Wendell Berry's time is now

[groovedaddy]

Could any man be less relevant to the politics and culture of our time than an old Kentucky poet-farmer who is so out of step with the times that he refuses to use a computer and still tills his earth using draft horses? And yet, given the converging crises of this extraordinary moment in American history, it just might be that in the winter of a long and honorable career, Wendell Berry's moment has arrived.

Why? Because in his numerous essays, poems and novels, the traditionalist agrarian writer, now 74, has stood steadfastly for fidelity to family and community, self-sufficiency, localism, conservation and, above all, learning to get by decently within natural limits. Our nation and our world have reached a crucible of near-cataclysm in our economy and – with climate change – in the environment, chiefly because we have refused to live within our means.

If Mr. Berry's politics can be summed up in a single word, it would be stewardship.Admittedly, it's not a sexy concept. You will not hear Keith Olbermann or Sean Hannity rallying partisans around the idea of dutifully taking care of business. But, really, is there a more urgent calling? People are feeling it. Anne Clurman, a consumer behavior expert, tells Salon.com that the economic crisis is midwifing what people in her industry call "the new responsibility marketplace."

"It's coming, and slowly but surely we're going to see this rolling out," she says. "People are realizing on some level that it's time to pay their proverbial piper."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-dreher_26edi.State.Edition1.21c9278.html

[BridgeTheGap]

1. Good old Wendell. He is right. n.t