Yippies co-founder Abbie Hoffman 1967. Fed up with the war in Vietnam and the state of politics in America, a group of activists led by Abbie and Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner decided to shake up the system. Their creation, the Youth International Party -- better known as the Yippies  -- combined counterculture ethics with guerrilla theater, social activism, and media manipulation. By adding a large dose of humor and a whiff of violence, the Yippies changed the tone of political protest in America. They paid a visit to the New York Stock Exchange in 1967. Havoc reigned as Abbie Hoffman and the crew tossed $100 bills onto the trading floor. It immediately turned into a mosh pit, illustrating the Yippies' point about the greed of capitalism. In 1968, they nominated a pig to run for President of the United States, and led street protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Those protests ended in the arrest and trial of the notorious Chicago Seven. In later years, some Yippies turned to pie throwing as a weapon of protest, causing leaders to at least change their clothes, if not their policies. American culture and politics may not have lived up to the activists' ideals, but the Yippie influence can still be seen in the films of Michael Moore, the "news" of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, and in the "reporting" of The Onion. Suggested Sites... Yippie Museum - they probably won't serve Starbucks coffee here. Yippie History - video on the history and influence of the Yippies. The Realist - an archive of Paul Krassner's underground publication. Stew Albert's Yippie Reading Room - chronicling the revolution. Steal This Website - Abbie Hoffman lives on.

Directory categories: Youth International Party, Hippies, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Culture Jamming

Archived under: American History, Counterculture, Culture Jamming, History, Politics, Protests, Yippies

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