Subcultures come and go. They are influenced by the ones that preceeded them as well as being a reflection of the current Zeitgeist in society. I have noticed a few current subcultures, despite being on opposite ends of the, in my opinion, useless and out-dated left-right political spectrum are actually quite similar. These are hipsters, hippies, quiverfull and ethnonationalists neo-Pagan types. Before proceeding with a more in depth analysis, here is a chart that provides an overview of their commonalities. By the way, if there is simply an X in the box, this means “yes”, but that I didn’t see a need to add extra details.
|
Hipsters |
Hippies |
Homesteading quiverfull |
Ethnonationalist neo-Pagans |
| Organic food |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| Veganism or vegetarianism |
X |
X |
They have no qualms about eating animals, especially since in the Bible animals are seen as put on Earth to serve man (if I remember correctly what I learnt in Sunday school). |
It depends. My gut feeling tells me they probably eat meat, but in a respectful manner and maybe like free-range animals. |
| Living out on the land, usually homesteaders. |
Yes and no, most life in urban areas and probably have an idyllic view of the countryside. |
X |
X |
X |
| Skeptical towards science (ex. Anti-vaccination) |
Yes, especially if it makes them seem morally superior. Hipsters aren’t “mainstream” anymore, but I believe many former hipsters probably adhere to gender theory. |
Yes, they are very skeptical of anything unnatural and that disrupts the natural order. This in itself isn’t necessarily unscientific – scientists also care about the environment, but can get into weird territory like spurning western medicine. |
Yes, especially if science goes against something mentioned in the Bible. They may seek medical help, but believe the pill to cause abortions or that scientists do not respect what is sacred. |
Yes, but in my understanding, they are mostly critical of science in the sense that they equate it with technology i.e. if it weren’t for science, we wouldn’t be fracking and destroying the environment. |
| Belief that there is a true authentic state of being as humans i.e. noble savage |
Yes; they long for a more authentic time, usually a return to a past where men did physical labour jobs and things were not mass-produced. |
Yes, these people are big fans of Rousseau’s concept of the noble savage and believe that society has corrupted us. |
Yes, for them, human’s natural state of being comes from Biblical times. |
Yes, but for them, they believe that humanity would be healthiest if people followed Pagan beliefs. |
| Into having a lot of babies |
It depends. I have heard of hipster families having a lot of kids and some having just one and hoping it’ll be LGBT because that would be so cool. |
Yes, if I am to trust Facebook, many headband-wearing hippy moms have countless photos of them breastfeeding their bountiful brood. |
Hell yeah! Even skipping out on sex during ovulation is seen as unnatural. |
It depends, but I believe they are mostly favourable to the idea. |
Regardless of the subculture, all these buy into this idea that there is a natural way that humans should be living which is reflected in their diet and also their living conditions. There seems therefore to be this idea that modern life has lead us astray from what is good for humans and that we need to look to the past to find this more natural authentic way of being which can be summed up with the idea of the noble savage, i.e. humans who have not yet been corrupted by civilisation. To be fair, I think they are onto something here. In the West, we have high rates of complex disorders such as depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders and these are thought to be associated to our stressful lifestyle, disruption of our sleep and circadian rhythms, lack of physical activity, bad diet (not only due to the high fat content, but also diets that do not support gut flora which has been found to affect mental and physical health in surprising ways).
Now, it could easily be argued that suffering is a part of life, but most of us in the West have nothing to complain about by ancestral standards as we live in times of abundance. So, which conclusions have these subcultures come to? Is this “normal” suffering, or have we lost our way? What is the authentic way to live?
Source: Adam and Eve cast out of Paradise – after eating from the Tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. From Old Testament stories, published by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London c.1880. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)
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