Beatnik

A Lesser of Two Evils What defines a hippie, or a beatnik? The answer really depends on whose side you are on. I am not talking about the right and the left, or Republican and Democrat; it comes down to a truly subjective siding based on ones own opinion. If some one is against the culture then the drugs, sex, and protests define it, but if he is in agreement with them, then the it is the love, peace efforts, literary merits, and searches for God that define the subculture. I am not here to tell you one side is right and the other is wrong, I am here to ask that you please understand me. This begs the question as to the actual difference between a beatnik and a hippie, like the difference between two grapes on the same vine. My answer to that question is the same as my answer on the difference between a 7 year-old boy and his 17 year-old self. He is still the same person, the same physical human being, the only difference is that a generation has passed. And sure, the latter will experiment with drugs, and rebel, and give all 17 year-olds a bad name; but, in essence, one is jus a progression of the other. This still leaves some things unanswered though: like, as to what I actually classify myself as. Well, I do not call myself a hippie at risk of being grouped with the brain dead hippies of the 60's who didn't actually accomplish anything, I do not label myself as a beatnik at risk of being too closely related to hippies, and I dare not call myself a counter-culturist at risk of being a pompous, pretentious ass. So, I have settled with the lesser of two evils and identify with the Beats of the 50's. To truly understand this archetypal nature of a human, it must first be understood //why// it is an archetype. To become an archetype the subject must be so far out of the nonexistent norm that the only way to describe them would be to attribute a concept to them. Beatniks and hippies are often characterized for very negative things. When reaching into a bag of grapes, a young boy pulls out a rotten fruit that turns into dust in his mouth. I guarantee that this boy is not eager to eat another grape from the bag. Likewise, this is the curse on the beatniks.What began as agrowing sub-culture of liberation, love, and great creativity quickly became a rotten grape that gave abstract and experimental thinking a foul stench, and modern society has done more than take notice of this. Often times pop culture will take hippies and exaggerate the negative characteristics about them to warrant a few laughs. In the television series That 70's Showthe character Leo is portrayed as a washed up hippie who is poor, lazy, and drug dependent. Depicting hippies in this manner is a common trend in the media industry. In an episode of South Park titled "Lazy Hippies" (discreet, I know) media type="custom" key="18453922" align="right" width="70" height="70" a group of young free-thinkers tries to rally a large mass to protest the oppression by the government; however, is does not go over well because any beatnik on television is undoubtedly addicted to self medication. After they there was a large enough gathering to actually accomplish a goal, the hippies were content to smoke cannabis and listen to music: ironic how someone so seemingly set on forward progression can appear so stagnant. These depictions were not always inaccurate, though. Often, gatherings in the 60's would quickly turn from a peace effort to an orgy or riot of drunks: it only takes a couple of sour grapes. This precedent has obscured views on any one who protests convention or appears out of the nonexistent norm. Society tends to group people into things almost like genres that are based solely on their appearance and attitude. And, if a person is grouped into a "genre" with generally negative view, they are judged accordingly. There is actually scientific evidence to prove this, coming from a [|study] done on behaviors and attitudes in relation to social distance. Consumers in a supermarket reported staged shop-lifters that looked similar to hippies over people who appeared "normal". This further proves the social fact that because a sub-culture is outside of the nonexistent norm it is "wrong". There is no gray when it comes to they way beatniks are viewed by society; counter-cultures are evil and sent by Satan to destroy our comfortable, vanilla world! In the book Countering the Counterculture, Manuel Martinez makes a great effort to try and prove just that. He portrays famous beatniks, like Jack Kerouac, as racists and extreme radicals who betray democracy. Martinez, along with the rest of society, view the beat's extreme individuality as anti-democratic and anti-American. This causes a lot of unwarranted judgement towards people who demonstrate //some// aspects of beatnik culture; now, people are not running around accusing people of hippies or beatniks anymore, but they call you the modern form of the word: Hipster. This is a sub-culture built on wealthy psudo-intelectual college students, who pretend to be poor, and ride about on fixed gear bikes, fighting for some "post modern" cause they simply do not have. The entire cult is shrouded in hypocrisy, apathy, and contempt. They prance about with labels that read "Don't Label Me" on their shirts complaining about the very capitalist dogma they are slaves to - now I know what you are thinking, "Alex, you are doing the exact same thing society did to the beatniks!" Yes I am, but that is because the beatniks //actually// have redeeming qualities, and //actually// contributed to society and literature. Hipsters //actually// sit in their studio apartments all day discussing "art" (not to be confused with real art) and complaining, while they never //actually// do anything to solve the problem. Beatniks and hippies, on the other hand, actually took a stand and did something, contrary to popular belief. Beatnik's produced ground breaking literature and generated new ideals about individuality and freedom. They are often misinterpreted because their ideas can be very antiestablishment, or unorthodox. However, the beatniks produced one of the great american novels, On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. This is a beautiful story about freedom, individuality, and finding God. The beats of the 50's inspired an //entire generation// to rise up and challenge the rut of a thought process people had fallen into. Society is often unaware of the progression inspired by the beat writers and poets; in postwar america, the citizens were surrounded by death and destruction. Everywhere they looked the government was right in front of them, but the beatniks promoted forward progress towards peace and love. Contrary to societal statements, beatniks did have jobs: the revolutionaries would work in art industries and many worked in the computer industry in the 60's. Regardless of how hippies and beatniks are portrayed, American tradition cannot deny the literary advances and liberating philosophical understanding of the generations. Although there were a few bad grapes, not all beatniks are lazy or impatient. A good beat appreciates the independence of growing something your self and not being dependent on the corporate overlords to provide a person's every need. From personal experience, I can say that there is nothing more rewarding than toiling in the garden all spring then finally reaping what you have sewn, in opposition to the instant-gratification of the modern life style. The main mass of society spends their day as middle men using money to get what they want, when they want it. Ironic how beatniks are the ones called lazy and impatient. Before society judges a culture that criticizes it, it should be checked to see if the critiques actually hold weight.

Works Cited Natsoulas, John. "Abstract Expressionism and Beat Generation." John Natsoulas Art Gallery -. Natsoulas.com. Web. 03 May 2012. .

Winson, Rebecca. "Running in Heels | Literary Movements in a Nutshell: The Beat Generation." Running in Heels. Cover Features, 9 Nov. 2009. Web. 03 May 2012. .

Patterson, Eric V. "Juxtaposition of Wor[l]ds:The Cultural and Literary Legacyof the Beat Generation." The Cultural and Literary Legacy of the Beat Generation. Web. 03 May 2012. .

Steffensmeier, Renee H., and Darrell J. Steffensmeier. "Attitudes and Behavior Toward Hippies: A Field Experiment Accompanied by Home Interviews." The Sociological Quarterly 16.3 (1975). Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

"Hippies Do Drugs and Don't Shower." Dotcommogul. DotComMogul, 9 Apr. 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. .

Martínez, Manuel Luis. //Countering the Counterculture: Rereading Postwar American Dissent from Jack Kerouac to Tomás Rivera//. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 2003. Print.