Hippie, usually spelled hippy in the United Kingdom, refers to a subgroup of the 1960s and early 1970s counterculture that began in the United States, becoming an established social group by 1965 before declining during the mid-1970s. Hippies, along with the New Left and the civil rights movement, are considered the three dissenting groups of the 1960s counterculture movement. Because Seattle has such a liberal political climate, it is home to many hippies, young and old.