Urban Dictionary defines crunchy as an adjective.
"Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc."
Although that definition doesn't define me very well, Urban Dictionary's definition of granola is a little closer:
"an adjective used to describe people who are environmentally aware (flower child, tree-hugger), open-minded, left-winged, socially aware and active, queer or queer-positive, anti-oppressive/discriminatory (racial, sexual, gender, class, age, etc.) with an organic and natural emphasis on living, who will usually refrain from consuming or using anything containing animals and animal by-products (for health and/or environmental reasons), as well as limit consumption of what he or she does consume, as granola people are usually concerned about wasting resources. Usually buy only fair-trade goods and refrain from buying from large corporations, as most exploit the environment as well as their workers, which goes against granola core values. The choice of not removing body hair and drug use are not characteristics that define granola people, and people, regardless of granola status, may or may not partake in said activities. This definition is sometimes confused with hippy."
Since I'm in school, I don't really have a lot of time to devote to some of the above-mentioned causes, but I have begun noticing that my values follow these basic parameters. I don't consider myself strictly liberal, however I am Libertarian (I tend to agree with Conservatives about economics but with Liberals about social issues). I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-LGBT, and soft-core feminist. I just bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers for that barefoot feel, and I plan to cloth-diaper my future offspring.
I believe everyone has a right to his/her opinions, values, and beliefs, even if they don't correlate with mine, as long as nobody tries to force their beliefs on me. I believe in responsibility, liberty, freedom, and I believe in earning an honest living. I also believe that some people really are the product of their upbringing and that there is a scary amount of grief, sadness, and hatred in the world. I believe that too many stupid people procreate when they shouldn't and that not enough smart people procreate when they should. I believe that a great number of people on government aid "take advantage of the system" because that's the only thing they were ever taught to do and it's all they know. I believe that a great number of middle class Americans abhor lower class Americans because they don't understand the complexities of the situations those people deal with and they blame the challenges of the many on the wickedness of the few. I believe that lower class and middle class citizens are engaged in completely separate cultures that rarely intersect, and each set of people doesn't understand the culture of the other.
The biggest problem I have is that I don't have an answer. I can't fix the world's problems because even though I can define them, I don't know how to make a change. I don't know what a perfect and fair world would look like. This is why I like studying dystopian societies so much.
So anyway, that's me, the crunchy granola flower-child. Peace, love, and happiness, y'all.
