I will place myself into this newly created category. I have to consider myself a hipster, although I do NOT appreciate the mustache trend (it's already too "done" for me). However, there are several tell-tale signs that I am one of them: I create my own designs using my sewing machine as well as make stencil art in the basement; I eschewed a new townhome or condo and instead bought a charming old house (built in 1906); I own a record player and found some free records on someone's curb, which I took home exclaiming "how could anyone just throw these away!"; I clear snow the old-fashioned way (see previous posts); and I generally consider my taste unquestionably excellent. I could go on and on, but I think these examples speak for themselves. I also am somewhat leaning toward hippie tendencies, however, as I have recently discovered: I am a pescatarian (and I will probably stop eating seafood in the near future too) because I feel that eating animal meat is both hypocritical and bad for the environment; I joined a local co-op so that I could easily buy local, organic, and natural products while at the same time avoiding corporate behemoths; I'm researching how to make my own clothing detergent and cleaning solutions so that I can use natural products while "voting with my dollars" against the corpo-industrial-complex that runs so much of our society; and I am saving money to have solar panels installed at my house so that I can avoid using energy that comes from coal and nuclear power plants. Again, there are other examples, but I think these illustrate the mindset I carry well enough.
As a hipstie, I would summarize our qualities thusly:
- We care about the planet and local environment, and want to impact them as little as possible
- We want to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit (those PBR's notwithstanding - clearly spiritually valuable but perhaps not so much for the body or mind)
- We do not want to be part of or support the corporate/industrial complexes that currently reign in the society (media, agriculture, energy, etc.)
- We reject the consumerism and consumption patterns that have emerged since the 1940's
- We ignore the "mass"es - mass media, mass consumption - and embrace the "niche"s (e.g. local bands over American Idol, handmade goods over Walmart mass-produced items)
I'm sure there are more traits to be found, and when I realize I forgot one, I'll be sure to mention it. For now I think this is a pretty decent start. Behold, wonder of wonders, a new demographic has been born! Good luck, marketers! Mwahahahahaaa!
Are you sure you aren't just a dirty, pinko fellow-traveler?
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