Guy Strait (an ironic name, especially when you reverse it) was obviously sympathetic toward hippies. He begins by acknowledging that they did "dress strangely", but then explains that the more neutral dress of conservative society was a kind of camouflage, a way to hide and blend in with everyone else. And therefore the more bold and colorful clothing and accessories (beads, flowers, headbands, etc.) were a symbol adopted by hippies to challenge that conformist mindset, and were perceived as a threat to same. Change causes fear in some people, and that fear can turn into anger. One of the oldest games going on the planet- fear/hate/exploit/enslave/eradicate those who look different. White man has done it to Native Americans, Blacks, Asians, and women for millenia. (In fairness, whites have died occasionally for looking different, too- just not on a very grand scale).

Strait also notes that hippies were rejecting the materialism so rampant in our culture; not buying into the accepted norm that one has to be gainfully employed and accumulate wealth and objects to be happy. And that is where he makes his strongest point in my opinion, when he observes that "it has been demonstrated over and over again throughout history... that very little is required for happiness". Quite the contrary, he notes, "we have been brainwashed by the advertising industry into being the most dissatisfied people in the world... and that "Prosperity is the bringer of misery". Kind of echoes Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique, doesn't it?