Thanksgiving Table by David Bennett
Lately, I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about the “crunchy con” movement. Lutherpunk’s blogging started it and then American Conservative Magazine published a great series of articles grouped under their cover story of “Eating Right: the Case for Culinary Conservatism.” Blogger and author Rod Dreher is an important part of the piece and I thought I’d post his “crunchy con” manifesto here:
1. We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly.
2. Modern conservatism has become too focused on money, power, and the accumulation of stuff, and insufficiently concerned with the content of our individual and social character.
3. Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government.
4. Culture is more important than politics and economics.
5. A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship—especially of the natural world—is not fundamentally conservative.
6. Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract.
7. Beauty is more important than efficiency.
8. The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom.
9. We share Russell Kirk’s conviction that “the institution most essential to conserve is the family.”
10. Politics and economics won’t save us; if our culture is to be saved at all, it will be by faithfully living by the Permanent Things, conserving these ancient moral truths in the choices we make in our everyday lives.
I think his manifesto–as well as promoting local food production, healthy and organic options, and humane treatment of animals– is a very conservative and even Catholic option, especially the emphasis on subsidiarity (even though the manifesto doesn’t use that word), the family, local community, and especially the “Permanent Things” as opposed to materialism. Here are some good articles that make a conservative case for what have traditionally been viewed as the realm of hippie liberals:
Food for Thought by John Shwenkler
Table Talk by Rod Dreher and Michael Pollan
Burning Dinner by Timothy Carney (important piece about ethanol)
A Righter Shade of Green by Roger Scruton
Fear Factories (The Case for Compassionate Conservatism for Animals) by Matthew Scully
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad T.
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
Dave Hartline
faceman
Great post and links. Thank you.
With all due respect, you have got to be kidding. Crunchy arrogance and snobbery are about as far from Christian values as one can get. The Crunchy movement is rife with hypocrisy—how many poor people can afford Craftsman bungalows, Whole Foods, and Veuve Cliquot? And since when is “community” built via the Internet?–and Crunchy values are the preserve of the privileged elite. (Poor people shop at Wal-Mart because it’s what they can afford, That is reality, whether the Drehers of the world like it or not. I work for a giant non-Crunchy apparel company, and when I deliver our overstock clothing to local charities, no one ever turns me down with a Crunchy sneer because the stuff is mass-produced overseas.)
I could go on (and on), but suffice it to say that IMHO the Crunchies are seriously out of touch with the concerns of the poor. Among many other things. Crunchyism = elitism, pure and simple. Just my deux centimes’ worth.
As an employee (but not an exec/leader) of the apparel industry, I am well aware of the problems and challenges associated with globalism, consumerism, “big box” retailing, etc . These are complex issues, but Crunchy snobbery and elitism are NOT the answer. Again…YMMV.
Diane
1. We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly.
This is sheer Gnosticism, not to mention laughable hubris. It has elicited more derision than the rest of the Crunchy Manifesto–and rightly so. The fact that it is the first assertion in said Manifesto should give us all pause. When anyone claims to “see things more clearly” than the rest of the Unwashed Herd. red flags should go up. Arrogance is not a Christian virtue.
OK, over and out. Sorry for the negative view. I am as tree-huggy as the next person; I recylce and all that claptrap; but Crunchyism makes me retch.
God bless,
Diane
Diane,
I certainly see problems with Dreher’s approach. I don’t care much for his beliefnet blog either. In fact, I find the articles from the American Conservative at the end of the post much more persuasive and important. Even the one with Dreher’s name is merely one where he interviews another person. My main interest in this is health, the family and the community, all of which I think can be strengthened through what we choose to eat and how we choose to eat it. I am certainly not embracing the crunchy con movement wholesale, especially where it can turn into an elitist movement. I guess I see it more practically, like supporting your local farmer and eating family meals at the table rather than keeping up appearances with your neighbors by shopping at Whole Foods.
Diane,
Great point about no real communities being built on the internet. I’ll admit that I should get rid of my internet but I don’t want go into a store with my three little children. I probably am buying clothes from the company you work for and I do try to at least look nice so people don’t think the Catholic homeschool mom’s are dowdy. Anyway, for anyone looking for a simplier life, I do suggest something more like John Senior’s “The Restoration of Christian Culture.”
The interesting thing is how much farming has changed. I am supporting the local farmer through those federal aid checks.
Diane,
It is obvious you don’t like Dreher and “crunchy con” stuff, from your comments here and at other blogs that merely mention Dreher. Personally, like you, I dislike the first line about seeing things more clearly, and I think Dreher has been unfairly critical about Catholic bishops, while being silent about Orthodox problems now that he is Orthodox.
Nonetheless, I think that some conservatives could use more of a healthy dose of skepticism for big business, because as Pat Buchanan regularly points out, what big business wants is not necessarily what is good for our country (just ask people who live in towns who have lost jobs after factories closed). Old-fashioned conservatives would prefer a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility to the tax-cut and spend like crazy attitude that many neo-conservatives tend to embrace. America seems to be going in that direction too: buy more than you can afford now with credit, pay later, then seek a government bail-out when the payments get too high.
I haven’t read the Crunchy Con book yet, and I doubt I will ever swear off Wal-Mart, but…I am welcome a conservative voice calling us to consume less, be content with what we have, etc..
Diane – there was a time when I would have agreed with you about the whole crunchy con thing be about elitism. And it is true, there is a lot of elitism and snobbery present in some of the nonsense out there. But this is also a movement that has really caused my wife and I to take our faith and our family commitments to a different level. It is perfectly Christian in the sense of asking how we can become more conscience of the decisions we make and how they impact those around us.
This isn’t about being a different type of conspicuous consumer: it is about making choices to consume what we need differently. And I think you will find it quite cost effective. For instance, did you know you can buy whole cows for as little $2.49/lb, already processed. We have found that – even with purchasing some organic products – we are SAVING money.
It is also about a group of folks standing and telling neo-cons that we have had enough of their brand of conservatism. Small government, wise living and personal liberty are making a come back in a big big way!
Dear All: Please excuse the stength and bluntness of my language above. As you can see, this is something I do feel strongly about,
I take no issue with how someone else chooses to live. If eating organic works for you, more power to you. What I do object to, though, is the prescriptive preachiness so common in Crunchy circles. I don’t mean present company by any means. But there are Crunchies out there–notably Dreher and a few of his buds–who advocate statist solutions that would effectively impose crunchiness on society. (Thank God such dreams are sheer fantasy!)
I confess I do have a problem with this prescriptiveness–as well as with the relentless judgmentalism toward the hoi polloi so pervasive in Crunchy literature. (One Chrunchy pundit whose name escapes me even went so far as to assert that it is impossible to find Christ in the suburbs. Ohhhhhkay.)
I’m sure one can probably save money by buying organic, if one works at it, but let’s please be realistic here: This is basically an affluent white people’s movement. The vast majority of poor people are not lining up at Whole Foods–or even at the Food Coop or farmer’s market. Buying certified-organic bamboo clothing is not even on their radar screens, let alone feasible for them financially. As long as Crunchies can recognize this reality–and respect it–then everything’s fine. It’s when Crunchies go from “I like to live this way” to “And so should everyone else!” that I start getting nervous. When Crunchies become zealots intent on imposing their agenda on the rest of us, I cringe.
I’ve been exposed only to the Dreherian form of Crunchiness; maybe most Crunchies are not like Rod and his buds. But ISTM the Dreher-type Crunchies have a sort of “Let them eat organic rice-cakes” attitude toward the poor. When it is pointed out that the poor cannot afford Whole Foods, the Dreherian Crunchies respond, “Oh yes they can! Others have done it! It can be done! Simply cut down here and economise there, and you’ll have enough left over to buy a free-range chicken!” This misses the point entirely, IMHO. The poor people I know would not know a free-range chicken if it bit them (and could not care less anyway). The people I deliver Meals on Wheels to have more important things to worry about than the abolute organic purity of their meals; they are too busy trying to figure out how they will cope with their loneliness now that their spouses are in nursing homes (or dead). The Hispanic immigrants who have just arrived here with the clothes on their backs are too busy figuring out how to keep the utilities on and food–any food–in the fridge to waste many mental calories devising ways to afford Whole Foods and organic clothing.
There is nothing wrong with living simply and Small Is Beautiful and all that, but please, please do recognize that it’s not for everyone.
I live in the woods, drive an old beat-up Honda, recycle, eat my veggies, etc. I’m not opposed to any of this stuff. I’m just opposed to the idea of IMposing it. I’m also opposed to setting it up as True Christianity or True Conservatism or True Anything, with the implication that those who do not Follow the Path are inferior Christians or even inferior human beings. The latter tendency within the Crunchy movement is spiritually dangerous, IMHO. Our Lord expressly said that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him. He also expressly told us not to get all hung up about what we eat, drink, or wear. The Crunchy zealots fetishize these things. That is troubling, IMHO. It is ultimately an intensely materialistic movement–at least in its Dreherian forms.
I will gladly follow the non-Dreherian links provided above. I would like to be proved wrong about Crunchyism. But I don’t hold out too much hope–leastwise WRT its Dreherian-Larisonian-New Pantagruelian forms.
Again, please pardon bluntness. And God bless, all!
I guess I see it more practically, like supporting your local farmer and eating family meals at the table rather than keeping up appearances with your neighbors by shopping at Whole Foods.
I can go along with this wholeheartedly. And Alison, I agree–I shop online, too, because shopping in person is simply too time consuming. I also spend far too much time online visiting blogs and such….so I’m a fine one to talk!
Diane,
I think you raise many important criticisms. No movement is beyond criticism, and honestly sometimes reading Dreher’s blog frustrates me (which is why I rarely read it anymore!). And to you point, I mentioned on LP’s blog awhile back that this new “green” phenomenon seems to me to be an upper-middle-class trend, which means this is the same crowd that bought Hummers a few years ago are now getting into environmentalism. This basically means that it will be all talk, all show, doing just the minimum.
Nonetheless, Jennifer and I are exploring ways to live more simply primarily because we are not upper-middle class and can’t afford 4.00/gallon gas very well (a reason why I now use the safer hypermiling techniques and chose to buy a house within walking distance of work). Same with natural gas…so we will probably be keeping the heat at about 64 this winter, and wearing sweaters. Also, food prices are rising, which mean we shop at Aldi, not Whole Foods, although we did get some free plants from the green house, and now are growing tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, etc.
For me, this is really about saving money and wanting to spend my money on something I enjoy rather than energy. It is also about living more simply, not being so dependent upon “stuff” for happiness, being more self-sufficient, etc, which to me, are conservative values.
Dreher is one person providing a conservative rationale for this sort of thing, but as the articles above mention there are other conservatives advocating it as well who may not have the air of superiority that Dreher has.
I think a lot of us here are really more frugal and lifehacker-y than Crunchy as some kind of ideology. But there’s a good amount of overlap between the two. I’m all about getting great things for dirt cheap and diamond-in-the-rough shopping. So I love yard sales, thrift stores, used books, Craigslist free stuff, taking the bus to work, buying an older house not in the burbs, etc. Like David said, it’s nice to have a conservative rationale for this, but I agree with the criticisms here.
Weighing in on an old topic here….yes, I agree: frugal is good. My DH is frugal to a fault. Or, as my late mother-in-law used to put it, “Steve is…thrifty.” LOL, well, that’s one way of putting it. :) So, yes, I know about frugal, and I agree that it is basically a Good Thing (providing it’s not miserly).
I had to take the old bomber for its inspection and tune-up today, and the family and I stopped in at Barnes & Noble afterward. Whilebrowsing, I leafed through the book Things White People Like. I think it could better have been titled Things Crunchy Yuppies Like, because it was all about Starbucks, Whole Foods, organic clothing, IPods, wine, and “the cinema.” So, apparently that’s what Rod Dreher et al. are–the quintessential White People. Who knew? LOL!
For the record, I have never set foot in a Starbucks. Yes, I may be the only person outside the Third World who can make that claim. :) (I’m also the only one who doesn’t yet own a cell phone.) I think I’ve been in a Whole Foods, but I’m not sure; I may be getting it mixed up with some other pretentious overpriced food place.