Rejecting Modern Materialism: The Rise of the Crunchy-Conservatives

Catholic Exchange ^ | March 31, 2006 | Pete Vere JCL

[Kieri]

I'm a "Crunchy Con" too. We fled the suburbs two years ago for a rural life. I'm no farmer and may have been cursed with a black thumb, but I'm going to try my hand at gardening this spring/summer. I buy from farmers markets whenever I can (a Whole Food store is a 45 minute drive) and we're planting as many trees on our 2 acres as we can afford.

Life in suburbia was too noisy in so many ways. The traffic, the bigger and better jobs, the materialism, the pressure on our kids, etc. Enough was enough!

[1rudeboy]

There was a thread a while back where somebody was arguing that the end-result of capitalism is some form of lawlessness, or whatever. Was it you CowboyJay? If so, then this thread's for you.

[qam1]

I still prefer being a South Park Republican

[Carpe Cerevisi]

I guess I'm a counter cultural crunchy con.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Thanks for the ping.

I've actually read excerpts from this book published on the Web-and passages from the book itself-recently, and agree with most of the sentiments Dreher expresses.

I can't say I fully share his mystical relationship with food-I suppose because it involves an ancestral European relationship with the earth that my family has gradually discarded as they've embraced America over the centuries, although my last name, believe it or not, means "pear tree" loosely translated-but I do appreciate the value of his words in this respect, especially the part of this book where he explains the benefits of being able to go to the farmer's markets that take place in this city every week.

When I have some more surplus cash to splurge on some of my favorite books I'll probably pick up a copy of Crunchy Cons.

[beckett]

Dreher has earned the ire of several of his former colleagues at National Review for what some call his high self-regard and the undeserved disdain he exhibits for broad swaths of principled free market conservatives.

For myself I can only say that, as a conservative, I've never thought of the market as a god, never worshipped capitalism, and always understood the trade-offs any economic system presents to those who participate in it. The market is simply a tool, the best tool ever devised for creating wealth. It's not the 'be and end all' of life, and if Dreher maintains that principled conservatives, with the exception of certain Randian types, have said otherwise in the modern era, he's simply mistaken.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping...

[don-o]

read later!!

[Potowmack]

What a bunch of generalizations. Sorry, but it's the Democrats I see driving around in Hummers, living in the 12-room houses in the high-end neigborhoods, dressed in designers duds and working in middle and upper management.

Statistics don't back your observation. It's the Hummer-driving, 12-room house exurbs that are the Republican strongholds in this country.

[Smokin' Joe]

Our familiy is there too. Though I'm not sure that I like having a label now.

I have always been there, as has my family. I'll just keep doing what I have been doing. I'm not especially thrilled with being labelled, though--just another socio-demographic pigeonhole.

[AmishDude]

In that case, what are the smug levels among the Crunchy Cons? Not to Clooney levels, to be sure, but still...

[SaltyJoe]

Crunchy on the outside? Soft and loving on the inside? I must put the Eucharist at the center of my heart and my life or I won't have any motivation for anything or anyone.

[Dead Dog]

This is not on my reading list. The political debate, and the resulting society, have been shaped into a Marxist dialectic. Greed is not good, and the definition of Capitalism (Labor, Capital, and Capital Owners) is a straw man cast system intended to make communism look good.

[Serb5150]

I think we might be crunchy.

[longtermmemmory]

seems the MSM is trying to push this as "catholic liberal democrats".

This has all the stink of a media effort to produce "me too" democrats for religion.

[Betis70]

I'm closer to this than any other conservative viewpoint I've seen expressed.

I take the train to work, have tried doing some container gardening, live below my means, etc.

Generally I'm not one for such labels, but I guess this sorta fits. Kinda.

[Mrs. Don-o]

You're quite right: this is an "older" conservatism, sometimes called "virtue" conservatism (as contrasted to "liberty" conservatism), with roots in Russeell Kirk and G.K. Chesterton and --- probably Louis IX, hey? I think Dreher invented the "crunchy" tag just as an entree or a teaser for people who might not already be familiar with the tradition.

I've got to thank Peter Vere for his good review of Dreher's book. Some critics have missed the point entirely, imagining that Dreher just wants
people to define their identity via a more refined consumerism, for instance expensive free-range chicken rather than cheap poultry-factory Tyson wingettes.

Vere (and you, B-Chan) correctly noted that Dreher is making much bigger points (like recovering a human scale for farming and a family centered way of living and a humane attitude toward other living beings) -- all
of which is consonant with a Catholic personalist philosophy.

Thanks for getting it...

[Mrs. Don-o]

Where does Dreher lay this out in terms of Republicans vs Democtrats? (Cite and quote, please.) That's just what he doesn't do. He does tend to make this a conversation-within-conservatism, but that doesn't have much to do with party politics. So no, I don't see Dreher creating or alluding to stereotypes of Republicans per se.

And once you've hung around at Free Republic long enough, you'll see lots of soi-disant "conservatives" who are contemptuously down on marriage and family, whose response to porn is "where can I get me some 'a that?" and who think the most important Trinity is Me, Myself, and I.

If you haven't run into that yet, bless you, you are fortunate indeed.

"One television, if any, in the living room, home schooling, and modest behavior and consumption." Way to go. I'm with you, redhead.

[Colonel Batguano]

"I've never thought of the market as a god, never worshipped capitalism, and always understood the trade-offs any economic system presents to those who participate in it."

You are absolutely correct; too many in our movement have a Walter Williams-like reglious belief in unrestrained capitalism, that the market is ALWAYS right, and that the "law" of supply and demand was handed down along with the 10 Commandments!

[CowboyJay]

"Was it you CowboyJay? If so, then this thread's for you."

I do appreciate the ping.

Capitalism is a fine thing. I believe it is an important component of a free and prosperous society. Just another tyranny however when all else is sacrificed upon its' altar. Enterprise (ambition based) capitalism is a positive force. When unprincipled greed is elevated to the status of religion, bad things happen.