Timeline
Introduction
by Phil Morningstar
Timeline
Any group who rejects the values their society holds as being oppressive and wants to see that society change can be said to be counter cultural. The Counter Culture that the Hippie movement was a part of is concerned with all things progressive all things that promote understanding amongst peoples and allows individuals the freedom to develop as they please. When do you start something that is part of everything our society is?
So many trends and movements do not lend themselves to dateable bullet points. The Punk movement for instance, when did it start? Punk is like the word hippie and doesn't really mean a damn thing. James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause is definitely punk, and The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop are just as much punk as the Sex Pistols .
Another example of movements evolving organically is the Rainbow Family of Living Light . Rainbow has grown from being a yearly Gathering of the Tribes to become an international counter cultural movement itself. It’s a huge and very active network and this is a modern place for a young person to find an alternative to the consumerist lifestyle. I've been a Rainbow Warrior since 1968 myself.
I have tried to make sure that, as many of the links in the Timeline are to groups still active in progressive and radical causes. The Internet has made it so much easier for people to get in touch with each other and communication is vital when you live in a world with "processed news". I would like to thank Neil Kramer for his work on the early part of this project. The Hippie Museum is an open project and if you have any suggestions or comments about items or groups please email us at, hippiemuseum@imaginationwebsites.com
I chose to begin this timeline with the French Revolution. While the American Revolution and Constitution had progressive elements in it, the rights were only for a narrowly defined group. Only land owning educated white men originally had the vote. The American Revolution was fought mainly for a change in government and when G. Washington, personally led the army to suppress The Whiskey Rebellion , he was proclaiming that the American Revolution was not a social one. Only the fact that the People kept demanding and fighting for more rights were they eventually granted, and it is still an on going process in the United States today. The French Revolution radically altered all aspects of French society. The rights the revolution invoked were said to be natural and all-inclusive. I end this introduction with the words of that, and my own Revolutions: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity! Peace and Love!
Phil Morningstar, Berkeley 2003
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