Substitute Subtitle
So who's to thank for this? The new paperback version of Crunchy Cons is already being advertised on Amazon and is sporting a new, shorter subtitle, "The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots". That's about a 75% reduction in words from the original, tedious "Hip Gun-slinging Mamas" or whatnot.I suppose there's not as much real estate on a paperback, but let indulge in some conspiracies. Do you think the Birkenstock company sued? Probably not --maybe there was just a little something on there to offend more people in the paperback-buying market demographic. I haven't seen too many Birks at the pistol range.
Or maybe Rod was asked (or bribed) by the evil Republicans to remove the reference to saving their party? This is actually the most interesting aspect of the subtitle to me -- I had been pointing to that little parenthesized remark as kind of an obstacle to the claim that CCism isn't really about politics but the, you know, transcendental free-range sensibilities of the greater good or whatever.
So I'll be the first one to praise this change as a recognition and application on Rod's part of a "regular conservative" sensibility called unity. With a lot of the pundits buzzing with the uncertainties of continued Republican majorities, and therefore conservative influence in general, I imagine the market for the quaint and eccentric topics in Crunchy Cons may be soon questioned by conservative book-buyers and the publishing industry. A liberal takeover might be devastating for an author like Rod whose success in large part depends on conservatives not having anything better to do.
And devastating for the rest of America.
posted by Pauli at 1:23 PM
20 Comments:
isn't that Nixon's arm sticking out the window of the VW bus?
That's what I thought too about Nixon's arm. I also found it interesting that he shortened the title. Perhaps he is taking advice and getting out of politics. I have to go since I am being tortured by my corporation this past week and all future weeks for the near future.
One more thing, I wear my my camo socks with my Birks at the pistol range. That brass burns if you don't. I can toil in peace now that I got this off my chest.
At first I thought I was over-reacting. But now I think the reverse of word order from "countercultural conservatives" to "Conservative Counterculture" is immense in the initial perception, and I think it's a vast improvement. Most conservatives I know feel like they are part of a counterculture with the media being so one-sided; this is true whether or not they make their own granola.
But the original phrase where there is a modifier on the noun conservatives alludes much more to a sub-group within a larger group. This sub-grouping has been pointed out by Jonah Goldberg and others to be problematic because it's used to "inflict" conservatism with your personal preferences, e.g., the types of churches and chickens that you like.
Mystic, I don't think he's "getting out of politics", that's too hard. But maybe he's taking a step back; maybe he's "growing in office" as they say.
Mystic admitted:
> One more thing, I wear my
> camo socks with my Birks
> at the pistol range. That
> brass burns if you don't.
Mystic, you rock! But I had you figured as a man who preferred a revolver. Bet those are hand-knitted socks.
I have the impression the original, over-cute subtitle was intended to make people say, "My, what an unusual and original book. I must read it!"
In the event, though, a lot of people took it to mean that wearing Birkenstocks would save America.
More interesting to me is the absence of the word "How." The old subtitle emphasized the didactic aspect of the book, Rod's "manifesto" (has anyone else actually signed onto it?), what ought to be done. The new one emphasizes the book's descriptive aspect, what is being done. Perhaps Three Rivers Press realizes Rod is a professional journalist, not a professional philosopher.
How much the contents of the book will change (beyond the brief chapter addressing Jonah's criticisms) remains to be seen (although not, I should say, by me).
If he would have utilized the diminished title without the political references, I would have a read the Godspy article the first time I saw it and probably would have bought the book immediately. I would not have blown it off. I disregarded it solely because of the extended title. Not that interested in politics anymore.
Also, the VW Bug still being there does not appeal either. I don't think hippieism is the spirit of the book. He describes a lifestyle that I try (emphasis on "try") to live. There is so much hope in the book.
My guess is he started with politics, and that the flow of the book pulled him in another direction. I thought the last two chptrs were quite good, and very spiritual. My wife cried as she read them, but why is for another time.
I would have went another direction with the housing chapter. I could see how that might sound elitist. I would have argued that regardless of where you live, your home should feel Christian. That seemed to bother Pauli a lot. It did for me too, but I understand his premise. All of the gentrified "cool" neighborhoods I know are childless dual income couples. They tend to be liberal neighborhoods. I hate to make a judgment. But you know they are liberal by the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind from poles that just two decades earlier flew Old Glory. (Don’t tell anyone, but I think that the prayers are in hope that they can afford the Nordic package with their next Volvo purchase. You could fund quite a few micro-loans in Sao Paulo for what you pay for that Nordic package, not to mention the Volvo. Let’s keep that just between us.) The well manicured lawns. (Let’s keep this quiet too, the lawn workers are paid exploitation wages. Please don’t tell anyone that the libs practice wage slavery, as well as killing the unborn.) There is the overpriced HoleFoods providing tasteless semi-rotten “organic” food flown in from all over the globe. We should not forget all the boutique restaurants that charge $20 a plate for Dandelion Greens and macaroni. The ancestors used to eat that because they were poor, now it is trendy.
Anyway, I digressed into a mild criticism of the liberal aesthetic, long story short I like the new title. Still don't see the political angle. One thing I hope they do is remove the abbreviated manifesto from the back cover.
When I read that in the book store, I Immediately understood why you all were critical of the book. In the end I think Rod is right. I have to run now, one of my Orc masters will come beat me with a three foot length of high pressure hose for not working. Can’t tangle with you all now while under corporate persecution. Had a spare fifteen to get out this dispatch. I will send more dispatches from cubeland as I have time. Pauli please consider a Holy Spirit Novena http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/Holy_spirit.htm
as we approach Pentecost.
Mystic, one reason the "political angle" is there to provide a "marketing angle" for the book. You are the exception, I think, in that to you the politics is a distraction from the rest of Rod's message.
One incredible thing to me is how many VW bus owners I knew told me the story of "the day my ride caught on fire." Usually the owner was "in a state" as they say when the pyrotechnics began due to the faulty wiring which often plagues these cheese boxes, but they always seemed to escape to a safe distance to witness the demise of their investment of $300 plus duct tape and coat hangers.
These stories always gave me the image of a dude squatting there after a Grateful Dead concert, maybe wearing birks even, with a 15-year-old waif barefootin' along in a tie-dye night-gown T-shirt he picked up. They just sit there completely detached watching the pretty fire because, hey, who cares, they're at one with the world, man. Plus he managed to get the stash and his bootleg collection out of the doomed vehicle before it ignited.
Bubba, maybe the "roots" mentioned refer to square roots like in math. Maybe there's a secret number code hidden within the book and if you find it you will reach enlightenment.
Mystic has a good idea. Obviously real estate is at a premium on the back cover of the paperback as well - I think we should have an abbreviated manifesto contest and we can send all the ideas in a big email to Rod. Here are some ideas:
OLD 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.
NEW 2: Burn down Disneyland!!
OLD 6: Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract.
NEW 6: SLOP > BGNA.
OLD 8: The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom.
NEW 8: Only the first 2 Star Wars movies are any good.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/27/1626250&from=rss
Beyond marketing hype and Rod D. what's up with the world. Give the peeps of everyone's background this could easily turn into a geek blog. Nevertheless I am crunchy (I don't like this tag) because of things proposed in the bottom article.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/27/1626250&from=rss
back to work.
Diane, you're officially addicted to this blog. Sorry.
Steve, if you read the book you might remember his mention near the end of some guy he met in some cool, wine bar who "bought and sold businesses" as he put it. I thought to myself, there is a word for that: entrepreneur. [Sounds of women shrieking and children screaming.]
But the reason he included this obviously capitalist guy was he said something Rod agreed with, it was something profound like "People are really messed up nowadays -- ever noticed that?" (Sorry for the paraphrase -- I don't have my red-letter reference copy of Crunchy Conservatism on me at present.)
SVS:
> Just another aside, he talks
> about his children like he is
> some kind of expert in child
> rearing.
The other thing that irritates me about his parenting style is that he parades his kids like they're Gerber babies; their pictures are on the internet in that style section article and in some other online article I saw. It's an open invitation to trouble and he's worried about Catholic priests? But that's his "living-out-loud" style that must impress some people.
I get the feeling Rod doesn't spend a great deal of time with kids, much less his kids. he's not home a lot -- and not just during work hours. he does an awful lot of reading and blogging and lunching and wine-bar hopping when he is "home".
but even if there's not enough evidence for that previous statement (though there IS some evidence), it seems to me that nothing really BAD has ever happened to Rod. of course i don't wish it on him. but his worldview is so adolescent i can't avoid the conclusion.
the most offensive thing about his ideas, however, is the rank INGRATITUDE. he endlessly complains about the insidiousness of his easy lifestyle instead of being grateful for it and doing something productive with it. thoroughly appalling.
BY THE WAY! I heard the CEO -- Originator? -- of Whole Foods on CNBC radio and he was talking about "slow food" and "conviviality" around the dinner table, how americans are seeking to change their lifestyle, etc. he used those *exact words*, obviously he was following the crunchy con discussion at some point. Ahhhh [insert scream here]! My CRUNCHY CONspiracy marketing theory is true! it's truuuuuue!
http://concrunchy.blogspot.com/2006/03/crunchy-conspiracy.html
Diane, i think every contributor to this blog is under 40, including me. I don't think Rod's age is an excuse.
Couple things, I don't think these things are shallow. For example, we do things in the garden with our little ones specifically so they will associate that activity with certain seasons. It gives us the ability to catechize with an activity. The preparation of food together as a family gives us shared experience. We grow close when we do these things.
It gets deeper. Some day our children will suffer. During those times I hope that they have a strong faith on which to rely. I believe that these activities, gardening, food preparations, working with their hands will help build their faith. We teach when we do these things. Some day fifty years from now the scent of rosemary or a ripe tomato will, bring back happy memories of their childhood in addition to strengthening their faith. More importantly it might give them hope in dark times.
Parents have trouble these days. I suspect that Rod and his wife are trying to protect them the best they can. All who have kids realize within about 48 hours that kids have really strong wills. All kids are unique, and you don’t know how difficult each unique child is. We have friends who have four wonderfully well behaved children, that seem to take little work. They make parenting look easy almost turn-key. We have friends who have two kids, and those kids make parenting look like the worst possible choice a couple can make.
I would argue that our activities are not shallow. Most of our alternative lifestyle is an attempt to lessen the culture of death. One way that we saw to fight the culture of death is to participate as little as possible. To give our kids healthy learning experiences rather than have them become passive consumers. For example, we MIGHT start walking to Mass. Why? More family time together, exercise, stop for breakfast on the way back, witness of our faith, more time to spiritually prepare. Notice I say nothing about saving fuel or the environment? These are almost tertiary concerns.
I hope that a couple who are about to consider abortion as an option will stumble on this simple dialog and reconsider. Perhaps they will see the great joy of simple things. A loving family is a great reward. The material things are not the important thing. They are simply a means to an end. It’s the act of being together as a family with an intention directed toward Christ. That is why we do the garden and the cooking. These activities help draw our focus to God and closer as a family. Perhaps all Rod is saying is the simpler life is as rich and rewarding as the high stress consumer life. Just some thoughts to consider.
K
I am 326 years old. Ho Foods is a scam. It is publicly traded. Where does their produce come from in January in New York? It is materialism veiled in spiritually edifying terms. They promote things like electric lawn mowers while they burn more fuel in a day bringing their rotting Peruvian produce to market than a suburb's worth of lawn mowers burn in a month of mowing. Just say No to Ho.
No, you don't have to read the book. Reading his blog and the synopses here of the once-upon-a-time NRO posts will give you the scoop. The bonus of his blog is you get to read his rails against the Catholic church and the late, great Pope John Paul II.
But if you do read it make sure to offer up each page for a soul in purgatory.
Pauli
Most of my mindset comes from JPII, I pegged Rod for a JPII man. Why is he critical of the Holy Father.
Diane, you are welcome for the posts. I am not sure I understand the reason why someone would pull out of the church. Way back when I first started blogging on beliefnet and before I read the book, I saw a within the proponents' posts. There is a strong attraction to the mystical. I have the same desires. When I read the book and poked around I saw that mysticism is what they are into. I found Rod's book on Godspy.com. This is what we do.
I have to go to work. Perhaps later I will finish.
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