The hippies also protested other forms of social and political injustice, such as communities tearing down buildings or removing parks and open space for development, and in modern innovations that resulted in harming the environment, such as smog and industrial pollution. Again, they brought attention to what was happening in cities and countries around the world, and the governments that were engaging in these practices. They planted flowers in vacant lots, urged people to love one another, and generally seemed to hate Richard Nixon and all the politics he stood for, from continuing the Vietnam War to hiding evidence he was behind the Watergate Burglaries. They wanted to be anything but mainstream and conservative, and so they dressed outrageously, lived outrageously, and fought for what they believed in.
The music and protests of the hippy era carried over long after most of the hippies themselves disappeared. Thirty...
Music festivals, featuring protest (and non-protest) music sprang up after the hippy era, and some of them, like the Monterey Pop Festival, are still in existence, today. Some of the bands that dominated the hippy era, such as the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, Peter, Paul & Mary, and others are still in existence today, as well.
The hippy movement changed the way youth were viewed in this country. When they protested and won, it showed that young people could become involved in political and social issues, they could fight for change, and they could be effective. It did not matter if they had long hair, smoked pot, wore tie-dye and bell-bottoms, and listened to loud music. What mattered is that they managed to change a lot of things, including music, protest, and injustices in society. They worked for change, and it happened.
