyond that, I was not claiming the mainstream culture as authoritarian, only that reconsolidating media control could perhaps be a result of a resurgence of authoritarianism.
I think we mostly agree, btw.
Of course people in a movement about freedom, finding yourself, and spirituality would generally respond one way if asked, "Hey should we go get involved in a war on the other side of the world, to try to imperil the reach and influence of a geopolitical competitor?" but the core philosophy was not only apolitical, but largely anti-political: "Do what you want... man." Everything was largely based on a loose interpretation of Eastern philosophy which is similarly much more about the pursuit (and search) for the betterment of one's inner self.
The culture you're describing sounds much more like the Yippie [3] culture, which is something extremely different than hippy. As for authoritarianism - I'd argue that the lack of authoritarianism is precisely what enables counter-cultures. You're not going to see a counter-culture movement in places like Saudi Arabia. And I think something similar is happening in the US. Had the Occupy Movement been treated similarly to the hippies, I think there's a strong argument to be made that it would still exist.
[1] - https://search.brave.com/search?q=were+hippies+political&sou...
[2] - https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-hippies-counter-cul...
[3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_International_Party