He Became Hippie & DROPPED OUT In 1970. Why He Did It.
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- The speaker, sitting for this interview in a park in Monterey, California, has "dropped out".
The concept of "dropping out" in the 1960s and 1970s refers to a countercultural movement, where primarily young Americans, chose to disengage from mainstream society. This was a reaction against the perceived materialism, conformity, and societal norms of the time, as this gentleman. The phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out," popularized by psychologist and counterculture figure Timothy Leary, encapsulated this ethos.
Many people who "dropped out" left conventional jobs, careers, and traditional suburban or urban lifestyles. This man had been a doctor. People like him sought to escape the pressures and expectations of the capitalist-driven society. These individuals pursued alternative lifestyles, including communal living, exploration of spirituality, and experimentation with psychedelics and other drugs. The goal was to find personal liberation and enlightenment outside the conventional paths laid out by society.
The movement was closely associated with the broader counterculture of the 1960s and 70s, which included opposition to the Vietnam War, civil rights activism, and a rejection of consumerism.
Many “dropouts” were disillusioned by the social and political climate, including the Vietnam War, racial inequality, and the rigid social structures that seemed to stifle individual freedom. There was a desire to find a deeper meaning in life beyond material success. The 1960s saw a rise in interest in Eastern philosophies, spiritual exploration, and environmentalism, all of which contributed to this search.
The post-World War II era was marked by a strong emphasis on conformity, particularly in suburban America. The counterculture rebelled against this, seeking to break free from societal expectations.
The use of psychedelics like LSD played a significant role in the "dropping out" movement. These substances were believed to open the mind to new perceptions and possibilities, leading many to question the status quo.
Monterey, California, became a symbolic location for the counterculture, especially after the famous Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The festival was one of the first major rock music festivals, featuring iconic performances by artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. It attracted a large gathering of "hippies" and those involved in the counterculture movement.
Monterey and other parts of California, like San Francisco and Big Sur, were attractive to those dropping out because of their natural beauty, temperate climate, and perceived sense of freedom. These areas became havens for artists, musicians, and those seeking to live outside the constraints of mainstream society.
The West Coast, particularly California, became a hub for the counterculture. Monterey was appealing because it offered a community of like-minded individuals who shared similar ideals and values. The sense of belonging and shared purpose was a powerful draw for those seeking an alternative way of life.
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David Hoffman filmmaker
Moral of the story: if you wanna be free, don't have kids.
Then I'm so "free" you get "3 for the price of one" with me??? 🙄😒
I'm hoping that you were trying to be clever. Does this guy look free to you?
He's broken af with guilt weighing way more heavily than all his possessions and family ever did.
This is the 180 fallacy: that if the direction I'm going is wrong, then the opposite must be right.
That guy doesn't seem to be happy at all, maybe even depressed. There's no joy or feeling of liberation. That final bit about being alone and missing his kids sticks out.
True. He's not a happy hippie. Actually, there's absolutely nothing Hippie about him.
I don't know, and it doesn't say, if this is from Making Sense of the Sixties or not, but I do find his story fascinating. Here he was a psychiatrist, who felt trapped in life of affluence so much so, that he left his wife and children behind. I certainly hope he came to reconcile with the kids. That would have been hard on them for sure. Thanks, David.🙂
NOT A HIPPIE! Just another middle aged guy unhappy in his work, probably a failing marriage, lost and trying to find his way clear. Sad, but truthfully speaking the kids probably were resilient enough to handle it okay. That's how it was then. We grew up fast, saw the realities that our parents couldn't see. I knew more than a few lost men like this guy. He's certainly not a villain, just a lost soul in a hard world.
But he's all alone!
He definitely seemed lost. When he said he was 40 at the time, I thought "midlife crisis?" Though it does seem like there was more underneath it all.
He was lost in life and made it his kids problem. When he had kids his life was no longer about him, he couldn't accept that.
I grew up in Venice, CA, and totally dropped out in 68 when I was going to UCLA and joined SDS ( Students for Democratic Society) . A short time later, I got drafted. The words in the video resonate.
This was a town where counter culture reined supreme, communism, gays, drunks, drug addiction ... home of the beatniks, it was different than most places. When the 60s came around, we became hippies by default, I suppose.
It was hard to put the times in words. It wasn't peaceful like today, where a few thousand show up for a protest here and there.
We had the million man marches that traveled several states, all the political leaders had targets on their chests, and then they got shot, plus the very unpopular draft, including an all expense paid trip to Vietnam for 500, 000 troops.
Imagine today, young 18-19 year-old boys and girls getting drafted and sent to the Middle East to fight in 13 month deployments. It didn't make a bit of difference what your opinion was about war. We were killing everything that moved, and you couldn't tell good guys from bad. It changes you.
One day, you're in high school, going surfing with your friends, the next hanging out of a helicopter shooting 50 caliber machine guns. I was rather numb for the next 10 years upon return ... kept the liquor stores in business and 10 Lilly F40s a day to beat me down (beatnik meaning was to get beat down, alcohol, sleeping pills and heroin) plus 2 tabs of acid to lift the spirits
No thanks, thing I'll drop out and turn on ... tomorrow may never come.
Thank you for sharing this. It gives so much more context than experiencing the video itself. For what it’s worth, I wish you’d never had to go through any of that man.
If you care to, any chance you could share anything about your experience with SDS? No worries if not
"I'd had enough of the things, I didn't want anymore". I think many, many people can relate to this sentiment.
It's fine to drop out, but you can't create the collateral damage to other people that this guy did
I'm pretty sure it gives ya bad karma.
@@websurfer5772it also gives lasting trauma and a lost legacy of wealth for his future generations that could have been if he just kept his assets, but no hippie dad wanted to hippie so the kids don't get that figure that teaches them how to set themselves up and their kids up, daddy just wanted to drop acid and tune out. Literally fuck this dude, objectively unfit to be a father and he should be ashamed of himself for failing his children.
It wasn't good to leave his kids...He should have waited til they were at least in college. Too much White guilt with this guy.
Agreed it’s pretty effed to leave your kids because you’re seeking higher fulfillment. I can get what he’s after but discarding your children in pursuit of it is bafflingly uncool to say the least
@@LoveFactoryParties & @teamhunley I see no "white guilt", just a man who wants to be happy.
Now if his kids are like he presents them: my stocks, my cash, my bank account, my vacation... then they are his offspring - a bit more narcissistic, surely above the average, capable, self-sufficient from an early age, i.e. "small" grownups who on top of actualized genetic predispositions know how to handle themselves and their surroundings to survive.
Dad is self-centered but so are his stocks and cash handling kids. Since he is quite brilliant (maybe even a genius) his story isn't the usual one (more like Wess Anderson's "Royal Tennenbaums").
They'll be fine.
I'm not sure what "white" has to do with anything. This guy was broken. When this happened, I have no idea: as a child, by the "system," or psychologically or some physical pathology. He was raised to be a consumer in a society that valued him for nothing else, much like a cow consumes food so we can eat its meat. That is no life for a person (or a cow) and it won't end well.
@@gorankatic40000bcif he were alive today he'd be towing the line of everything being white supremacy 100%, he'd be spewing talking points literally crafted by the machine while gassing about how he's so against the machine like they all do now 🙄
Seems like he saved himself from eventual suicide.
I got that feeling, too.
@@StephanieJeanneDitto.
He still seems pretty miserable... I think one of the greatest blessings in life is to realize there is no change in circumstance that will resolve your inner predicaments in a satisfactory way.
Yes, exactly.
Would like to talk to this man if he’s still around. I myself live in Monterey. Hope he reconciled with his children
I think these comments represent a lot of self righteous people who are too quick to make assumptions. It's the easy thing to point a finger down at somebody, while giving yourself the attaboy for being so good inside. This man clearly didn't do anything rash. Imagine what could have created such a major life change. I believe that is the point here; not some kind of moral bandwagon, for us to all jump onto.
Yeah but his poor kids and wife though. 🙁 Why didn't he bring them along on his "Hippie Trip"?
I agree with you. It clearly was not easy to do. I definitely have empathy for him. My comment was not meant to be judgemental. ✌️
@@websurfer5772
There is nothing automatic in "poor them".
@@Kenzofeis Well, it's true that it's not up to me to judge others. I just hope I would handle his situation (whatever it truly was) in a different way. But that's from my perspective.
@@websurfer5772
A family can be terrible, and it can be necessary to get away to preserve self, I know this, hence my comment - while also knowing that it can be the other way around. What is left is being hesitant to judge unless someone really tell on themselves, this man told how he had good principles that was not respected, so his "escape" is understandable to me. End of rant ^^
As long as you feel better, to hell with your children, right?
Having a similar experience, I too became a hippie and dropped out of Nursing to do Home Health/Respite/Hospice Care. I'm retired now, but I finally got to do hands on nursing and caring I always wanted, and I never regretted it.
I can't imagine how the children coped, I hope well. That isn't to say we are not responsible for pursuing our own peace, but that is not where responsibility ends. Too much time in your own head is not medicinal, we as people need tactile stimuli. Beautifully captured it felt very honest and open thanks Mr Hoffman ✨
Sounded like they were already materialistic enough to not miss him that much. It happens.
@@Kenzofeisthat is too tragic and true 💖✨
Some 54 years later, this guy speaks to me and I hear it in my own life - it really is all cyclical, isn't it?
Ah my life was too good so I left my kids to chase my selfish desires. Spoken like a true man of his selfish time.
lame
And leave all responsibility to someone else. It's not right to have children and then say... this isn't what I want. Those babies still need guidance and love. Shame on you for being so very selfish.
Your point notwithstanding, isn’t selfishness timeless in the sense that it’s human? As if our present age is any *less* “selfish”??
If his kids are like he presents them: my stocks, my cash, my bank account, my vacation... then they are his offspring - a bit more narcissistic, surely above the average, capable, self-sufficient from an early age, i.e. "small" grownups who on top of rich man's/politician's actualized genetic predispositions know how to handle themselves and their surroundings to survive.
Dad is self-centered but so are his stocks and cash handling kids. Since he is quite brilliant (maybe even a genius) his story isn't the usual one (more like Wess Anderson's "Royal Tennenbaums").
@gorankatic40000bc the kids weren't born being into money and materialism. they learned it from the example he set and the environment he was raising them in. then he abandoned them. doesn't matter if they're self sufficient, that would hurt anyone
Rich people hobbies.
Yes, and women with children are locked down with a ball and chain. We can't afford to "find ourselves", let alone abandon kids to "find ourselves". It's a rich man's hobby.
This guy is not a Hippie
He’s lost in life
Hippies are and were not lost.
He didn’t give it all up. He wanted to leave his wife and kids and he just moved his job west. Now, he is a single doctor in Monterey. Nothing hippie about it.
Abandoning his children. What an awful person.
He cracked and to save himself he had no other alternative than death. Patriarchy is too much pressure for men, they don’t all handle it well and some crack under the pressure.
I appreciate his position, I live with depression, if I could check out, I would.
Close your eyes and listen to his voice, his kids were better off for his leaving.
I guess nothing changed since then, it is year 2024 and you still hear people talk about money and more money 😂😂😂. I wonder what happened to this gentleman, please provide updates.
Was this filmed in 1970? It seems like this guy is reflecting on his initial decision to move to Monterrey, etc., and that he’s already been living the “dropped out” life for a while.
It sounds selfish but if the former story leads to tragedy, I understand his decision
Balance in Life doesn't look the Same for Everyone.
Why Would it, why Should it?
We are Here to Experience and Express.
It is The Old Paradigm Dysfunctions, the Unholy Merger of Business, Politics and Religion, That Shapes Worldviews, and Shames the Values of Those Who no longer wish to play the "Game" of Life,
by Rules of Economics.
An Old Song my Brother used to sing in the sixties...
" That's Life!
What's Life?
It's a magazine.
How much does it cost?
It costs 20 cents.
I've only got a nickel!
That's Life!"
I learned it as:
"That's too bad"
"What's too bad?"
"Life"
"What's life?"
"A magazine"
"Where can I buy it?
"At the store"
"How much?"
"25 cents"
"But I only have a dime"
"That's too bad"
"What's too bad?"
.........
I admit I have "dropped out"....With my Mother's death and my father in an assisted living facility, I have "falllen" so far after "dropping" that even if I wanted to "fall IN" so to speak, Im not sure I can do it....I even let my hair grow long until I made the mistake of going to a Supercuts a couple of months back and assumed the Asian gal there at the time actually KNEW what a MULLET hair cut was....She DIDN'T--and gave me a cut that could get me a role on "Leave It To Beaver" instead of "Hair" or "Dazed and Confused"....In the process of re-growing it, even though dealing with THE TANGLES can be a real nightmare not to mention dealing with loose hair in the shower drain....When I actually TOOK showers-- which as a "hippy", (or just a pretty damn depressed person), I did NOT do as frequently as I once did....I have a hunch my current "discontentment with civilization", or just MY life IN it, is going to cost me more than I have ever paid before, especially the OLDER I get....Not a decrepit old man yet....But definitely close enough. But I dont think I have the guts to go FULL HIPPY, and find me my own group of "Merry Pranksters" to go "FURTHER" with, on a bus, driven by a meth addled bus driver....Not even sure I want to head down to Esalen, or make my way up to Humbolt County in Northern California to maybe try to land a job as a "marijuana farm hand"....In fact how much of a "hippy" can I be with the rather TUMULTUOUS relationship I have with "Mary Jane"...???....Just better off with "John Barleycorn" since "Mary" makes me very uncomfortable when I have been under HER influence. No....Right now STILL "hiding out" in "Momma's basement.....Including re-watching Ken Burns PBS The Vietnam War doc...Might even watch "Vietnam: A Television History" after that....Or break out my Game of Thrones DVDs??
Darn hippies, it's no wonder no one liked us.
Come on man, Wisconsin winter is perfect for ice fishing.
I love this documentary.
As an aside, I also love the photography.
He doesn't know what maximum security prison is.
this is some Jack "Shining" Nicholson shit way to paint using words
The privilege this guy exudes is amazing. People like this are the problem with our society. Social justice warrior are the worse.
But didn't he recognize this privilege himself in his own kids as they bragged about the stocks they owned, etc., and didn't this recognition only deepen his desire to drop out?
@@almaburns6562 basically he took his ball and went home.
Yes, caring about other people is disgusting isn't it! How dare they demand a better society!
He saw what he hated about himself in them and couldn’t face the truth.
@@randallcheek4204 So he was a runner. He wouldn't be the first. Too many dads don't physically leave--they hang around but they check out mentally and emotionally.
I've lived in many places around the world mostly in 3rd world countries and this is something you'd never hear. Not criticizing this guy but all his existential wondering, need for more space, wanting to find himself are all possible because of the exact things he's railing against. In places like Guatemala young people can't conceive of this because they're busy surviving.....this guy is trying to survive himself.
😂 You're so right.
Nothing good comes out of the hippie culture.
I can think of several good things but one of them was the growth of the organic food industry.
DAVID HOFFMAN filmmaker
Where you are, there you are.
Wherever u go there u r.
A lot of people wanted to drop out in those days - what a fascinating phenomenon!
I get when you reach the point of burnout with your job and keeping up with appearance with the joneses in life at the same time I don't know if this man had a family discussion with his wife and kids and told them how he felt that this lifestyle has worn him out and I am thinking that I would like to move out to California to Monterey and live near the ocean. I am willing to go to group therapy as a family to reach some short of compromise who with me on this idea if the wife and kids did not like the idea then I could see divorce being the next option between the two. I hope that each of them and their kids had found what they wanted out of life.
Yeah, this way would have been the best way, and we don't know if he did that or not. I do get the sense that he probably suffered from something deeper within himself. I can't condemn him either way. People make mistakes in life. Hopefully he was able to work it out for himself and regain a relationship with his kids. ✌️
@@StephanieJeanne I do get a sense of a midlife crises that affected his decision to walk away from a good practice and lifestyle he built up that his wife and kids just didn't understand. I too hope he was able to regain a relationship with his kids. thanks for your thoughts, Stephanie. 😊🧡
@@drewpall2598For some reason, I haven't gotten any notifications from this channel since yesterday. Sorry I missed your reply til now. 😊🩷
My ABSOLUTE favorite part was the ad RIGHT after this video...'Buy Now' 'Buy Now' 'Buy Now.'
Oh, how interesting us creatures are!
Clearly not a hippy story but it is a CLASSIC middle age crisis story. Obviously hit this guy very hard. I went through something similar and made some pretty big changes as well. Fortunately I didn't have kids so it was much easier to change course. The end result has been choosing experience over materiality. Takes a lot of balls to do what this guy did. Good for him, although abandoning his family is no bueno.
I think it is clear that the critics of the mainstream were right. Our job now is to construct a human life that works for all (roughly a quote from Bucky, the critics and criticism and, especially, the proposed solutions, were diverse.
i love how this guy can tell some fluffy floofy airheaded narcissistic ass tale about how some drugs made him abandon his kids and their objectively good lives where they were set for life basically being in best economic time period and place in human history, and it's supposed to be some deep and profound enlightened wisdom, meanwhile we try to tell the same generation we can't afford food AND rent and we get told to stfu and called hippies 😂. I hate it here.
I really think that the greatest generation were ill prepared and terrible parents and were so strict with their kids that they rebelled and basically didn't want to be adults yet
Well, he should feel guilt.
He didn’t say anything about his wife, but dumping your kids is pretty selfish. Shrinks can be as screwed up as some of the people they treat. There are a lot of missing pieces to this story so I won’t judge.
4:32
"$70,000 in 1970 is worth $567,469.07 today!" Half a mi1
This man discovered the feelings of accomplishment and then emptiness on achieving a goal in life. Problem is, no one was there too help him learn how to set another whats next life goal. So he took it upon himself to find another. Nothing unusual about this except most of who do this, have already recognized earlier that another goal is needed. He clearly didn’t.
It seems perhaps the modern day answer to freeing oneself of this type of entrapment is the minimalist, anti-consumerism lifestyle. There's many youtube channels of people talking about frugal living and the physical, emotional and even spiritual improvements that come about as a result of this way of life.
I like to imagine this guy started following the Dead on tour, using his medical skills as and where needed and making a decent living by selling crocheted tops, books of poetry and the occasional tab of acid which he'd first tested himself to ensure purity and a mellow trip. I wonder what became of him. Surely, he is no longer with us.
You’ve got quite an imagination
Vast you dere, Charlie?
Oh, that's a WW2 term, but appropriate. How do you know if you weren't there?
I think that to this day he is one miserable person! He found his fear all right-- that of being alone. Thanks David.
I womder where he is today and how he feels about his life choices
He's not a bad person he's just trying to figure out life, we're all only human at the end of the day, we all make choices good and bad, none of us are perfect and I feel people shouldn't be roasting this man because of his choices, we have all made wild choices in our life time, I've seen bad and horrible people in my lifetime and I grew up in an unstable household so I know bad parents when I see them and this man isn't a bad man, he's just confused and became aware of how absurd the world really is, life is a journey and some paths we gotta walk on alone for a little while
This man, despite his intellect, at this time had demons. We don't know the full story without hearing how things panned out in the future. He's getting slated on here for abandoning his family. We don't know if he had discussions aplenty with his wife and family about how he was feeling. Maybe his in-laws were a nightmare ? We just don't know.
I hope he found peace of mind and a renewed relationship with his children.
Wonder what these guys would do in 2024
Van Life
Can't give you an honest answer, youtube keeps shadow banning it.
@@ruthnolan13 😂
I believe I read about him in - Be Here Now.
Monterey! Where my sister got married in 2014!
But did he turn on and tune in before he dropped out?
Drop d tuning in
@@Ivearted Jerry Cantrell has entered the chat.
I seriously wonder.
Who knows
Man, I was with him all the way up to 5:18. WTF You left your kids? I retired at 61, one year ago, and I'm working my way through
"What the hell did I do with my life?!" Fuuuuuudge. I look around at all the stuff I bough because I thought I needed it for some implanted reason or another. I was a consumerist for most of my life as, I'm sure, are most of you. It could be, will be so much better.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this simmilar to Tony from Ralph Bakshi's _American Pop?_
That man left his family and that's tragically sad for them. 😒 He should have taken them with him. Lots of families are hippies. They might have liked it.
Back at that time, a lot of people in his age group were searching for higher truths which is their own gig, but I'm not sure that imposing one's morality on a newer generation is a good thing. Every generation has to deal with things that the older one's didn't. I do hope this guy found what he was looking for, but somehow I think he'll never be satisfied?
Big house big problems big worries little happiness
Quite interesting, thanks.
Reminds of the movie "Falling down"
Hopefully he grew out of this phase at some
Point.
This is important
Thats only and correctly shows, that we, being spirit soul, cannot be happy undere the spell call: the bodily conception of life! That is, when you belive that you are the body! Doesn't matter what you do! Thanks for been honest!
Ryan Reynolds' dad ?
Addiction: the word only occurs once in holy scriptures, at First Corinthians 16:15; I beseech you, brethren, ..., and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,). In God's word, addiction is good. Who made addiction bad? Make addiction great again.
Introspection or projection,you decide.
Did dropping out include dropping acid?
Did not EXCLUDE it. 😶
Because 1967-1973 was shLtty
these guys are nuts.
they have everything going for them.
yet they want to be essentric by throwing it away.
I don't know. There was a phenomenon out here where I live in the bay area, where men in Marin County back then, who got to take the ferry across the bay twice a day for their commute to San Francisco were all feeling suicidal, and they'd tried everything first -- Primal Scream Therapy -- Wife Swapping etc...
But they were not hippies.
I wonder though, did they think, 'Well, I'm already at the top and life still sucks.' ?
Tipical boomer.
The parts of the brain that an IQ test cannot measure....
Happiness is subjective...
lol, what bravery, to "drop out" AFTER saving millions of dollars