I am not a fan of hippies or of the hippy culture. However, there was a group I admire that formed out of the 1960s hippy counter-culture. Personally, I would believe them to be early punks, but that does not matter. They called themselves Diggers after the English group which I wrote about in the below post.
The re-formed group expanded the ideology of not owning land and encouraged the communities to live as socially conscience and uncapitalisticly as possible.
For a long time I have admired one of the San Francisco group's founders, Emmett Grogan. He opposed the sell-out culture that became of the alternative movement. The way to truly live what you believe is to act the way you believe even when there are not critics or is not a crowd.
The Diggers performed street theatre of plays written by the community, often about relevant social and political issues. They created free stores where people could bring items they did not need so those who did could take them. One of the most successful contributions to the Bay Area was distributing free food in Golden Gate Park.
Obviously there are issues that arise from creating a new and not totally separate society. The group to payed to rent the Free Store building and the free food usually was made by volunteers but the ingredients bought. I have many conflicting views on the benefit of living within a system you despise. Not everyone should agree to live the same way, so smaller communities of people that follow similar ideologies should live separately and connect to other societies for things they lack. I am ignoring individuals who are too selfish or ignorant to explore who they are (whether or not they actually live it)
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