Who was saying it negatively?
When I hear hippie... I usually hear it in a positive light and it's meant as a compliment. Those who say it in a negative tone...they just haven't gotten in touch with their inner hippie yearnings....
Hippie to me means someone who contemplates the world around them, seeks some understanding of themselves and others and perhaps thinks outside the mainstream, this could be either in relationship, political or religious terms or all three.
Bascially, the only thing I don't align with on the 'hippie image' is the drug acceptance/participation part. Because I never was accepting of that, it's just not me and I don't like to be around it, I'm quite square when it comes to that. Oh and free love is only positive if you're using condoms...
Man.. maybe I'm not a hippie after all...
sweetpea