Never trust a (Crystal) Hippie
When I was a young and rather contrarian man, the phrase "Never trust a hippie." was often bandied about. By myself and primarily by fellow Punks and Anarchists. The motto has been around for quite some decades.
The artist Sam Taylor-Johnson also expressed that phrase in a September 2010 interview with New York magazine:
'Sam's mother, Geraldine, is a yoga teacher and astrologist.' 'When she was 9, her chartered-surveyor father got involved with the Hells Angels, leaving Taylor-Wood and her two siblings in a hippie commune with their yoga-instructor mother.
Then, when the artist was 15, her mother left her children with their stepfather and moved in with a new boyfriend a few streets away. “Never trust a hippie,” says Taylor-Wood. “That’s definitely my motto. I remember as a kid not ever wanting to have friends around to my house because it was, for want of a better description, disheveled. Cat shit everywhere —cats and dogs and chickens and rats and hippies.'
Despite suffering the above it is interesting, telling and good that Sam remains an avid practitioner and proponent of yoga and Transcendental Meditation. She did not throw out the baby with the bath-water.
This is a nice write-up about that phrase in relation to Sam:
https://importantquote.com/quotes/never-trust-a-hippie-thats-definitely-my-motto-7713
As for myself, I have very often wished that I would be proven wrong about that personal motto. I have given many dozens of hippies a chance, and I continue to do so, if very carefully.
The left-wing/activism/vegan/squatter scene that I spent fifteen years living in and among, often in the same house, is teeming with hippies! I've known and experienced at least 25+ hippies up close and personal, knew them well and 100+ others I knew to a reasonable extent, mainly in Rotterdam but in quite some other countries and during different periods of my life as well, including right now.
I was disappointed by them, sometimes intensely, almost every time. Right now, that is happening as well, more about that below.
On the face of it, Hippies would have quite a bit in common with Punks and Anarchist, things like being anti-establishment, anti-war, caring about protecting the environment and rejecting money and power as some sort of ideal or god. I also have zero issues with mostly secular non-culty, non-abusive (Bikram comes to mind as a counter-example) yoga and meditation, I think they are great and I wish I did both daily to be honest.
In practice, there are often huge and crucial differences between the two groups and subcultures, a gulf that can not be bridged. I like some Hippie tendencies (I have some!) and I like people with one or two positive Hippie tendencies but generally speaking I can not really love or trust people that are primarily and very Hippie in lots of ways.
Crystal Hippies
Especially New-age Hippies or as they are often called "Crystal Hippies", I frequently have had huge problems with if we become rather friendly or cooperated or interacted a lot.
Urban Dictionary definition: "A combination of modern hippie and new-age ideals. Generally someone who loves nature and feels very strongly about protecting the environment. They're fans of meditation and yoga. They're very spiritual, often believing in crystal healing, chakras, natural medicine."
It is that last sentence and predilection that is one of several core issues and differences.
This attitude regularly comes with a intense skepticism, or even a partial or wholesale avoidance, of traditional science-based medicine. I personally know of two cases where someone had a horrific and irreversible outcome due to rejecting traditional medicine and relying way too much on things like ceremonies, homeopathy and more. These stories are too sad and personal to recount here.
There are 1000s of of similar stories online as well. These involve people suffering or dying, younger or even unnecessarily, because they became delusional about what medicine do (not) work. Even Steve Jobs went that route, and though I have very few good things to say about that man, I still would not have wished any of what he chose and suffered, on him or anyone, ever.
It can be enraging, disheartening and intensely sad when people destroy themselves or cut their life short when that was likely easily avoidable.
Matthew, microwaves and other anecdotes
Recently a close friend that is not a hippie but has a few strong hippie tendencies said to me: ‘Oh, but you bought a microwave a few months ago and use it a lot, don't you? But isn't that bad for you, with all that radiation and stuff?’ I will call this friend Matthew.
I replied: ‘No, Matthew, it isn't. Why do you think that?’ ‘Well, I read or heard something briefly somewhere, it said that it was bad! So yeah, I believe it... I don't know exactly why anymore... but it's bad for you!’
Me: "Well, because I've been hearing stories like that for twenty-five years (also from someone in my family and various other people), hence I thoroughly researched it twice. Back then and very recently before I bought this new one, I researched it again, just to be sure.’
‘I read meta-study summaries and combed through serious non-social media sites and wikis. Twenty-five years ago, my conclusion was:
’Nonsense, it's not bad for you, and the radiation you're worried about is totally different (spectrum) from what you think it is, it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with that kind of bad or nuclear radioactivity. A month or two ago, shortly after I bought this microwave, I even watched a 45-minute (non-industry sponsored) documentary about microwave ovens, how they actually work and how they were developed. Then I read some more about often repeated health-concerns, I found none that were to be taken seriously whatsoever."
"They've been around since 1947 and there are billions of them. Do you really think that if they had serious health consequences that, that wouldn't be common knowledge and (scientifically) accepted by now?"
What part of me wanted to, but did not say to Matthew:
"I do not try to spend as little time as possible indoors nor spending as little time as possible online."
He does that live that way, and in a fairly extreme manner. No wi-fi at home, uses his phone very little. As a result he is very hard to reach at times and much harder to make an appointment with than almost any other person I know, especially if you want to do something indoors. That, despite him currently not having a job (is certainly seeking), nor kids or many responsibilities compared to the majority of people I know.
"In so doing, in being willing to be online to research, I don't just hear vague snippets and half-baked conspiracy theories from actual Crystal hippies (he is friends with plenty of them) in passing, that I take at face value! I take my time and look into things online, at home, if they seems potentially important."
Flouride toothpaste, baking soda and hear-say
A little while later, Matthew said to my gf, ‘Yeahnah, I'm going to stop using toothpaste, it's TOXIC, it has fluoride and stuff, that is bad! I'm going to make something myself with a little coconut oil and lots of baking powder I think..."
The latter is fine, in theory. But as many hippies and health freaks have discovered: ‘Yes, baking soda is fine to use in an emergency/a few times to brush your teeth, and it even removes tea stains = slightly whiter teeth!’
I've used it myself, it is works great. I use baking soda for lots of things. But what plenty of "no-more-toothpaste-people" do not know, and find out to their detriment later (luckily I didn't find out in practice, since I read about it before using it more than a few times): if you use baking soda every day for months, it's far too abrasive! You destroy/brush away your enamel and your teeth really go to absolute shit... likely irreversibly.
I didn't say any of that to Matthew, but if he brought it up with me, I would talk to him and also say something like:
"I haven't heard anything from other hippies nor seen anything online on Facebook (which Matthew does have) that fluoride in toothpaste is toxic, a conspiracy and extremely bad for you. Instead, I spent at least an hour looking into Flouride as a water and toothpaste additive. Reading and watching on credible channels and sources, which are backed by scientific research. It turns out that those things are nonsense. A very, very small amount of fluoride in toothpaste or water actually demonstrably prevents tooth decay without any proven negative effects or disadvantages."
Which is very different from coming into contact with mega-doses of fluoride or something along those lines, of course that's ‘toxic’, duh! But that will never happen with your toothpaste. And besides, there are dozens of toothpastes without fluoride and even with only ‘natural’ ingredients, so you don't necessarily have to start messing around with DIY solutions, especially if those are likely to have unforeseen big downsides.
I don't say that stuff to him, since he didn't personally tell me about quitting tooth-paste and because I don't want to be confrontational or make him feel judged. Also, he is not likely at all to change his stance or actions on these topics, so I am not helping no matter what I do.
Besides, and more importantly: I love Matthew. He has many awesome qualities and he isn't an actual hippie, much less an extreme nor Crystal hippie, he practical and active in many ways. I see him every week, certainly consider him a good friend. He has helped us out plenty and we him. He is fun to have around, and I would trust him fully with keys to my home, money and many, many things.
But the three or so qualities he has that I dislike the most, are very hippie. I see how they limit and are at times hard even for him, never mind me. At the end of his day, it is his life, when and where they do not affect me, none of my business! When they do mess stuff up for me, I speak up.
To him and many people, ‘Natural’ or ‘Eco’ sound like they are always and forever healthier, but there are plenty of examples where natural or more esoteric alternatives are not better at all, or sometimes can even lead to very bad outcomes.
"Natural" isn't always better
Being outdoors and getting enough sunlight is very natural, and without it very few organisms can live long or healthy lives. Too much sun and your risk of skin cancer is drastically increased; just ask millions of Australians, at least 2 out of 3 will get it in their lifetime.
Nutmeg is all ‘natural’ and tasty in certain dishes, but if you eat too much of it, you are very likely to experience atrocious convulsions, palpitations, psychosis, nausea, dehydration and severe pain. Eat four or more nuts and you have a very good chance of dying.
Clean water, is one of the most natural things. Drink far too much, and even with just water you can wind up dead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
Of course it is very rare, but just as another illustration that: "The dose makes the poison." And far too often Hippies go way too far in their wholesale -dare I say extreme- adoption as well as rejection of certain things.
So, all kinds of people -especially hippies or semi-conspiracy theorists and people who are extremely concerned with health- who often also repeatedly offer unsolicited health or diet advice, I do not take too serious. Especially when it turns out that they frequently haven't done even the most basic fact-based “research” from varied sources, and often change their minds themselves... No, thank you! Stop it. Yuck.
Even the government branch or certain foundations and NGOs that specialize in giving dietary and health advice can be too simplistic and generalising now and then. Even they have reversed a few stances and contradicted some their advice quite drastically, over time.
Yes, eating loads of sugar and crisps and processed food is bad. But everyone knows that! Everyone has known that for decades. So no one needs to keep repeating that advice, unasked.
The rest is quite dependent on genes, body size, activity, budget, where someone lives and what they can buy/afford (we don't have many food deserts or very expensive food in most of EU, etc.). How much food, what is the quality of the food etc., all play a big role. So it's better not to give general (especially unsolicited) advice and repeat it to very different people in different positions, countries, cultures, and situations!
I have written more about that here:
https://anon0.bearblog.dev/vegan-veggy-omnivore-primal-fasting-just-leave-people-in-peace/
Vaccine and traditional medicine skepticism, cults and delusion
I have known several persons, including one or two very close to me indeed that were MEGA hippies, and into crystals and alternative medicine and very wary off, or even eschewing traditional medicine, as were were most of these person's friends, for years. Living in caves, wearing all the accoutrements, too much drugs, all that Jazz.
Even now a few remain half of those things including being anti-vaxers. They will refuse to give their kids the kinds of vaccines that have been around since the early 20th century and of which literally billions of doses have been given to children and adults and that eradicated many horrible diseases. Even the flu-shot is absolutely bad in their opinion.
One person I remain very close to indeed, I find it confusing and bizarre that an otherwise very sane (in all other aspects of their life), successful and highly educated person is anti-most vaccinations and sees two piece of shit half/full rapists, that clearly appropriate and abuse insane amounts of control, power and money, namely Osho and Mooji, as "enlightened beings and his great examples".
Those were almost literally this persons words. Where do you even begin? I have tried reasoning. It does nothing but create distance.
Hell, even when I brought up that Osho collected 93 Rolls Royces while his Ashram followers languished in poverty and were highly encouraged to donate much or all their material wealth to Osho's holdings, that fact made zero dent in their convictions and their gushing over that Osho trash. I wonder if telling them that the Osho cult had many child-rapists would give them any pause. Sadly, probably not.
I do blame social media, echo-chambers and rabbit-holes quite a bit for this type of bizarre, immutable faith in gurus!
If being an anti-vaxer and anti a lot of: established, peer-reviewed and well documented long-standing medicine, or believing in the healing power of crystals, were our only differences, I could accept it easier. But I can never accept condoning this type of inhuman horror:
https://www.gurumag.com/becoming-god-inside-moojis-portugal-cult/
I love this person. They are unique in the world to me. They can never be replaced by anyone, our ties are way too close and long-standing for that. And I genuinely fear that one day, rejecting traditional medicine could cost them dearly, possibly even their life. That chance is not big, but it is very much non-zero and that possibility could be so easily be totally obviated and eradicated if they changed their stance on at least medicines that have been very well-studied and well-regarded for ca. thirty to a hundred and thirty years.
Personal freedom and non-commitment vs. responsibility and follow-through
Right now, there are two very esoteric hippie lady friendly acquintances that have wanted to organize a "Kirtan" for their circle, in our Social Center for some months. And in doing so even pick up a few small donations for our monthly expenses. That is awesome and we really appreciate the thought!
At the very first, gf and I explained just the once, that we are happy to facilitate but that we may not personally show up for long during the event, since it is not the sort of thing we hugely enjoy.
Yet, that as long as the Kirtan gathering is about: live music, being together, singing, breaking some bread, doing yoga etc, then we very much enjoy people enjoying themselves and having community! Providing that there isn't a lot of emphasis on esoteric stuff much less gurus, we are totally cool with it and will support them any way we can.
The problem is, they do not follow through. Like almost every hardcore Crystal hippie I have ever encountered, lots of: words, plans, wishes, vibes, the-universe-will-provide, ideas,.. and "energy", not much practical real-world action at all.
They were supposed to do it months ago. They keep postponing, for very nebulous reasons once or twice. At this point we haven't heard anything from them for a long time. It is becoming a bit ridiculous and of course our trust has eroded. If they can't even pick a date or send us an update message that takes twenty seconds to type on a messenger app, in a timely way, should we work with them and entrust our entire space and everything in it to them..?
Dating Hippies
I once dated a 21-year-old Polish girl with dreadlocks who lived in Scheveningen at the time. She was short and already very skinny when I first met her. Within just a few weeks of us dating, she kept getting even thinner, to the point of being essentially anorexic. She was a total Crystal hippie, in terms of: clothing, lifestyle and everything else. She did a lot of yoga, her reading was almost entirely made up of things in that sphere and above all day to day conformed in all aspects to Ayurveda. All her herbs, all her food and even her “medicine” and everything related to her health had to be according to Ayurveda. About the latter:
‘The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudo-scientific, toxic metals, including lead and mercury, are used as ingredients in many Ayurvedic medicines. Ayurvedic therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas and medicinal oils.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
She kept losing weight fast and dramatically, even though she was eating (I often saw her eating and shared a few meals that she made with her), but exclusively the food and weird additives recommended by Ayurveda.
I dropped by one day and asked how she was doing. ‘Great! Since I started doing only Ayurveda, I feel so good, and more enlightened!
‘The only thing is, I've had quite a bit of blood in my stool for six days in a row... but I think that's so goooood, I must be the toxins leaving my body! :D’
My face and reaction: 😵💫 ‘Hey, wtf,.. I'm not a doctor, I don't know much, but what I've read several times on medical websites, that especially if you have it more than one day in a row, blood in your stool is very often a sign that something is seriously wrong! Please go to the doctor tomorrow, I'll go with you if you prefer!’
She: ‘No way, there's no need for any doctor at all! I don't believe in Western medicine and doctors, I'm not going, no matter what, haha!’....
Our short relationship ended quickly after that, the fact that I was not into esoteric stuff was a key factor why it ended. I have no idea how it all turned out for her...
Many years later, I was in touch with a similar hippie lifestyle girl, from the US. She was hugely into yoga and Eastern esoteric stuff. She had also lost her boyfriend the year before, I don't remember exactly how but it was something tragic. To be honest I don't remember if it was avoidable or for a stupid hippie reason (like spurning Western medicine), I do think that the latter was the case but I can not say for sure, as it was a long time ago and she was slightly vague on entire topic and I never pressed it of course.
She was sweet but extremely confused. Bubbly, beaming and happy one moment and depressed as hell and combative the next. Very hot / cold. Unpredictable. Lost.
And she devoutly believed that yoga, ashrams, living in India and other such things would solve those and all of her other issues, she had just come back from all that, and planned to go back soon, to make most of her life about solely that. / / / Those two girls were into: being slim, being flexible, sports, being outdoors a lot, saving money, consuming little and loved being massive Crystal hippies.
In theory, and at first and superficial glance, many people might consider them to be: ‘fitter’ and ‘doing better for themselves and the world’ than 90%+ of other people.
But none of that means that in practice those girls weren't also in some kind of semi-cult, extremely confused, intensely sad at times and lost, nor did it mean that they weren't harming themselves mentally and physiologically!
They absolutely were. Delusion, wish-full thinking and extremism are always horrible, it doesn't matter much whether we are talking about a party animal with excessive drugs and alcohol consumption, or an over the top crypto tech-bro or a person who exercises a lot and is an outdoorsy, hippie that is into snake-oil pseudo-medicines and foods, weird treatments and alternative very questionable therapies.
Touri and the knocked up Tween Girl
‘Touri,.. was a bloody NPC!
The man was about 36 at the time, did a lot of daily yoga, was vegan, and of course had a long scraggly beard and long hair, wore Indian style robe. Touri had also taken a ‘vow of silence’, so he could only communicate by nodding, shaking his head or smiling. He lived in a very simple tent made of some wood and a tarpaulin he'd found, close to the railway tracks in Rotterdam.
Touri loved coming to our events in squats. Including one time in mid-February, when it was -8c degrees and we had organised a vegan soup kitchen in a very old single-pane glass window building. He came while the soup kitchen was in full swing, with ca. 15 persons present, and Touri then proceeded to immediately throw all the windows wide open!
Because that moron was like Wim Hof in that he was totally used to the cold. And because he wanted ‘fresh air’ & freeeeeedom at -8 degrees, everyone else was forced to suffer! We had just brought the room to a pleasant temperature after carefully feeding the wood-burning stove for a few hours. Of course we soon closed the windows again, but damage was done, everyone was colder than need be for a good while after. Touri just nodded and smiled beatifically.
A few months later, he got a 21-year-old squatter hippie girl pregnant, and she kept the baby. I'm sure that relationship, Touri's fatherhood and the ups and downs of the life of that child turned out woooooonderfully... Touri never had a job, had 0 euros, never donated even a dime for the soup kitchen food or ever paid for anything. I soon lost sight of him and her, no idea how it ended really,.. but when the goods are that odd,.. the odds are,..: Bad.
Voluntary Frugality vs. being cheap, stingy and limited
Hippies, generally are frugal. Frugality can be a very positive trait. It is something I really like and strive for, and often enough fail at.
The issue is that with most hippies I have found that their tendency to save money and consume less, often veers sharply into negative territory. It it either becomes cheap or stems from being cheap or from suffering due to involuntary poverty.
"Frugal individuals focus on maximizing value, quality, and long-term utility, often spending wisely to save in the long run. Conversely, being cheap means prioritizing the absolute lowest price, regardless of quality, durability, or the inconvenience caused to oneself and others. Frugality is strategic, while cheapness is often reactive."
Hippie or somewhat hippie people often are so careful with their (usually scant) cash that it can become stingy and miserly, or at very least, slightly masochistic a times. One person I know loves to cycle, yet she rode for a long time on one of the most unsafe and worst bicycles I have ever seen, even though she absolutely had money for another one and I offered her a lot of help and varied affordable used bike options, but she was too stingy/stubborn and kept changing her mind.
I wasted many hours of mine (and some time of friend who is also a Pro bike mechanic) trying to hook her up. All for nothing. No option was worth her money or time. Fine, in principle. But what about other people's time, energy and money? What about not endangering others a little because you can't be fucked to have properly working brakes?
Hippies more frequently than the average person get in their own way in several respects.
They may mainly know what they do not want, which tends to be a lot, but are rather or very uncertain about what they do want.
They worry, waiver and dissemble excessively, before any purchase or even hobby or meetup. And in the end often default to “No.“ They tend to hedge their bets and options, will postpone, bail and cancel on you frequently and many are not punctual at all. You can not rely on them and they leave you in the lurch.
In my activist and trying-to-figure-my-whole-life-out-and-I-know-nothing days, the best mentor (ten years older and infinitely wiser) I ever had once told me:
“You often confuse your personal freedom with non-commitment and freedom from obligation. They are not at all the same. Anarchy is responsibility and commitment. My freedom ends where, and as soon as, it really impinges on other's freedom and peace.“
That really made an impact. It stuck with me. Almost every Crystal-hippie I have met, embodied this -rather convenient and self-serving- confusion and preference for shirking obligations, to a T.
Above are not even close to half of all the bad experiences I have had with many dozens of (Crystal) Hippies. To enumerate many more would be dull and repetitive. Should you want to read about my former close Hippie friend I lived with for three years and about how this girl abused her housemates, neighbours, her cats and I and how she could have easily set our apartment on fire... That story is below. All of that due to choosing to be totally irresponsible and self-involved in typically Hippie way.
https://anon0.bearblog.dev/anti-recipe-hippies-the-worst-spaghetti-i-ever-had/
Because of all my experiences in aggregate (as well as many similar stories from at least fifteen friends) I still stand by:
“Never trust an esoteric/crystal hippie.“
But with the very important addendum: “At least not until you have a lot of evidence that they are on the right track, because many of them are not. A scant few will not fuck you over even in the long run, there are always the rare exceptions.“
It genuinely makes me sad that so many Hippies have lost their way in their own and alternative way. But almost always when I got involved with them or got too close, or when I tried to help, I suffered a lot and regretted my choice deeply.
I do not hate Crystal Hippies! I truly believe most mean really well. I think the vast majority never set out to intentionally harm anyone. Intentions and vibes matter. Actions and consequences matter much more.
“I just seem feel better when they are not around.“