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The Yippies (Youth
International Party), was a group founded in 1967 by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.
Originally part of the SDS, the Yippies belived in many of the same leftist ideals. The
Yippies came to represent the violent, more reckless side to the leftist movement. They
were strong advocates of street violence as well as the use of srugs. Hoffman was quoted:
"we will burn Chicago to the ground!" "we demand the Politics of
ecstasy!" "acid for all" (Democracy is in the Streets, James Miller; Simon
and Schuster, New Yourk 1987: p. 286). As wild as these quotes sound, the Yippies were
quite serious about their cause. They believed that street violence was the only means of
changing government and cilvil organizations. In an effort to rally militant support, they
targeted followers of McCarthy and Kennedy to gain internal cohesion. Although
the Yippies ultimately did not succeed in attaining any of their goals, they did catch the
attention of the media. In Chicago on August of 1968, they announced that they were going
to put acid in the town's water supply. Though they never followed through with this
claim, it was, if nothing else, a sure way of getting attention. It took a massive
crackdown by authorities to maintain order among such demonastrators.
Although they captured the attention of the nation, the Yippies were destined
to be short-lived. The core of their purpose rested in the creation of anarchy. When they
mobilized their demonstrations, however, they did so illegally because they were not able
to abtain demonstration permits. As a result, their illegal demonstrations were constantly
met with police brutality.
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