The Yippies: A Social Movement In The United States
When thinking of the social movements that took place throughout the sixties, it can be difficult to focus on just one due to the array of people and movements that wanted a change in the United States. Many movements shared similar ideals and visions but one movement in particular, The Youth International Party, took their vision to a new level; one of "political theater." The Youth International Party, better known as the Yippies, a derivative of the former name and the "hippie" movement also popular throughout the sixties were a "highly theatrical far left political party" that emerged in the United States in 1967. Their movement had no formal membership or official hierarchy but rather consisted of mainly rebellious teens and young adults
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who were fighting to gain equal civil rights, end the fight in Vietnam, and most importantly to be truly free in a country that stands for freedom. Unofficially led by Abbie Hoffman, the most outspoken member of the group, they fought against their prime obstacle, the American government, for legitimacy and the right to represent the nation in the public mind.
Undoubtedly the war in Vietnam was a heated topic and was the cause for so much uproar amongst the American youth in the 1960s. The Anti-war protests were raging like a California wildfire. Protests were everywhere, from Berkley to the streets of Washington D.C. The parks and university campuses set the stage for the Youth International Party to use their "unique" rhetoric to reach out to the youth of America and spread their message to "RISE UP AND ABANDON THE CREEPING MEATBALL." The Yippies strived to expose, change, and do the exact opposite of what was expected from the "average American citizen." Furthermore they wanted to open the eyes of the middle class Americans at home in their living rooms to the profound racial and social injustices of the United States. The Yippies, although well known for their avocation and use of drugs, didn't want to just sit around and smoke pot, they wanted to pull Uncle Sam's pants down in public, and show that an ideological revolution could be conducted in a spirit of festive nonviolence.
Due to their never before seen pranks and outrageous action, many Americans either didn't understand the Yippies or just brushed them off as a bunch of drugged out hippies.
In May of 1969 fellow "member" Jerry Rubin published the appropriately titled; sixteen page "Yippie Manifesto" to share the Youth International Party's ideas, logic and beliefs.
We say: "DO IT, DO IT. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO."
"We do not advocate political solutions that you can vote for. You are never going to be able to vote for the revolution. Get that hope out of your mind."
"We should be very realistic and demand the impossible. Food, housing, clothing, medicine, and color TV free for all!"
"The religion of the Yippies is: "RISE UP AND ABANDON THE CREEPING MEATBALL!"
"Scratch a professor deep and you find a cop!" (Obviously anti-organized education)
"We do not own our own bodies. We fight to regain our bodies to make love in the parks, say "fuck" on television, do what we want to do whenever we want to do it."
"We offer: sex, drugs, rebellion, heroism, brotherhood."
"Don't trust anyone over 30!" say the Yippies - a much-quoted warning.
"Prohibitions should be prohibited. Rules are made to be broken."
Never say "no."
The Yippies say: "PROPERTY IS THEFT. What America got, she …show more content…
stole."
"How was this country built? By the forced labor of slaves. America owes black people billions in compensation."
"Capitalism" is just a polite schoolbook way of saying: "Stealing."
"We do not groove with Christianity, the idea that people go to heaven after they are dead. We want HEAVEN NOW!"
"We do not believe in studying to obtain degrees in school. Degrees and grades are like money and credit, good only for burning."
In addition to their "unique" manifesto the Yippies gained attention with their outrageous "pranks' and "media-savvy gestures" that they used to promote their ideas and beliefs.
Among their public activities they demonstrated to end the war in Vietnam, held a "Yip-In" at Grand Central Station in New York City, threw money from the balcony at greedy stock brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, put on the first marijuana "Smoke-In" and with poet, Allen Ginsberg, attempted to levitate the Pentagon upwards into a beautiful Washington D.C. October afternoon. Other acts of "political theater" included mailing 3,000 marijuana joints to random strangers in the phone book and posting "See Canada Now" signs on the walls of Army recruiting booths. The Yippies were intent on exposing the flaws that they saw in American society by being radicals with a sense of humor. I believe these actions by the Yippies in effect "killed two birds with one stone" so to speak. First off, they had grounds on which they based their demands for a societal change as presented in Hoffman's document, Revolution Toward a Free Society, Yippie, by A. Yippie, "This is a personal statement. There are no spokesmen for the Yippies. We are all our own leaders. We realize this list of demands is inconsistent. They are not really demands. For people to make demands of the Democratic Party is an exercise in wasted wish fulfillment. If we have a demand, it is simply and emphatically
that they, along with their fellow inmates in the Republican Party, cease to exist. We demand a society built along the alternative community in Lincoln Park, a society based on humanitarian cooperation and equality, a society which allows and promotes the creativity present in all people and especially our youth. "Number one. An immediate end to the war in Vietnam and a restructuring of our foreign policy which totally eliminates aspects of military, economic and cultural imperialism; the withdrawal of all foreign based troops and the abolition of military draft. "Two. An immediate freedom for Huey Newton of the Black Panthers and all other black people; adoption of the community control concept in our ghetto areas; an end to the cultural and economic domination of minority groups. "Three. The legalization of marijuana and all other psychedelic drugs; the freeing of all prisoners currently imprisoned on narcotics charges. "Number four. A prison system based on the concept of rehabilitation rather than punishment. "Five. A judicial system which works towards the abolition of all laws related to crimes without victims; that is, retention only of laws relating to crimes in which there is an unwilling injured party: i.e. murder, rape, or assault. "Six. The total disarmament of all the people beginning with the police. This includes not only guns but such brutal vices as tear gas, Mace, electric prods, blackjacks, billy clubs, and the like. "Seven. The abolition of money, the abolition of pay housing, pay media, pay transportation, pay food, pay education. pay clothing, pay medical health, and pay toilets. "Eight. A society which works towards and actively promotes the concept of full unemployment, a society in which people are free from the drudgery of work, adoption of the concept 'Let the machines do it.' "Number ten. A program of ecological development that would provide incentives for the decentralization of crowded cities and encourage rural living. "Eleven. A program which provides not only free birth control information and devices, but also abortions when desired. "Twelve. A restructured educational system which provides a student power to determine his course of study, student participation in over-all policy planning; an educational system which breaks down its barriers between school and community; a system which uses the surrounding community as a classroom so that students may learn directly the problems of the people. "Number thirteen. The open and free use of the media; a program which actively supports and promotes cable television as a method of increasing the selection of channels available to the viewer. "Fourteen. An end to all censorship. We are sick of a society that has no hesitation about showing people committing violence and refuses to show a couple fucking. "Fifteen. We believe that people should fuck all the time, any time, wherever they wish. This is not a programmed demand but a simple recognition of the reality around its. "Sixteen. A political system which is more streamlined and responsive to the needs of all the people regardless of age. sex, or race; perhaps a national referendum system conducted via television or a telephone voting system; perhaps a decentralization of power and authority with many varied tribal groups, groups in which people exist in a state of basic trust and are free to choose their tribe. "Seventeen. A program that encourages and promotes the arts. However, we feel that if the free society we envision were to be sought for and achieved, all of us would actualize the creativity within us; in a very real sense we would have a society in which every man would be an artist.' And eighteen was left blank for anybody to fill in what they wanted. "It was for these reasons that we had come to Chicago, it was for these reasons that many of us may fight and die here. We recognize this as the vision of the founders of this nation. We recognize that we are America; we recognize that we are free men. The present-day politicians and their armies of automatons have selfishly robbed us of our birthright. The evilness they stand for will go unchallenged no longer. Political pigs, your days are numbered. We are the second American Revolution. We shall win. "YIPPIE."
Clearly they were pissed off at what had become of the America they had been taught as a child was the best and most upstanding country in the world. To assemble like they did was their "radical" reaction to what they saw as something so incongruous, so absurd that they only way to effectively respond was to do so in the same manner. For example, in 1968 they nominated a live pig for their presidential candidate. To prove my point, this "unruly antic" as it would be called by their opposition, was essentially the political theater that set them apart and put them in the spotlight. These actions gave the Yippies their most direct voice; they made the newspaper headlines, the television news and unintentionally made the Yippies celebrities. Hoffman commented on the success of his book, Steal This Book, "It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List." Furthermore, author Robert S. Cathcart categorizes this as "confrontational rhetoric". "Confrontational rhetoric challenges the system's values and perfectibility. This confrontation produces a unique counter-rhetoric which "casts out" the protesters. Recognizes the impiety of their rhetoric and affirms the threat to the system" (Cathcart 268). As was disappointingly true, the governments "counter-rhetoric," as later exposed in court, was intent on silencing these voices that cried out "revolution". As previously mentioned, one of the Youth International Party's most outspoken "members" was none other than Abbie Hoffman. A countercultural icon of the 1960s, Hoffman was viewed by some as a clown for his antics although he was "successful at turning many flower children into political activists" (Jeezer 284). Hoffman's uncanny ability to create unification among his peers was his most important asset. With the help of his unofficial "cabinet members," Anita Hoffman, Stew Albert and Jerry Rubin, they tool on the fight to win over America's like-minded youth. As said beforehand, the Yippies unconventional use of language and political theater were the selling points of their fight for social change. They found an unconventional way to use rhetoric to fascinate, mobilize and change America as well as confront their main obstacle, the American government. My reasoning behind choosing the topic of Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies was due to the initial connection he/they made with me. A lot can be said when one can feel the strength and strive for revolution (or "re-solution" as Hoffman says) today in a document written almost forty years ago. Jerry Rubin's, Yippie Manifesto, for example was just one of those documents. For starters, a true social movement, such as the Yippies, in my opinion must have a manifesto or proposal clearly stating the beliefs and rational behind them. Another noteworthy point in any social movements' manifesto is its use of language. The use of the word "we" is especially important to analyze in this situation. The word itself portrays a feeling of belonging and unity. This use of language is crucial to the development of a connection with the intended audience. For example, if you look at the addresses of just about every politician and president you'll see this usage of language. "We the people , We Americans..., We will prevail " Ironically, this use of language was shared by the Yippies as well as their opposition, the government. Hearing this type of language only increases the sense of belonging when one is in agreement with one or more of the specific beliefs or ideals. The strategic angle of the Yippies rhetorical use of language lied in the fact that they made people feel like they were not alone in their view for change but more importantly that they, when unified could together make a change in American society. One such example of this was the mobilization by the Yippies to assemble in Chicago to protest the 1968 National democratic Convention. In a letter published by Abbie Hoffman titled, "A Statement from a Yip," he declared,
"Join us in Chicago in August for an international festival of youth, music, and theater. Rise up and abandon the creeping meatball! Come all you rebels, youth spirits, rock minstrels, truth-seekers, peacock-freaks, poets, barricade-jumpers, dancers, lovers and artists! It is summer. It is the last week in August, and the NATIONAL DEATH PARTY meets to bless Lyndon Johnson. We are there! There are 50,000 of us dancing in the streets, throbbing with amplifiers and harmony. We are making love in the parks. We are reading, singing, laughing, and printing newspapers, groping, and making a mock convention, and celebrating the birth of FREE AMERICA in our own time. Everything will be free. Bring blankets, tents, draft-cards, body-paint, Mr. Leary's Cow, food to share, music, eager skin, and happiness. The threats of LBJ, Mayor Daley, and J. Edgar Freako will not stop us. We are coming! We are coming from all over the world! The life of the American spirit is being torn asunder by the forces of violence, decay, and the napalm-cancer fiend. We demand the Politics of Ecstasy! We are the delicate spores of the new fierceness that will change America. We will create our own reality, we are Free America! And we will not accept the false theater of the Death Convention. We will be in Chicago. Begin preparations now! Chicago is yours! Do it!"
Abbie Hoffman being a truly successful political organizer was able to convince thousands to rally together to his "Festival of Life" in the streets and parks of Chicago, Illinois - an alternative to what he called the Democrats' "Convention of Death." "Hoffman's zany "Festival of Life" offered something for almost everyone sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, lots of street theater and a little bit of revolution just for the hell of it" (Raskin 2). As the saying goes, there's power in numbers, and so, Hoffman wanted to focus the advertising of his campaign in such a way that just about everyone would want to attend.
who were fighting to gain equal civil rights, end the fight in Vietnam, and most importantly to be truly free in a country that stands for freedom. Unofficially led by Abbie Hoffman, the most outspoken member of the group, they fought against their prime obstacle, the American government, for legitimacy and the right to represent the nation in the public mind.
Undoubtedly the war in Vietnam was a heated topic and was the cause for so much uproar amongst the American youth in the 1960s. The Anti-war protests were raging like a California wildfire. Protests were everywhere, from Berkley to the streets of Washington D.C. The parks and university campuses set the stage for the Youth International Party to use their "unique" rhetoric to reach out to the youth of America and spread their message to "RISE UP AND ABANDON THE CREEPING MEATBALL." The Yippies strived to expose, change, and do the exact opposite of what was expected from the "average American citizen." Furthermore they wanted to open the eyes of the middle class Americans at home in their living rooms to the profound racial and social injustices of the United States. The Yippies, although well known for their avocation and use of drugs, didn't want to just sit around and smoke pot, they wanted to pull Uncle Sam's pants down in public, and show that an ideological revolution could be conducted in a spirit of festive nonviolence.
Due to their never before seen pranks and outrageous action, many Americans either didn't understand the Yippies or just brushed them off as a bunch of drugged out hippies.
In May of 1969 fellow "member" Jerry Rubin published the appropriately titled; sixteen page "Yippie Manifesto" to share the Youth International Party's ideas, logic and beliefs.
We say: "DO IT, DO IT. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO."
"We do not advocate political solutions that you can vote for. You are never going to be able to vote for the revolution. Get that hope out of your mind."
"We should be very realistic and demand the impossible. Food, housing, clothing, medicine, and color TV free for all!"
"The religion of the Yippies is: "RISE UP AND ABANDON THE CREEPING MEATBALL!"
"Scratch a professor deep and you find a cop!" (Obviously anti-organized education)
"We do not own our own bodies. We fight to regain our bodies to make love in the parks, say "fuck" on television, do what we want to do whenever we want to do it."
"We offer: sex, drugs, rebellion, heroism, brotherhood."
"Don't trust anyone over 30!" say the Yippies - a much-quoted warning.
"Prohibitions should be prohibited. Rules are made to be broken."
Never say "no."
The Yippies say: "PROPERTY IS THEFT. What America got, she …show more content…
stole."
"How was this country built? By the forced labor of slaves. America owes black people billions in compensation."
"Capitalism" is just a polite schoolbook way of saying: "Stealing."
"We do not groove with Christianity, the idea that people go to heaven after they are dead. We want HEAVEN NOW!"
"We do not believe in studying to obtain degrees in school. Degrees and grades are like money and credit, good only for burning."
In addition to their "unique" manifesto the Yippies gained attention with their outrageous "pranks' and "media-savvy gestures" that they used to promote their ideas and beliefs.
Among their public activities they demonstrated to end the war in Vietnam, held a "Yip-In" at Grand Central Station in New York City, threw money from the balcony at greedy stock brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, put on the first marijuana "Smoke-In" and with poet, Allen Ginsberg, attempted to levitate the Pentagon upwards into a beautiful Washington D.C. October afternoon. Other acts of "political theater" included mailing 3,000 marijuana joints to random strangers in the phone book and posting "See Canada Now" signs on the walls of Army recruiting booths. The Yippies were intent on exposing the flaws that they saw in American society by being radicals with a sense of humor. I believe these actions by the Yippies in effect "killed two birds with one stone" so to speak. First off, they had grounds on which they based their demands for a societal change as presented in Hoffman's document, Revolution Toward a Free Society, Yippie, by A. Yippie, "This is a personal statement. There are no spokesmen for the Yippies. We are all our own leaders. We realize this list of demands is inconsistent. They are not really demands. For people to make demands of the Democratic Party is an exercise in wasted wish fulfillment. If we have a demand, it is simply and emphatically
that they, along with their fellow inmates in the Republican Party, cease to exist. We demand a society built along the alternative community in Lincoln Park, a society based on humanitarian cooperation and equality, a society which allows and promotes the creativity present in all people and especially our youth. "Number one. An immediate end to the war in Vietnam and a restructuring of our foreign policy which totally eliminates aspects of military, economic and cultural imperialism; the withdrawal of all foreign based troops and the abolition of military draft. "Two. An immediate freedom for Huey Newton of the Black Panthers and all other black people; adoption of the community control concept in our ghetto areas; an end to the cultural and economic domination of minority groups. "Three. The legalization of marijuana and all other psychedelic drugs; the freeing of all prisoners currently imprisoned on narcotics charges. "Number four. A prison system based on the concept of rehabilitation rather than punishment. "Five. A judicial system which works towards the abolition of all laws related to crimes without victims; that is, retention only of laws relating to crimes in which there is an unwilling injured party: i.e. murder, rape, or assault. "Six. The total disarmament of all the people beginning with the police. This includes not only guns but such brutal vices as tear gas, Mace, electric prods, blackjacks, billy clubs, and the like. "Seven. The abolition of money, the abolition of pay housing, pay media, pay transportation, pay food, pay education. pay clothing, pay medical health, and pay toilets. "Eight. A society which works towards and actively promotes the concept of full unemployment, a society in which people are free from the drudgery of work, adoption of the concept 'Let the machines do it.' "Number ten. A program of ecological development that would provide incentives for the decentralization of crowded cities and encourage rural living. "Eleven. A program which provides not only free birth control information and devices, but also abortions when desired. "Twelve. A restructured educational system which provides a student power to determine his course of study, student participation in over-all policy planning; an educational system which breaks down its barriers between school and community; a system which uses the surrounding community as a classroom so that students may learn directly the problems of the people. "Number thirteen. The open and free use of the media; a program which actively supports and promotes cable television as a method of increasing the selection of channels available to the viewer. "Fourteen. An end to all censorship. We are sick of a society that has no hesitation about showing people committing violence and refuses to show a couple fucking. "Fifteen. We believe that people should fuck all the time, any time, wherever they wish. This is not a programmed demand but a simple recognition of the reality around its. "Sixteen. A political system which is more streamlined and responsive to the needs of all the people regardless of age. sex, or race; perhaps a national referendum system conducted via television or a telephone voting system; perhaps a decentralization of power and authority with many varied tribal groups, groups in which people exist in a state of basic trust and are free to choose their tribe. "Seventeen. A program that encourages and promotes the arts. However, we feel that if the free society we envision were to be sought for and achieved, all of us would actualize the creativity within us; in a very real sense we would have a society in which every man would be an artist.' And eighteen was left blank for anybody to fill in what they wanted. "It was for these reasons that we had come to Chicago, it was for these reasons that many of us may fight and die here. We recognize this as the vision of the founders of this nation. We recognize that we are America; we recognize that we are free men. The present-day politicians and their armies of automatons have selfishly robbed us of our birthright. The evilness they stand for will go unchallenged no longer. Political pigs, your days are numbered. We are the second American Revolution. We shall win. "YIPPIE."
Clearly they were pissed off at what had become of the America they had been taught as a child was the best and most upstanding country in the world. To assemble like they did was their "radical" reaction to what they saw as something so incongruous, so absurd that they only way to effectively respond was to do so in the same manner. For example, in 1968 they nominated a live pig for their presidential candidate. To prove my point, this "unruly antic" as it would be called by their opposition, was essentially the political theater that set them apart and put them in the spotlight. These actions gave the Yippies their most direct voice; they made the newspaper headlines, the television news and unintentionally made the Yippies celebrities. Hoffman commented on the success of his book, Steal This Book, "It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List." Furthermore, author Robert S. Cathcart categorizes this as "confrontational rhetoric". "Confrontational rhetoric challenges the system's values and perfectibility. This confrontation produces a unique counter-rhetoric which "casts out" the protesters. Recognizes the impiety of their rhetoric and affirms the threat to the system" (Cathcart 268). As was disappointingly true, the governments "counter-rhetoric," as later exposed in court, was intent on silencing these voices that cried out "revolution". As previously mentioned, one of the Youth International Party's most outspoken "members" was none other than Abbie Hoffman. A countercultural icon of the 1960s, Hoffman was viewed by some as a clown for his antics although he was "successful at turning many flower children into political activists" (Jeezer 284). Hoffman's uncanny ability to create unification among his peers was his most important asset. With the help of his unofficial "cabinet members," Anita Hoffman, Stew Albert and Jerry Rubin, they tool on the fight to win over America's like-minded youth. As said beforehand, the Yippies unconventional use of language and political theater were the selling points of their fight for social change. They found an unconventional way to use rhetoric to fascinate, mobilize and change America as well as confront their main obstacle, the American government. My reasoning behind choosing the topic of Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies was due to the initial connection he/they made with me. A lot can be said when one can feel the strength and strive for revolution (or "re-solution" as Hoffman says) today in a document written almost forty years ago. Jerry Rubin's, Yippie Manifesto, for example was just one of those documents. For starters, a true social movement, such as the Yippies, in my opinion must have a manifesto or proposal clearly stating the beliefs and rational behind them. Another noteworthy point in any social movements' manifesto is its use of language. The use of the word "we" is especially important to analyze in this situation. The word itself portrays a feeling of belonging and unity. This use of language is crucial to the development of a connection with the intended audience. For example, if you look at the addresses of just about every politician and president you'll see this usage of language. "We the people , We Americans..., We will prevail " Ironically, this use of language was shared by the Yippies as well as their opposition, the government. Hearing this type of language only increases the sense of belonging when one is in agreement with one or more of the specific beliefs or ideals. The strategic angle of the Yippies rhetorical use of language lied in the fact that they made people feel like they were not alone in their view for change but more importantly that they, when unified could together make a change in American society. One such example of this was the mobilization by the Yippies to assemble in Chicago to protest the 1968 National democratic Convention. In a letter published by Abbie Hoffman titled, "A Statement from a Yip," he declared,
"Join us in Chicago in August for an international festival of youth, music, and theater. Rise up and abandon the creeping meatball! Come all you rebels, youth spirits, rock minstrels, truth-seekers, peacock-freaks, poets, barricade-jumpers, dancers, lovers and artists! It is summer. It is the last week in August, and the NATIONAL DEATH PARTY meets to bless Lyndon Johnson. We are there! There are 50,000 of us dancing in the streets, throbbing with amplifiers and harmony. We are making love in the parks. We are reading, singing, laughing, and printing newspapers, groping, and making a mock convention, and celebrating the birth of FREE AMERICA in our own time. Everything will be free. Bring blankets, tents, draft-cards, body-paint, Mr. Leary's Cow, food to share, music, eager skin, and happiness. The threats of LBJ, Mayor Daley, and J. Edgar Freako will not stop us. We are coming! We are coming from all over the world! The life of the American spirit is being torn asunder by the forces of violence, decay, and the napalm-cancer fiend. We demand the Politics of Ecstasy! We are the delicate spores of the new fierceness that will change America. We will create our own reality, we are Free America! And we will not accept the false theater of the Death Convention. We will be in Chicago. Begin preparations now! Chicago is yours! Do it!"
Abbie Hoffman being a truly successful political organizer was able to convince thousands to rally together to his "Festival of Life" in the streets and parks of Chicago, Illinois - an alternative to what he called the Democrats' "Convention of Death." "Hoffman's zany "Festival of Life" offered something for almost everyone sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, lots of street theater and a little bit of revolution just for the hell of it" (Raskin 2). As the saying goes, there's power in numbers, and so, Hoffman wanted to focus the advertising of his campaign in such a way that just about everyone would want to attend.