For as long as I can remember, I have had an infatuation with the hippie culture of the 60s and 70s. My initial obsession was the billowy clothing and interesting accessories — these manifested themselves in elementary school Halloween costumes. In junior high, my interest expanded to  musical artists Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and John Prine. It wasn’t until I reached high school and college that I began to explore the social movements of the age. I became fixated on the fact that the primary focus of almost an entire generation was inclusivity and the abolition of discrimination.
    Whether the subject was civil rights or gender equality, the message was clear: we want to create an equal opportunity for anyone and everyone despite physical or philosophical difference. The goal of this counterculture was to find common ground, to publicize the connections of humanity, to break down the walls of exclusive groups and to encourage peaceful camaraderie between all types of people. The powerful energy behind those movements has enabled our generation to reap countless benefits, and because of that, we are incredibly blessed.
   As I observe my own millennial culture, I often search for this type of world-rocking, barrier-breaking passion. However, it seems that a portion of our young, intelligent, talented and capable generation is more concerned with the correct pronunciation of band names, Instagram filters and flannel collections than the unity of mankind. OK, that was an obvious overreaction, but my point is our energy is misplaced.
   The influence of today’s hipster culture has caused a 180-degree change in our manner of thinking, and in my opinion, it has been a negative turn. Rather than focusing on the inclusion of others and finding a common thread, we judge based on Spotify playlists and whether or not the person in question wears an item of clothing purchased at a thrift store. Our generation expends so much energy creating petty qualifications that must be met in order to gain entry into each individual subculture that we miss out on the opportunity to become one unified force.  
    In part, I believe the world of social media is to blame. The speed with which one can access information has created a competition to see who can know the most the fastest, but this is no excuse. We perpetuate this cycle of exclusive behavior ourselves, and it is our responsibility to end it.
   I in no way discredit the importance of the arts. Friendships blossom because of shared taste in books, similarities in guilty pleasure songs and the like. (I also in no way attack the wearing of flannel, just to be clear.) I just feel that the joy experienced from sharing information with one another is stronger than the pride felt by withholding knowledge.
    Perhaps I visualize the past through rose-colored glasses, but I believe that it is our turn as a generation to embrace these ways of yore. It is time to start again; a fight for unity and a fight for common ground. We must learn how to embrace our own individuality without falling victim to the hypocrisy of condemning others for their own ways of living. Instead of hunching over our computers, anxiously awaiting a tweet from our favorite musician, let’s expand our focus to the larger issues at hand. We should not focus on the interests that separate us from our peers, but we must once again strive to find that common bond. If we are able to accomplish this, (which we will be able to do because we are, after all, statistically the most educated generation that has ever lived) imagine the amazing strides we will be able to make toward the greater good.