On the usefulness of labels

Some serious epiphanies are to be had in this 2002 National Review article by Rod Dreher, author of the forthcoming book, "Crunchy Cons." Crunchy Conservatives are what Rod calls those like himself who indulge in many things (like crunchy granola and organic veggies) typically a sign of lefty ideology. As a libertarian-leaning conservative, I enjoyed the article very much and look forward to the book, though I fear Brian Anderson's "South Park Conservatives" may have beaten Rod to the punch on this subject.

Still, there's some great observations in this piece. This one is probably my favorite:

... Steven Hayward [...] says that the GOP's bad rap on the environment is somewhat deserved. "It's the flip side of what defense policy is for the Democrats. Republicans don't like it, they don't study it very hard, and they tend to do a lousy job with it," he says. "Conservatives tend to belittle environmental concerns, or issue blanket condemnations of all environmentalists."

I'm fairly new to politics. My naivete is one of the chief reasons I started this blog; to chart my own learning process. The above statement is so succinct, so obviously true, that it just floored me.

As for the usefulness of labels, I was thrilled when the term "South Park Conservative" was coined. It allowed me to distance myself from the hard-line, quasi-anarchist "Libertarian" label I used to have for my political views, while retaining my aesthetic sensabilities.

Update: Thoughts on the "the uselessness of labels" at The Connection.