I knew lots of the original UK crusties, 1980s, the crossover between the punk, free festival and rave scenes. Some were very middle-class dropouts but certainly not all - some from very working-class backgrounds. A brave bunch of people on the whole willing to give up all home comfort to try and build a new kind of society. Many of these people very au fait with industrial culture and generally broad-minded. Lots chased out of the UK when the '94 government brought in anti-rave, anti-festival legislation. They fleed to France and Ireland, lately they and their children are back in the UK in caravans squatting unused farmers' fields and labelled 'gypsies' by the press.
Interesting website. It's too easy to laugh at these people when so many with mortgages, careers and 'normal' lives are so unhappy.