Those Greeny, Righteous Freegans

The New York Times has an article today about "freegans", a group of dumpster divers with a noble sense of purpose:

Freegans are scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet, and to distance themselves from what they see as out-of-control consumerism.

The wait for occasions like dormitory move-out day at the end of a university school year, and pick through the garbage for dish racks, toiletries, and still-functioning iPods - thereby nobly reducing their environmental impact on the planet. It's a highly advanced form of secular materialism:

“If a person chooses to live an ethical lifestyle it’s not enough to be vegan, they need to absent themselves from capitalism,” said Adam Weissman, 29, who started freegan.info four years ago and is the movement’s de facto spokesman.

It's the new ethics, folks, entirely devoid of spirituality or immediate concern for other people. Of course they will defend themselves by saying that they ultimately hope to leave a sustainable planet for future generations, or something. But if you read through the literature you will find a naked contempt for the default American lifestyle, which is all about materialism and greed.

But what amuses me most Mr. Weissman and his ilk is the humorless lack of irony mixed with a high level of moral certainty. Indeed, if a Rabbi or Reverend made such absolutist statements they'd be immediately recognized as a fundamentalist. I've been attending Catholic Mass my whole life and never have I heard from the pulpit such fascist, righteous language about the way others should live if they want to conform to a standard of ethics - unless of course you include such admonitions as "love thy neighbor" - which, when you really think about it, is a much more demanding directive than "hate thy neighbor, but pick through his trash".

Nobody should be fooled. These increasingly-ascetic flavors of Green politics are a thin excuse for the socialism that these (thankfully, marginal) folks would otherwise seek to impose on the rest of us - because they know better. And for this reason - I've said it before - I have more respect for straightforward, unapologetic Marxists.