Hippies and the Modern Left

For many decades, the ‘hippie’ subculture has been explicitly and intricately entwined with the politics of the left. Casting our minds back to the counterculture of the 1960s and the generation-defining Summer of Love, many will immediately recollect the famous caricatures of the time: peace-loving youths with flowers in their hair, espousing ideas of transcendental consciousness, joyfully riding a multi-coloured acid bus into the sun-soaked distance! The anti-capitalist and anti-war sentiments rippling through the movement drew on open drug use, nomadic lifestyles, and the creation of art and music to rebel against the rigid conformity of the time.

More than 50 years have passed since the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival of 1969, and for many involved in these communities—and indeed wider society—the term ‘hippie’ is now wildly outdated. Offshoots of the original hippie movement include the emergence of the 1970s New Age movement, which was characterised by an increased emphasis on spiritual beliefs and the practice of astrology, reiki, tarot cards, and alternative medicine. This movement overlaps in varying degrees with those who study and gain inspiration from esoteric Eastern philosophies, with a tendency to focus on meditation as a form of spiritual practice, in order to inform and develop their experience of the human mind. 

In 2022, the alternative community is a broad church, but one thing is for certain: whether we’re referring to the cliche caricature of a vegan yoga teacher or a devoted disciple of transcendental meditation, right-wing politics and conservative values are not the first things that spring to mind. Even for the notable proportion of these communities who refer to themselves as apolitical, the fact remains that these collectives tend to almost solely prosper in uniformly left-wing locations like Bristol and Brighton, or California in the US. By sheer force of cultural osmosis alone, many other members of these communities will consider themselves to be left-leaning by default, if not explicitly left-wing. In the 1960s, this made complete sense: the ideological trajectory of the left was steadfastly anti-establishment and hence moved in lockstep with the non-conformist nature of the rapidly flourishing hippie subculture. In the present day, however, the bond established between these natural allies appears to be splitting at the seams as a fascinating micro schism emerges in our increasingly fragmented political divide. Alternative hippie communities, geographically nestled in cosy liberal bubbles for so many years, are becoming vocally disenchanted with the status quo.

I spoke with Kwame Mensah, a British citizen of Ghanian origin, who works in Bristol city centre as a reiki practitioner and a facilitator of men’s therapy circles. When I asked why he doesn’t resonate with the Black Lives Matter movement, he eloquently explained that through his intensive daily meditation practice, he has learned to identify less with his inner critic and any self-defeating internal narratives that may have developed during his formative years. As he identifies less with the mechanisms of his own ego, he cannot support a movement that uniquely focuses on the arbitrary nature of his skin colour, and which only seeks to tell a story of oppression and suffering. The racialised leftist narrative of BLM is antithetical to the continued development of his entire worldview.

I also spoke with Martin Gordon, who refers to himself as a ‘spiritual seeker’. Growing up in the remnants of apartheid South Africa before moving to East Lincolnshire at the age of 11, he was one of two black children in his school and recalls feeling isolated because of the consistent barrage of comments made, and questions asked, about his skin colour. Despite these unpalatable experiences, he was quick to make the important distinction between racism and ignorance, pointing out that his young classmates were the latter, but not the former. Nonetheless, he explained that coping with ignorance in East Lincolnshire was preferable to discussing the topic of race with supposedly tolerant leftists in Bristol. He’s been met with both patronising disdain and outright disgust when explaining to left-wing friends in the city that he thinks the UK is a good place for non-white ethnic minorities to live. Moving forward, Martin explained that his hope for society is that we can unite ‌in a state of transcendental consciousness, vibrating at a higher frequency to shed the layers of ancestral trauma which keep us locked in conflict. Whether this sounds like idealistic word salad—or a delightfully endearing vision for the future of humanity—it stands in stark contrast to the divisive toxicity of the race-baiting modern left.

Theologically, many in the New Age movement believe in a form of divinity that embues all of the universe, including human beings themselves. As such, there is a strong emphasis on the spiritual authority of the self. Is it any surprise that proponents of this spiritual worldview are resistant to the poisonous fixation on immutable biological characteristics such as race, gender, and sexuality? Many basic tenets of New Age theology and Eastern philosophy aim to cultivate a greater sense of awareness and connection to the vast landscape of human consciousness. The belief that the individual is sacrosanct is perhaps more common amongst alternative communities than it is understood by the population at large. This idea stands in direct opposition to the segregational mindset of the intersectional left which noisily exalts the claim that your in-group identity is paramount. One can only imagine how jarring it must feel to emerge from a six-hour silent meditation, only to be condescendingly informed that where you rank on the leftist hierarchy of oppression is a more important consideration than the sacredness of your own spirit.

Indeed, an emphasis on theological belief as an essential facet of the human experience is where alternative hippie communities and traditional right-wing conservatives can find common ground. Whether that faith manifests as a devotion to Christian monotheism or a belief in astrology, both groups extol the virtues of carving out a place for faith in the modern world. Meanwhile, the ideological trajectory of the left pedestalises science, reason, and logic above all else, giving short shrift to any element of the human experience which is not easily deciphered through this lens. Skeptical Inquirer—an ostensibly apolitical science and reason championing monthly magazine—devotes endless coverage to debunking new age claims. In the last month alone, the website has churned out a series of articles swiping at low hanging fruit such as tales of psychics, mediums, and ghost stories. At first glance, this may seem like standard fare and an acceptable use of time for an institution devoted to the pursuit of science and reason. Yet their self proclaimed—and indeed self-congratulatory—commitment to logic and rationality is conspicuously absent in other areas. They are deafeningly silent when it comes to the covert attack on those very same ideals permeating through every aspect of our mainstream culture, propped up by leftist professors comfortably tucked away in the humanities departments of major universities and seeking cover beneath a thinly veiled facade of intellectual respectability.

The postmodern school of thought which helped lay the groundwork for much of the farcical discourse we find ourselves tediously navigating today rejects the concept of objective truth wholesale. One would comfortably assume that organisations such as Skeptical Inquirer which claim to “help the public navigate the complex borderland between sense and non sense” would have their hands full when addressing such a forthright and controversial claim. Yet the sacrosanct principles of logic and reason are set to the wayside to gather dust when it comes to ever more ludicrous beliefs widely held on campus and beyond, such as the idea that Mathematics is racist and two plus two does not, in fact, equal four. While millions of people genuinely debate whether men can get pregnant, Skeptical Inquirer busies itself with the important task of discerning whether the Virgin Mary appeared in someone’s cheese on toast.

Herein lies the hypocrisy at the heart of the modern left. While they are gleefully eager to belittle the faith-based beliefs of their political and ideological opponents, the more fantastical aspects of their own political worldview escape such scrutiny. Whether it be the claim that objective truth is a social construct, or the hotly contested debate around transgenderism, many prominent leftists are unable to graciously concede the flaws and fallacies that blight their side of the political aisle. Is it any wonder that great numbers of the population—including the hippie communities with whom they were naturally aligned—are turning away from such blatantly dishonest intellectual cowardice?

The Skeptical Inquirer are not the only organisation debunking new age claims with a skewed left-wing bias while failing to acknowledge the speck in their own eye. An array of sanctimonious articles have flourished in publications such as The Guardian and The Independent, deriding members of alternative communities for an ever-growing list of ethical transgressions. These accusations include a collective hesitancy to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, a resistance to segregation along medical grounds, and the crime of adopting an open-minded approach to politicians and commentators deemed by the left to be persona non grata. Of course, the smugly uncharitable tone of these articles fails to acknowledge that expressing distrust of corporate juggernauts such as Pfizer was once the proud preserve of left-wing activists and hippies alike. Whether the finger-wagging incarnation of the modern left likes it or not, being sceptical of a vaccine created by a multi-billion pound corporation in lockstep with a government they don’t trust is remarkably consistent with the general hippie worldview. Furthermore, an open-mindedness and enthusiasm for fresh conversations and ideas were the exact principles that underpinned the hippie movement all those years ago. Now that the left dominates the cultural establishment, this same open-mindedness is viewed as a threat rather than a virtue.

Colourfully inspired by the literary works of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, the Beat Generation emerging out of New York in the 1950s was defined by its courageous targeting of the taboos and hypocrisies of the time. Their approach to alternative ideas spawned the global hippie movement that dominated the cultural landscape of the following decade. What would these cultural trailblazers think of the shameless moral policing of dissenting views ruthlessly implemented by the contemporary left? When hundreds of thousands of hippies flocked to San Francisco in the Summer of 1967, they preached openness and tolerance as an antidote to the regimentation of wider society. They believed in individual sovereignty, and the idea that mysticism and spirituality are an integral part of the human experience. As the left continues to depart from its traditional values, however, vast swathes of the hippie communities dwelling in left-wing locations are staying true to their roots. The left has replaced freedom of speech with cancel culture, and unity with division. Thus, as the left becomes increasingly deranged, one of its oldest companions is turning its back. In short, leftists, the hippies didn’t change. You did.