The Hippies vs. The Woke

🌈 Abstract

The article compares the personalities and characteristics of the hippie movement in the 1960s and the current social justice activist movement, arguing that the former was more open and less neurotic compared to the latter.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Hippies vs. Social Justice Activists

1. What are the key personality differences between the hippies and the social justice activists?

• The article suggests that the stereotypical hippie personality was high in openness, while the stereotypical social justice activist personality is high in neuroticism.
• Hippies were more aligned with free speech and tried to persuade through "teach-ins" rather than cancel, and were able to gain sympathy and support from the general public.
• In contrast, the article suggests the social justice activists are closer to being a cult, attracting people who are psychologically unhealthy and have a lot of negative emotions that the ideology reinforces.

2. How do the campus protests of the 1960s and 2024 compare?

• Both eras saw campus protests that drew media attention, with campus administrators reluctant to crack down on disruptive protests.
• In the 1960s, the radicals who supported the Communist Vietcong were at the fringe of the anti-war movement, while the mainstream anti-war protesters were upset about the sacrifices and casualties of the war.
• In 2024, the article suggests the anti-Israel protesters are limited to a fringe that supports "the bad guys" (Hamas), and the author doubts the anti-Israel movement will gain as much broader public support as the anti-war movement did in the 1960s.

3. How do the long-term trajectories of the hippie and social justice movements differ?

• The article suggests the hippies blended into mainstream society within less than a decade, with their music, style, and looser sexual norms being adopted.
• In contrast, the author sees the social justice activists as increasingly being viewed as toxic and impossible to integrate in the workplace.

[02] Comparison to Noah Smith's Perspective

1. What is Noah Smith's perspective on the Palestine protests?

• Noah Smith agrees with the author that the Palestine protests represent a "dead end" that the leftist movement won't easily recover from, regardless of the election outcome.

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