Hippie, derived from 1950s
slang equivalent to "down" or "Cool"; seen variously as hep (as in Hepcat) and
later 'hip'
via the
white beatnik culture of the late 1950s. People who followed the original alterantive lifestyle tied to the youth movements of the 1960s radicals were called "Yippies'; this later morphed, by association with the still active beatniks, into "hippie." After the 1970s hippies were seen by many as sellouts, because they embraced the very
money-centered culture that they professed to abhor, becoming "Yuppies" (Young Urban Professionals); many modern 'hippies' are no more than mall rats who wear the designer versions of what the hippies of the 1960s made themselves; i.e., tie-dies, sandals, etc; so there is no true note of alternativism in the modern hippie "movement". Drug use is a prevalent theme in both eras, as is
disrespect for authority and established institutions.