Tuesday, March 07, 2006

I checked this book out from Joseph-Beth:
Crunchy Cons: 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)
by Rod Dreher
The title caught my eye, and I now that I have read enough to get a better idea of the author's views, I actually agree with a lot of what he says. Basically, conservatives need to re-learn the idea of "conserving", we need to re-establish the family as the basic unit of society, community is where it's at, we need to take better care of ourselves and the environment, we need to be more responsible about capitalism, we need to make fair trade actually fair, etc. etc.
The author is opinionated without being arrogant, and keeps returning to importance of community, of becoming involved in the place you are in, of actually spending time with your family rather than endlessly zoning out to TV. He even talks about the pleasures of eating organic food, not because it is in rebellion to factory farms, but because the food actually tastes better, and to buy your food locally means that you are supporting your community.

2 comments:

d-wain said...

That title has all the appeal of Why are all the black kids eating together in the cafeteria? Of course, shorter titles like Savage Thunder (erotica for middle-aged women) aren't all that great either.

d-wain said...

How is April 22nd for a movie night?