Rod Dreher is a hippie...and hippies suck.
Been a little delinquent in posting of late. A three-day weekend in the Redneck Riviera and a return to work on Tuesday has made for a very busy Dad.
It’s certainly not for a lack of stuff going on…at least, amongst the conservative pundits. I feel it my duty as a wanna-be pundit to throw in my 1/50 of a dollar:
I’d originally thought about writing on the two big stories of the past two days: the issue with the ports and SCOTUS agreeing to hear the case on Partial Birth abortion, and probably will later on. I saw something else, however, that got my dander up just enough to make it necessary to put it at the front of the line.
Rod Dreher was previously with National Review and is now an editor at the Dallas Morning News. I agree with him on somethings, disagree with him on others, but have never been much of a fan. His writings, particularly in blogs, tends to be whiny and, in my opinion, immature (not that he’s a bad writer, he just reacts rather than responds).
A few years ago, a co-worker of his made a joke that his tendency to eat organic was “so lefty!!” That little joke has now spawned a movement and Dreher just released his book “Crunchy Cons”, in which he makes the case that there’s a new subclass of conservatives who realized that those who embrace conservative ideology have lost their way and desire a return to a more organic way of life. He’s even developed his own manifesto for this movement. His manifesto, and my point-by-point rebuttal is below:
"We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly."
As a member of the “vast right-wing conspiracy”, Rod, you should be sensitive to the fact that, by and large, conservatives really hate being pigeon-holed into the conservative caracature by those to the left on the political spectrum. Not only are you not sensitive to it, you’ve actually swallowed that line of crap hook, line and sinker and, with it, inherited this dilusion of superiority because of your “new-found enlightenment.”
Well, Rod, those of us pierced and tattooed conservatives who have an affinity for listening to heavy metal music while canning our own pickles resent the implication.
It’s bad enough having to read and hear about how everybody who shares my political ideology is a stuffy, evangelical, pasty-white greed monger with Jerry Falwell hair when it comes from intolerant liberals. It’s doubly insulting when you hear from a self-proclaimed conservative that the stereotype is accurate, we’re just too blind to see it but, praise God, Dreher’s here to drop some knowledge on us.
"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."
Replace the word “conservatiism” with “man” and you may be close to the mark but to accuse conservatives of having cornered the market on greed, power and materialism is asinine. I know greedy, materialistic liberals and I know very frugal, unassuming conservatives.
Being insufficiently concerned with our character does not know a political boundary. It’s a reflection on our overall society. Wanting to be a good neighbor and good citizen has been replaced with an apathy of how we are viewed by others. I’ll even admit to being guilty of this. Of course, I want to be viewed positively by others, but I’m not going to fundamentally change myself so that everybody likes me. That has nothing to do with my political ideology but with the desire to be true to myself.
"Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government."
How ridiculously naïve.
No matter how big and evil a business can become, there is no way that it can have a fraction of the imapact that a big, evil government can. Big business is not responsible for millions of lives lost in war over the past two centuries. Big business is not responsible for holocausts or genocide. Big business is regulated and can be destroyed in the blink of an eye for any wrong doing (see “Enron”) and, despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, big business doesn’t typically execute those who would speak out against it or who have “wronged” it in some way.
Big Government deserves infinitely more skepticism than Big Business.
"Culture is more important than politics and economics."
Culture, in and of itself, does not possess the ability to take away my rights or force me to tolerate laws which are counter to my values. Culture does not possess the ability to take away my financial well-being.
"A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship—especially of the natural world—is not fundamentally conservative."
I can probably agree with this point…to an extent. Of course, my agreement is contingent on how you would define “restraint” and “good stewardship”
"Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract."
This coming from a guy who, as recently as last week, has said that he will never buy an American car or appliance again. I guess your convictions take a back seat when small, local, old and particular are inconvenient.
Each one of these attributes has it’s advantages and disadvantages…I’m not addressing all of them. Sometimes local is great, but other times, Global is going to be better.
"Beauty is more important than efficiency."
Sitting on my desk directly in front of me are two pens. One is a beautiful, ergonomically designed stainless steel pen. Because it’s weighty and has no rubber on it anywhere, it can be used comfortably for short periods of time before your hand starts to hurt. Retail price is about $35. The other is a Papermate. It’s made of plastic and has a soft rubber ergonomically designed end. It’s very light and soft and I can write with it for hours on end. Retail price is $.55.
My beautiful pen ran out of ink the other day and I need to replace the ink cartridge…for about $2 Don’t know how I’m out of ink because I use it only a fraction of the time I use my $.55 Papermate. Be that as it may, I gently set my beautiful pen down on the desk and started writing with my Papermate. When my Papermate dies, I will throw it away and get a new one….for $.55.
Moral of the story: beautiful is fabulous but beauty doesn’t help me out much when I’m sitting in an all day meeting with a sore hand and a pen that works intermittently.
(This point is valid, however, when it comes to cars. I would much rather have a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T with a 5.7 liter Hemi than a Toyota Prius.)
"The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom."
Let’s not judge pop-culture quite so harshly. There’s a ton of authentic beauty that can be drawn from pop-culture. Personally, I find much more beauty in a photo of a scantily-clad Alyssa Milano than a painting of Whitler’s Mother. As far as truth and wisdom goes, I’ve probably learned more about science and history by watching “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and “Win Ben Stein’s Money” than I ever did reading boring science and history books in school.
Pop culture, if harnessed properly, could be a great educating tool AND can actually AWAKEN our senses. Leonardo DiCaprio probably sparked more interest in “Romeo and Juliet” than a nation full of English Lit teachers could do in 20 years. Realizing this, English Lit teachers actually use the movie to garner more interest in the book. Same goes with Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Strange Brew”, I’d have probably never bothered trying to read “Hamlet”.
"We share Russell Kirk’s conviction that “the institution most essential to conserve is the family.”"
Unlike the rest of us conservatives who could give a rat’s ass about our wives and kids, I guess.
"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."
First off, this point assumes that we hit a cultural peak somewhere in history which must be preserved at all costs. Baloney. Culture is an ever-evolving concept. This is doubly true in the US because we don’t have a culture of our own. “American culture” is an amalgamation of cultures brought here from all corners of the earth and, now, with the influx of immigration and the flattening of the world (snifter clink to Friedman), our culture will continue to evolve. Does this mean that we replace the old with the new? Of course not. In fact, cultural evolution may well be a vehicle to preserve the old.
I’m sure I could go on about this ad nauseum, but I’ll stop until I’ve read the book.
I will read the book, mind you. If I can find this much to disagree with in 10 sentences, I’m sure I’ll have a blast reading 272 pages of this crap.
Bottom line: A conservative is a conservative is a conservative. We don’t need new classes of conservatives. “Compassionate Conservatism” validated the Left’s opinion that conservatives could care less about fellow man. “Crunchy” goes a step further by validating the argument that we don’t care about anything else…well…besides money, power and material riches.
You wanna become a born-again hippie? Fine. Just don't disparage an entire group of people who share political philosophy (one which you claim to embrace) in doing so.
It’s certainly not for a lack of stuff going on…at least, amongst the conservative pundits. I feel it my duty as a wanna-be pundit to throw in my 1/50 of a dollar:
I’d originally thought about writing on the two big stories of the past two days: the issue with the ports and SCOTUS agreeing to hear the case on Partial Birth abortion, and probably will later on. I saw something else, however, that got my dander up just enough to make it necessary to put it at the front of the line.
Rod Dreher was previously with National Review and is now an editor at the Dallas Morning News. I agree with him on somethings, disagree with him on others, but have never been much of a fan. His writings, particularly in blogs, tends to be whiny and, in my opinion, immature (not that he’s a bad writer, he just reacts rather than responds).
A few years ago, a co-worker of his made a joke that his tendency to eat organic was “so lefty!!” That little joke has now spawned a movement and Dreher just released his book “Crunchy Cons”, in which he makes the case that there’s a new subclass of conservatives who realized that those who embrace conservative ideology have lost their way and desire a return to a more organic way of life. He’s even developed his own manifesto for this movement. His manifesto, and my point-by-point rebuttal is below:
"We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly."
As a member of the “vast right-wing conspiracy”, Rod, you should be sensitive to the fact that, by and large, conservatives really hate being pigeon-holed into the conservative caracature by those to the left on the political spectrum. Not only are you not sensitive to it, you’ve actually swallowed that line of crap hook, line and sinker and, with it, inherited this dilusion of superiority because of your “new-found enlightenment.”
Well, Rod, those of us pierced and tattooed conservatives who have an affinity for listening to heavy metal music while canning our own pickles resent the implication.
It’s bad enough having to read and hear about how everybody who shares my political ideology is a stuffy, evangelical, pasty-white greed monger with Jerry Falwell hair when it comes from intolerant liberals. It’s doubly insulting when you hear from a self-proclaimed conservative that the stereotype is accurate, we’re just too blind to see it but, praise God, Dreher’s here to drop some knowledge on us.
"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."
Replace the word “conservatiism” with “man” and you may be close to the mark but to accuse conservatives of having cornered the market on greed, power and materialism is asinine. I know greedy, materialistic liberals and I know very frugal, unassuming conservatives.
Being insufficiently concerned with our character does not know a political boundary. It’s a reflection on our overall society. Wanting to be a good neighbor and good citizen has been replaced with an apathy of how we are viewed by others. I’ll even admit to being guilty of this. Of course, I want to be viewed positively by others, but I’m not going to fundamentally change myself so that everybody likes me. That has nothing to do with my political ideology but with the desire to be true to myself.
"Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government."
How ridiculously naïve.
No matter how big and evil a business can become, there is no way that it can have a fraction of the imapact that a big, evil government can. Big business is not responsible for millions of lives lost in war over the past two centuries. Big business is not responsible for holocausts or genocide. Big business is regulated and can be destroyed in the blink of an eye for any wrong doing (see “Enron”) and, despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, big business doesn’t typically execute those who would speak out against it or who have “wronged” it in some way.
Big Government deserves infinitely more skepticism than Big Business.
"Culture is more important than politics and economics."
Culture, in and of itself, does not possess the ability to take away my rights or force me to tolerate laws which are counter to my values. Culture does not possess the ability to take away my financial well-being.
"A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship—especially of the natural world—is not fundamentally conservative."
I can probably agree with this point…to an extent. Of course, my agreement is contingent on how you would define “restraint” and “good stewardship”
"Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract."
This coming from a guy who, as recently as last week, has said that he will never buy an American car or appliance again. I guess your convictions take a back seat when small, local, old and particular are inconvenient.
Each one of these attributes has it’s advantages and disadvantages…I’m not addressing all of them. Sometimes local is great, but other times, Global is going to be better.
"Beauty is more important than efficiency."
Sitting on my desk directly in front of me are two pens. One is a beautiful, ergonomically designed stainless steel pen. Because it’s weighty and has no rubber on it anywhere, it can be used comfortably for short periods of time before your hand starts to hurt. Retail price is about $35. The other is a Papermate. It’s made of plastic and has a soft rubber ergonomically designed end. It’s very light and soft and I can write with it for hours on end. Retail price is $.55.
My beautiful pen ran out of ink the other day and I need to replace the ink cartridge…for about $2 Don’t know how I’m out of ink because I use it only a fraction of the time I use my $.55 Papermate. Be that as it may, I gently set my beautiful pen down on the desk and started writing with my Papermate. When my Papermate dies, I will throw it away and get a new one….for $.55.
Moral of the story: beautiful is fabulous but beauty doesn’t help me out much when I’m sitting in an all day meeting with a sore hand and a pen that works intermittently.
(This point is valid, however, when it comes to cars. I would much rather have a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T with a 5.7 liter Hemi than a Toyota Prius.)
"The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom."
Let’s not judge pop-culture quite so harshly. There’s a ton of authentic beauty that can be drawn from pop-culture. Personally, I find much more beauty in a photo of a scantily-clad Alyssa Milano than a painting of Whitler’s Mother. As far as truth and wisdom goes, I’ve probably learned more about science and history by watching “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and “Win Ben Stein’s Money” than I ever did reading boring science and history books in school.
Pop culture, if harnessed properly, could be a great educating tool AND can actually AWAKEN our senses. Leonardo DiCaprio probably sparked more interest in “Romeo and Juliet” than a nation full of English Lit teachers could do in 20 years. Realizing this, English Lit teachers actually use the movie to garner more interest in the book. Same goes with Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Strange Brew”, I’d have probably never bothered trying to read “Hamlet”.
"We share Russell Kirk’s conviction that “the institution most essential to conserve is the family.”"
Unlike the rest of us conservatives who could give a rat’s ass about our wives and kids, I guess.
"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."
First off, this point assumes that we hit a cultural peak somewhere in history which must be preserved at all costs. Baloney. Culture is an ever-evolving concept. This is doubly true in the US because we don’t have a culture of our own. “American culture” is an amalgamation of cultures brought here from all corners of the earth and, now, with the influx of immigration and the flattening of the world (snifter clink to Friedman), our culture will continue to evolve. Does this mean that we replace the old with the new? Of course not. In fact, cultural evolution may well be a vehicle to preserve the old.
I’m sure I could go on about this ad nauseum, but I’ll stop until I’ve read the book.
I will read the book, mind you. If I can find this much to disagree with in 10 sentences, I’m sure I’ll have a blast reading 272 pages of this crap.
Bottom line: A conservative is a conservative is a conservative. We don’t need new classes of conservatives. “Compassionate Conservatism” validated the Left’s opinion that conservatives could care less about fellow man. “Crunchy” goes a step further by validating the argument that we don’t care about anything else…well…besides money, power and material riches.
You wanna become a born-again hippie? Fine. Just don't disparage an entire group of people who share political philosophy (one which you claim to embrace) in doing so.
posted by Big Bad Dad at 4:22 PM
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