Rejecting Modern Materialism: The Rise of the Crunchy-Conservatives

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

[NYer]

Pete Vere is a canon lawyer and a Catholic author. He recently co-authored Surprised by Canon Law: 150 Questions Catholics Ask About Canon Law (Servant Books) with Michael Trueman and More Catholic Than the Pope (Our Sunday Visitor) with Patrick Madrid. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.

[NYer]

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[gobucks]

major bump!!

[yellowdoghunter]

I am a "Crunchy Con" and didn't know it! I am glad to see Gen-X'ers embracing this idea. I agree completely with his thesis!

[gobucks]

The answer, to the shame of conservatives and progressives alike, is greed. Parents confuse their wants with their needs. The pursuit of the McMansion, the annual family cruise and a third luxury vehicle means more time at the office for each parent, more time in a daycare facility for the child, and less actual family interaction.

See these two related threads for more about how Freepers feel about the values of this mushrooming group of conservatives. Great find NYer!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I am a Stay-at-Home Wife".

My Pregnant (Again) Wife wants to quit her job - need advice.

[zarf]

not only learning academics at a higher level than most of their conventionally schooled generational peers, but also learning how to think — and, moreover, learning how to think independently and counter-culturally.

I'm seeing this alot with home schooled kids.

Kids actually getting their hands dirty; learning self sufficiency; carpentry, raising animals for food etc...

[Pessimist]

Great article.

I agree completely.

[gleeaikin]

Down with Greed Capitalism. Up with Entrepreneurial Capitalism. Historically, there is an interesting comparison between the English cities of Manchester and Birmingham. Manchester become the monster textile, single industry "capitol" of England, and then went into decline. Birmingham was a center of "garage" entrepreneurial capitalism (think Silicon Valley), and thrived greatly and
continually.

For several years I served on a Mayoral task force on street vending. One spouse of a major corporate executive said at a meeting, "we don't want to see any vendors near

---

, they RUIN the cityscape." The big business interests in the city tried by fair means and foul to get rid of vending. I guess they thought it was ruining the cityscape. Many tourists think it IS the cityscape. Unfortunately it seemed that anti-vendor moves were occurring in a number of cities, it almost seemed coordinated from above. How can any self-respecting Republican be against working hard, taking care of family, and being an entrepreneur? The "crunchy" movement sounds like a great thing.

[Gingersnap]

Oh, my gosh - I may be a crunchy con! I cook from scratch, grow my own veggies, hunt and fish, knit socks, and read the Bible!

And I'm still mad about the savings and loan scandal!

Do we have to go to meetings or wear those ugly rubber bracelets to belong?

[Pyro7480]

Crunchy conservative ping!

[B-Chan]

Mr. Dreher is absolutely correct in his enthusiasm for "crunchy" conservatism. He is incorrect, however, in giving it a new name. "Crunchy" consveratism is nothing more than real, traditional conservatism of the altar-family-throne type. Since the Revolution of 1789, true conservatism has been overwhelmed by liberalism, whether of the statist sort (the Left) or the market variety (the Libertarians). The political landscape today is a battleground between two liberalisms: The liberals, out-and-out hedonists who turn to the State Almighty to keep society functioning despite the damage done to it by the uncontrolled pursuit of pleasure by the Mob; and "conservatives" -- libertarians, substituting social Darwinism for State power with megacorporations keep the Mob distracted from the wreck of society by sating them with floods of cheap food and consumer products. Big Government liberalism or Big Business liberalism -- that's the choice for people today.

Although I have had some problems with Mr. Dreher's actions in the past, his recognition of the resurgence of true ("crunchy") conservatism is to be commended. A return to the altar, family, and throne politics of the past is our only hope.

[rob777]

What Dreher has tapped is a lively coalition of conservatives who believe that family and community ought to come before unrestrained free-market capitalism.






I agree, as long as the approach is one of values promoted in the institutions of culture, rather than policies enforced by government. Any civilization has at least three sectors. The cultural, the economic and the political. Politics should limit its concern to protecting rights. An over empathsis on economic concerns needs to be addressed in the cultural sector.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

i>"Crunchy" consveratism is nothing more than real, traditional conservatism of the altar-family-throne type.

Exactly. And although I wasn't quite sure of the meaning of "crunch conservatism" until now, it's what I have been all along. To me, what he is describing here are the things worth conserving. And by conserving and building up these things, other things will be transformed and become worth conserving too.

[redhead]

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. Conservative kids more often than not are just that. One television, if any, in the living room, home schooling, and modest behavior and consumption. Am I the only one who sees this guy as disastrously misled and misinformed?

[stevio]

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

[t_skoz]

ping

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

[t_skoz]

Good article. I'm 25 and fit into this category. I have a bunch of these people in my circle of friends. Some of them are early to mid 30s and have little kids.

We never really needed a name for it like "Crunchy Conservatism", we just call ourselves "good, old school traditional Americans".

[Ozone34]

I think these views are pretty much identical with the so-called "distributists", like G.K. Chesterton & Hillaire Belloc.

[horse_doc]

I actually have several relatives who are rock-solid, church-going Republicans, who are completely focused on material things (and they truly believe that these things are necessities - expensive vacations, and replacing cars every 2-3 years). Their kids are not disasters, but they aren't what you'd call happy, either.

I think that Dreher is onto something important.