I am of the “Hippie Generation”. Tune in and drop out, Flower Power, Make love not war, Peace, man!
Seriously, graduating from high school in ’71, I lived through the era of student protests and the rise of something called hippies. In my high school, you were “freak” or “Greek”.
When I was in grad school, a visiting scholar came to our Dept. and had a discussion with grad students. He had written a book about the time of burning draft cards and protest against Vietnam. It was his (not) humble opinion that most of the people were fakes. It didn’t mean much to most of them and they were just sheep following the crowd.
I was sitting there, the only person in his audience close to his age, and I took issue with his view. Though there were many who wandered around during the protests and followed the crowd, there were a lot of young men who knew exactly what risk they were taking when they burned their draft cards. They were going to jail. It was a DRAFT, you did not have the choice to say you weren’t going, thank u very much. It was law. If your number was called on the tv set the night they read numbers off for who were drafted next, you were going to Vietnam. It was terrifying, especially for those many of us who did not accept nor believe in this war. Many men and women connected to them went through hell trying to decide whether or not they were going, whether or not they needed to take time to protest this insane war, whether or not to run to Canada (which meant you could not come back), whether or not to apply for conscientious objector status. We all had moral choices to make, and they were big ones. We were young college students. This would affect the rest of our lives.
But we came out of an era of protest. We were baby boomers, born after WWII, born in the middle of the Civil Rights era, the time of freedom rides, bombings, the end of segregation. It was a time of BIG CHANGES for our country, and we felt that whatever we did would make a difference. We were filled with a sense of our own power. We thought we were shaping the future of our nation. We certainly did not believe in this war, and did not think it worth giving our lives for. In those days, being in college meant you were temporarily spared from the draft. It was called “college deferment”. TODAY, deferment means putting off the payments on your huge student debt you accumulated to finish your degree. THEN, deferment meant you could avoid the draft. So to RISK being kicked out of school by taking part in demonstrations was a life risk. It was no easy decision. I resented the “lightness” of the attitude of the person sitting in front of a bunch of grad students who did not “know” the era as we did. He was making light of a time that significantly impacted so many during that era, causing heart break, confusion, and soul searching. Yes we were nieve and young, but it was a time of great decision-making, devotion to a cause, and coming together to effect change in our society. Or so we thought.
Then there is the MEDIA VIEW of the hippie generation. Just saw another tv documentary on it a few nights ago. Every time they showed young people together, they were at a music concert, singing and swaying, taking off their clothes, kissing, and in general, acting like idiots. That was not what it was like for the majority of us then. Yes, there was a new wave of music concerts, Woodstock being the ultimate one, and people doing dope. People smoked pot a lot. But we weren’t all swaying around, taking off our clothes, and having sex with everyone else at the concerts. “Free love” is a slogan that came out of that time period. We were concerned with “being free” as the ultimate experience. But I never slept with anyone at a concert. I was actually in school and getting married at the time. But my husband, after much souls searching, wrote a letter to the government and told them he morally did not believe in this war, couldn’t go to it, and applied for conscientious objector status, which means if you DO go, you do not carry a gun. Not the most appealing situation to be in, in the middle of the Vietnam “conflict”!! You would go as a medic. OR, you stay stateside and give 2 years of your life in some other job for below minimum wage. He was drafted, it pulled him out of school, he worked 2 years stateside in a hospital, and it changed our lives forever. He never finished his degree. He couldn’t get a job for years after that, because his draft status was listed on his job application. He was seen as a traitor.
Basically, this is all I wanted to say. I don’t think most people in protests were just sheep following the crowd. They took a chance of being kicked out of school and drafted, by doing it. Four students lost their lives at the hands of National Guard troops, by deciding to participate in a peaceful protest at Kent State University. It was a time of great tension in our country, and great soul searching. It was a time that young adults felt empowered to change our country. If only they could have moved from that state, to one of knowing that their votes mattered in elections.
Doctor Grandma 
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