My family has become rather good friends with the folks over at http://thewannabehomesteader.com. We talk on the phone often, as well as almost daily emails, and even get together every month of two. A couple months ago, while we were exchanging emails regarding the Ron Paul homeschool curriculum, Brian had this to say:
BTW, I didnt know you were quite the patriot. I thought you were more the free spirit, hippie, progressive type…;-)
Now, I wasn’t offended…much, and not for long, becasue I can see how that conclusion can be drawn. I DO love tie-dyed shirts and growing my own food….but as far as I can tell, that’s about it. In fact, Until I started writing this article, I didn’t even know the origin of the word, so went and looked it up.
Hippie, from Wikipedia:
The hippie (or hippy) subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The word ‘hippie’ came from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into New York City’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The origins of the terms hip and hep are uncertain, though by the 1940s both had become part of African Americanjive slang and meant “sophisticated; currently fashionable; fully up-to-date”.[1][2][3][4] The Beats adopted the term hip, and early hippies inherited the language and countercultural values of the Beat Generation. Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and some used drugs such as cannabis, LSD, and magic mushrooms to explore altered states of consciousness.
Well hell. They didn’t even mention tie-die! Just goes to show you whatI know…It seems my rural Appalachian upbringing is showing in my cultural ignorance, eh?
I’m OK with that.
Broken down:
I have a strong dislike for both NYC and San Fran – too many people, particulalrly the kind that think more government is a good thing.
I do NOT consider myself to be sophisticated or currently fashionable. I am rather simple and love to wear a tie died shirt with camo shorts. It gives me lots of pocket room and keeps folks guessing.
And I am so NOT “fully up to date” that I usually don’t know a hurricane is coming until the weather gets bad and people ask me why I’m still working or not getting ready for the storm.
Now, creating communities is something I can grasp, but not the commune-living type.
And as far as drug use goes, I am not against it, but since it is illegal, I don’t do it, not that I would if it were legal. And while I have been known to make it, I rarely consume alcohol, but have grown some mushrooms that I considered magic…
So what am I? What do I believe?
I believe in freedom allows me to do whatever I want, as long as it does no harm to anyone else.
I believe that everyone should be responsible for themselves.
I think that growing your own food is a great thing.
I believe in treating everyone the way you want to be treated.
I think that Robert Heinlein, Willie Nelson, MacGyver, and Daniel Boone were all geniuses….in their given fields.
Finally, I believe that the power of the human spirit holds more potential for good, and evil, than anything else on this planet.
I am just like everyone else – a product of my environment. I am part hippy, part soldier, part farmer, part poet, and part hermit, with slivers of a lot of others things thrown in for spice. I consider myself as close as you can come to a Renaissance Man in this day and age.
Mostly, (and those that know me well will probably agree), I think I am full of BS, only I’m good at selling it as quality fertilizer. 
It’s all about perspective 🙂
Peace,
db
As always, please “like” FloridaHillbilly on Facebook, subscribe to my feed, follow me on Twitter, add it to Google+, Pinterest, Linkdn, Digg, and/or tell your friends! The more folks that start behaving like ants, the fewer grasshoppers there will be left needing help.
Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)? I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and your price is the same, no matter what.
I’m trying to remember which Heinlein book goes on a tangent about being a Renaissance Man. Slipped my mind. Stranger in a strange land? The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, is one of my all time favorite scifi stories.
Anyway, I don’t think anyone actually fits any specific mold unless they make a concerted effort to conform.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Great article! I think that most people are a blend of many things but so many fail to recognize it in others and sometimes themselves.
I gotta say this….The single greatest thing that has came out of our blog was that it gave us the opportunity to meet you guys.
Regardless of the Hippie or Tie-Dye….you guys are the same people in reality as you are portrayed on this blog.
Just good folks….:-D
P.S I was gonna ask you about growing leafy type greens in warm weather…I’ll shoot you an email later…;-)
Thanks, Brother. Just building my community 🙂