Ghost of a flea

The beatniks were non-conformists. They were independent; they were into cool and jazz and obscure poetry and modern art. And there was an amazing degree of uniformity amongst them in styles of clothing, and in ways of talking, and in attitudes and values; it was almost like there was some official "non-conformist" way of dressing and an official "non-conformist" set of attitudes and values to which these "non-conformists" all closely conformed.