Paulists & Crunchy Cons

The Tory Anarchist had an interesting comment the other day, remarking on how George Packer's "fall of conservatism" opus from The New Yorker suffered from the author's only talking to established figures on the Right. The most interesting stuff, TA says, is occurring on the margins. First among the young people interested in Ron Paul. And then, the young traditionalist counterculture:

The other encouraging development on the Right is similarly forward-looking. It’s harder to give this trend a name, because it’s not centered around one person or book, but Rod Dreher and his “crunchy cons” idea are a touchstone. It’s a new direction in traditionalism, away from post-industrial angst and toward a post-industrial way of life. It includes raw-milk enthusiasts and conservatives against animal cruelty; there’s also a real effort — or so it seems to me, anyway — among these conservatives to think locally and act locally. There’s a religious element to it, but it’s very different from the tired cant of the Falwells and Dobsons. And it’s brightest lights, unlike many traditionalists of old, are not anti-market.

I don’t know how big this second movement is; my sense of it comes from bloggers like John Schwenkler and Lee McCracken. You might call it the Wendell Berry-Michael Pollan Right. Like the Ron Paul movement, it’s antiwar, decentralist, and relatively hopeful. The Paulists and crunchies alike are “Hippies of the Right” — or Franciscans of the Right? — in that sense.

Read the whole thing. And by the way, I'll be interviewing Michael Pollan next week on the connections between the food and cultural politics he writes about, and its resonance among the crunchy/localist right. Anybody have anything you want me to ask him?