For those of you around at the time, part of the New Left, what did you think about what was going on? Did you feel the hippies were a problem? Join on board?
[WS:] Problem? It depends to whom. To the humanity? Hippies were just a drop in a bucket, hardly noticeable outside the US-centered pop-culture.
To society? Just another fad, like hundreds of other. I think of the hippies as one of many outcomes, or byproducts, of larger social-economic changes taking place in the second half of the 20th century - growing productivity and surplus production, rising living standards, welfare state and social safety net, the weakening of the fascist and right wing forces in the aftermath of WW2 - rather than a cause or even a factor influencing these changes.
To the individuals pursuing this life style? I see nothing wrong with screwing around, smoking weed, and flashing a finger at authority figures - if done in moderation. It can only become a problem when people get stuck in this mode and are unable to see the world from any different angle. But this is hardly unique to the hippies. Being stuck in any particular life style, including suburban middle class consumerism, is a potential problem, because it limits the individual's potential to adapt to the changing environment.
Wojtek