Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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126 of 134 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A return to faith and metaphysics, February 22, 2006
The best way to describe the book is "reorientation." Rod, a conservative Roman Catholic, has done just that: he took a step back, reaffirmed his faith, and reoriented his life around his faith. The results were a bit surprising. But the first step is orientation (or reorientation, as the case might be): Rod argues that a return to metaphysics is in order, especially if that metaphysics is an orthodox religion. An orthodox religion, broadly speaking, is one that promotes virtue and the virtuous life; thus, in a way, we have a return to the more ancient view of living well. It is this proper orientation (virtue through faith) that leads Rod (and others like him) to be both crunchy and conservative.
Rod's faith led him to what has become the standard conservative social/domestic politics of the past few decades: anti-abortion, pro-free market, and pro-family (broadly speaking in all cases). But Rod and the Crunchy Cons claim that most Republicans (the closest thing to conservatives in the government) only pay lip service to these ideals. Thus we have the second (re)-orientation: towards family and especially towards community. Indeed, Rod even agrees with Hillary Clinton that it takes a village to raise a child (yep, Crunchy Cons have some strange bedfellows). Rod argues very strongly for a return to the communities of yesteryear, when people sat on their porches at night and had neighbors over for dinner. Nowadays, people live in their "McMansions," trying to keep up with the Jones' by buying the latest and greatest, all on the justification of the "free market" and "individual liberty." So, a return to community-based society also coincides with an attack against consumerism and license.
Rod is very clear that he is not against a free market, broadly speaking. But a free market ought not to be used to justify, for example, the destruction of old and historic neighborhoods, or the over-consumption of material goods. Therefore, some government intervention or regulation may be required to protect communities and families from unbridled consumerism/license. Of course, if the community at large re-orients itself toward religion and morality, seeking virtue instead of the here and now, these regulations would be unnecessary. Until then, Crunchy Cons need to do all they can to protect themselves, their loved ones, and society at large from rampant consumerism (really, just another form of license).
With the re-orientation through virtue towards the family, Rod discusses the issue of homeschooling. It is perfectly Crunch Con to homeschool. In fact, it's desirable: it allows children and parents to become closer, it helps manage the household better (one parent stays at home), and it provides a strong moral and religious upbringing that public schooling cannot (and will not) provide. Rod (or rather his wife) homeschools his sons and is pleased with the results. Therefore, Crunchy Cons also need to seek policies that allow for better regulations regarding homeschooling and other alternative means of education.
The last major part of this reorientation to virtue through faith is where the Crunchy really enters. Rod argues that conservatives need to be more involved in advocating good environmental policies; that is, we need to be conservationists. His plan is to advocate for conservation and pretend that the conservatives made it up (a bit facetious sure, but a darn good election strategy if you ask me). Thus, Crunchy Cons need to advocate for intelligent environmental policies: logging that prevents underbrush from gathering but doesn't destroy the forests; intelligent reduction of air pollution; and (probably the most controversial point) a move away from the "agribusiness" model of farming and a return to the traditional farm. A traditional farm is one that follows nature's way of raising animals and plants: no genetic manipulations, no hormones, open ranges for grazing, and no feeding dead animal to the animals. Right now, buying this organic/natural food is expensive, but if government changes its regulations away from large agribusiness farms towards these small farms the price would most likely change in favor of the consumer. The best part about this organic argument (at least to me) is that it makes so much sense: it's natural, the way God intended. How can a practicing Catholic not go for it?
Of course, the true essence of Crunchy Conservatism is not a strict adherence to certain policies; it is merely a reliance on metaphysics, that there is something higher than you and permanent that requires your attention over the mere physical. I have a feeling that because of this reliance on the Permanent Things, most Crunchy Cons will agree generally with the above policies, but Rod is clear to say that agreement with him is by no means required.
Elected Republicans would do well to pay attention to this book; they could most likely increase their voter base and be elected in greater numbers if they reached across the divide and attracted the liberals that vote only on issues like the environment. But he also says that maybe those of us who only vote Republican as the lesser of two evils should do the same and support those Democrats over some Republicans if they align with the Crunchy Con ideals.
It's a great book, and you should buy it now, even if you don't agree with Rod; the debate that hopefully will result within the Republican Party can only help.
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91 of 106 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Towards a More Authentic Conservatism, February 21, 2006
With Crunchy Cons, Rod Dreher has contributed something fresh and new to the standard Left-Right debate in this country. The goal of the author is clearly to ignite a conversation about just what it means to be a conservative.
Dreher argues for a conservativism that emphasizes the interests of families over the interests of big business. Business relationships should be based on more than the bottom line. Small businesses with deep ties to the community are worth conserving. The drab sameness of our suburban sprawl is sucking the life out of us. Efficiency is not preferable to beauty. If you turn your children over to "the culture" to be raised by the public schools and institutional day-care you will have little or no control over what they learn or how they turn out. Maybe the amazing beauty of this land is worth preserving. Maybe that is even conservative?
This is a thought provoking book written in a personal and engaging style. The questions it raises are important and the solutions it offers work. If you have grown tired the rhetoric that passes for political debate these days, if you are equally put off by the laissez faire morality of the left and the Republican devotion to the profits of real estate developers against all that is worth conserving, you will love this book.
A final thought... the "Crunchy Con Manifesto" at the beginning of the book, and the last chapter entitled "Waiting For Benedict" are alone worth the price of the book.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but I was expecting more., July 5, 2006
I was excited about reading Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher because we're crunchy and ideologically conservative, and the subtitle intrigued me. We got on the list at our local public library and waited it out. From the preface, the book caught and kept my attention. Dreher is a gifted and personal writer who is easy to read. Because crunchy cons are my kind of people, I often wanted to cheer as I read along.
Many of the ideological emphases of the book are ones we value in our family. We care about more than just the bottom line when we shop and are willing to pay more for products we "believe in" such as locally grown and organic foods, things that are well crafted, beauty and not just utilitarian function, etc. The process is important to us and not just the end result. I enjoyed reading the book because the many anecdotes reminded me that there are others out there who care about the things that we do, which can be hard to find the suburban South.
However, when I finished the book I was disappointed with it on several levels. First, it wasn't very persuasive and it relied on ad hominem attacks and emotionalism to make points. If I didn't already agree with Dreher, I probably would not have been swayed by him. Some of the chapters were weaker than others, for example, the chapter on home was mostly about buying a smaller, older house. Even though we are in the process of buying our first house and it is a small, 70 year old bungalow, it may not be the most crunchy thing to do for every family. Older homes aren't as energy efficient, for example. Some aren't laid out well for entertaining and building community with others. Also, the chapter on homeschooling wasn't very grounded in reality and I think it might have been better tackled if he had emphasized that crunchy con families realize that education isn't neutral and emphasized the many crunchy choices out there (alternative schools, coops, classical Christian schools, etc) along with homeschooling.
I think what disappointed me the most about the book is that Dreher didn't fufill the subtitle which reads: "How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party.)" How are we saving America? I'd like to know that, myself. I've seen that the paperback version that will be released in the fall has a new subtitle, according to Amazon, and I'd suspect it's for that reason. If you are looking for anecdotal, warm writing about those in the Republican Party who "act lefty," Crunchy Cons delivers. But I think I was expecting just a little bit more. (6.5/10)
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