Essays From West of 98: Counterculture

What’s old and simple is new and countercultural

“Counterculture” has a certain connotation. To folks of a certain age, “counterculture” evokes visions of the hippies with flowers in their hair swaying to Janis Joplin. That was the example of a counterculture in a specific period of time, but it is not the only example of counterculture.

In fact, the idea of counterculture is much more general and mundane than the emotionally charged 1960s. Webster defines it as “a culture with values and mores that run counter to those of established society.” Depending on the terms of established society, counterculture can be very wild and adventurous, or it can be very simple. Either way, it is a radical departure.

In the Year of Our Lord 2023, you know what qualifies as counterculture?

Community. Simplicity. Localism. Limits.

Last weekend, my wife and I found ourselves in Oklahoma City. Let me first say that Oklahoma City is deeply underrated in the pantheon of American cities. If you’ve never visited, and if you have a stereotyped view of the place, you’d be surprised how interesting, beautiful, and complex it is. This is not Oklahoma City travel propaganda, just a hearty endorsement of it. Among our stops was Commonplace Books, an independent bookstore in Midtown that lured me in with a Wendell Berry quote on the window. At that point, I had no hope to control myself. I walked away with two Wendell Berry titles that I did not already own, James Rebanks’s “Pastoral Song” about farming in the UK, and Thomas Merton’s “New Seeds of Contemplation.” So indeed, I did not even attempt to control myself.

As we checked out, I discussed the merits of independent bookstores with the cashier and she praised Bookshop.org. I have used Bookshop for a while, after I discovered its business model. Bookshop gives back a portion of its proceeds to independent bookstores, and their website allows the online shopper to designate the bookstores that receives the shopper’s contributions. In my experience, Bookshop has every book you might otherwise buy from Amazon and it allows a person to shop online with a more beneficial purpose than being forced into Amazon’s “buy cheap, buy fast, destroy the retail economy” model.

My friend Hadden Turner writes Over the Field, an agrarian newsletter from across the pond in the UK. A while back, he wrote an essay entitled “To Buy Is to Give.” I encourage you to look up his newsletter and read the full essay, but in short, Hadden observes that buying well is a form of giving. In addition to our charitable giving and our church tithes, Hadden writes, “we are meant to steward ALL of our resources and finances well, for the good of ourselves and our neighbours - and we do this when we spend our money well by buying well.” Buying well impacts our life, the lives of folks around us, and the lives of the people from whom we choose to buy or not buy. Choosing Amazon over a local business has its consequences. Buying well, even if it takes a few extra days or costs a dollar more, has positive consequences.

I had wondered whether the Bookshop contribution was negligible to the local retailers. Many clever-sounding charitable stunts can be just that. They are more flash than substance. They grab some good PR, but the actual impact is negligible. This weekend, I learned that Bookshop purchases truly matter to local bookstores.

I’m about to embark on a radical series of discussions about the counterculture of community, simplicity, localism, and limits, so buckle in. In the meantime, consider that buying well is a form of giving. I have many charitably-minded and kind-hearted readers, so I encourage each of you to extend your worldview to your purchases as well. You impact the world for good or bad with how you spend your money, what you purchase, and where you purchase it from. Buy well. It matters.

James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and podcast. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to West of 98 wherever podcasts are found.