Happier Abroad Forum Community

I have a question:

Are most hippies and counter culture groups in America spiritual freethinkers who are evolved and think outside the box? Or are they just youngsters looking for an excuse to smoke pot, be lazy and rebel against society?

It's kind of unclear to me. They themselves hate being put into categories.

From my experience traveling across the USA though, I've met various types. Some have scholarly knowledge of metaphysics and holistic practices. Some are kind holistic vegetarians who are drug free. Some just dress in the hippie fad and go to hippie concerts, hang out in hippie cliques and smoke pot. And some live in eco villages where all utilities are solar powered or through alternative energy sources. (e.g. http://www.arcosanti.org/) There are those who go to the infamous Burning Man in Nevada every year where they act crazy, wild and classless and make tasteless art in the desert, and probably smoke pot too. (ironically Burning Man costs $200 to get into, which is odd since hippies don't tend to have much money)

And of course, there are "Rainbow Gatherings" around the world where hippies gather and camp out and do peace love festivals to try to garner energy to affect the world. The guys in these groups tend to have long hair for some reason. And some have tattoos too. They seem to have their own sub-culture.

The thing is, I agree with them mentally on a lot of things. We share the same anti-materialism views, anti-authority beliefs, anarchist views, anti-establishment mentality, interest in holistic practices, etc. However, I never really feel like I fit in with them for some reason, nor fully accepted by them, even though they act nice and open on the surface. Maybe it's because I don't look like them or dress like them, or I just don't have their vibe. They seem to be in a different world and not in reality. Plus their speech tends to be very politically correct and they hate labels of any kind, even if they're accurate, whereas I like to find patterns in things and use labels to describe them.

One thing I don't get is why they have to smoke pot. How is that being spiritual, evolved, or alternative? It's like in America, you are either a pro-establishment conformist conservative, or a pot smoking hippie with tattoos. Why can't normal people be counter-culture?

So what do you all think? Any experiences with hippies that you can share? What are they exactly? And how can we understand people who don't believe in "labels" about themselves? If they have no labels or categories, then what can I make of them?

What drives these people? Are they really spiritually evolved freethinkers? Or just drug addicts in a subculture with a high school mentality? The line is kind of blurred since they don't really define themselves and hate labels in general.

And is it worth it to pursue social relations with such folks or get involved with their activities?

I personally identify more with "hippie" than any other subculture even though I have short hair, no tattoos and don't smoke pot.
To answer your question though, I think it's kind of like anything else...multifaceted. Theres just all sorts of types and subtypes that fall under the heading "hippie" Some just dress a cetain way in order to belong to a social group, while some have very genuine principals and ideals and couldn't care less about fashion or popularity. If you ask me Id also say geographic location has something to do with it: some places have the reputation as hotbeds of "hippie" culture/activity....it just seems to be the "vibration" of that geographical location(in the same way some places are notoriously violent) People would probably be much better off if they could transcend the human need to label/catagorize everything and just stop labeling people as hippies or whatever else and reality would be much clearer and less confusing.