Sacramental Life and the Cult of Efficiency
[Bruce Frohnen  02/21 04:10 PM]

It seems to me that Mitch, Angelo, and Caleb all are right in pointing to historical roots of conservatism's current malaise. What is the cause? It's the nominalist myth that we can call "beautiful" something that is ugly, and that makes it so; it's the myth that people who are committed to virtuous lives have something important with empire-builders and libertarians who liken marriage to a contract for purchasing lumber or toilet seats; it's the myth that each of us has a "right" to create our own society and reality, as if we were each either a god or something less than a person, with a soul that needs to be fed through social life.

But perhaps it would help clarify matters, particularly in light of the email question about Wal-Mart and McDonald's, to highlight the way in which Crunchy Cons poses a choice for us, between sacramental life, and the cult of efficiency. Unfortunately, because our society is so fragmented, many who might fall in the "crunchy con" camp actually are old-fashioned "cult of authenticity" liberals. But most of the "crunchies" I know are trying very hard, often at great cost, to approach every aspect of their lives as something important, as part of a good life that has to be lived as a consistent whole. that life is one in which we value our families, our God, and our other important relationships more highly than getting more stuff more cheaply. this can look downright strange in a world in which so many people boast about getting the fanciest gizmo at the cheapest price, or stuffing the most activity into each day, with a stop at the drive-through in between. I don't shop at Wal-mart, but I did recently walk through a Target store. And what did I see? Row after row of plastic storage bins. That's what the cult of efficiency — the drive to make everything as cheap as possible, regardless of the cost to communities and real people who work for a living and might even take pride in their jobs — has gotten us. Today even the poorest American can afford, indeed, can't avoid, so much garbage that he needs half a dozen plastic bins to put it in.

"Crunchies" are needed because conservatives need to be shown, through example, that beauty, compassion and, yes, love, are not just for liberal sissies. They are for anyone with the guts to stand up and admit that we owe our duties and our lives to something higher than ourselves.