About book Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity From A Consumer Culture (2010)
The underlying ideas of the book (self-reliance, anti-consumerism, environmental responsibility) are ideas I can get behind, and that I support in myriad ways in my life. However, the way Hayes frames her tome is more of a cult initiation that makes it a dreadful read. Hayes keeps returning to the same four tenets again and again, like a chant. It makes me want to do the exact opposite of everything in the book because her tone is so preachy and maddening.What is even more maddening is the complete lack of pragmatism the book espouses. Maybe the "Radical" in the title should have given it away, but the self-righteous tone of people refusing health care, thereafter to return to that system they objected to as soon as they find they need it; or using people who engage in the extractive economy to pay for expenses (e.g. student loan bills from those fancy art degrees) while you can't have your morals or integrity compromised to engage in the extractive system yourself. The entire book is full of disingenuous, entitled rhetoric, which detracts from a lot of good ideas. Plus, anyone whose endnotes include USA Today as source material loses all credibility in my book. I wouldn't waste your time. A lot of theory, sort of loosely organized. I was really hoping that instead of waxing political and philosophical for chapter upon chapter, there would be more about "Here are some radical ways to reclaim domesticity!" And while you can certainly glean that from the examples given of various "Radical Homemakers", I guess the book would better serve as a primer for someone who doesn't believe domesticity would be a radical step... And in all likelihood, if you've picked up this book, you might already have left that line of thinking (if you were ever thinking like that in the first place). The other thing I disliked was the overt disdain for higher education. Getting my bachelor's was a learning experience in which I gained more than grades and a degree. Getting my Masters has helped me to make a career shift. I like having a job outside the home (and my job does meet her "four requirements"). If everyone stayed at home tending farms and homeschooling, there'd be little left of public services and community-building organizations. I don't have a bazillion student loans because I tried to be as smart as I could with my money and I worked to earn scholarships. I did like her message of living with less. I do agree that modern culture is obsessed with new gadgets and upgraded appliances and cars and what-have-you. I do see the sense in having less of these things in order to reduce spending and increase self-sufficiency. And while I see this as a given, maybe some people need to be shown the way (which, this book does in part via interviews with Radical Homemakers).All in all, an impressive effort in theory.
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This book will definitely make you think...and hopefully it will make you change your views.
—redstrings31
