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I was a staunch conservative. I bought all of the rhetoric about having to fight overseas wars, about defending the "institution of marriage", about fighting the war on drugs... anybody who thought otherwise was a pinko-commie. I joined the military and was about as much of a red-blooded American as you've ever met. Eventually, I questioned why I believed in these things and I came to the realization that I believed what I was told to believe. After a bit of self-reflection, reading some history, absorbing a bit of classical literature, and investigating a bit of philosophy I arrived at libertarianism.
Looking at the history of the world, I've found countless examples of people living in grinding poverty while governments lived in opulent wealth from the fruits of their labor. I've also noted that when people are free to own property, express ideas, and rule themselves, prosperity has flourished. When allotted the opportunity, people have amazing creativity and surprising generosity.
As people, we tend to pursue our own self-interest, and if there is limited opportunity to steal from, defraud, harm, or enslave others (i.e. a system of justice), the pursuit of self interest brings about voluntary, self-regulating mutually beneficial relationships with others. Through relationships with others, great wealth can be generated: Both society & technology advance as people strive for better ways to serve one-another for the purpose of improving their own lot in life.
I still believe that I'm a red-blooded American, but I think that I have a different understanding of what that means. During the Revolutionary War, Americans fought for freedom from government - every man a king. I see the freedom that they won being slowly whittled away and I think that it's my job as an American to do what I can to (peacefully) stop that from happening. To me, the idea of personal liberty is something bigger than any one of us, but that benefits all of us. We should be righteously indignant towards those who suggest that we cannot rule our own lives and make our own decisions. In my opinion, that righteous indignation is solidly libertarian.
I went from being a moderately conservative to being liberal. I realized that being fiscally conservative is not just a conservative thing. I did not believe in the war in Iraq when it first became. Even in high school, I felt that the lack of concrete evidence, the continually changing justifications, and the potential cost would lead to disaster. It did. In university I studied the widening disparity between rich and poor. Most of this was not due to liberal policies, but really poor conservative policies that tried to "conserve" the wealth of the elites. Then, we had huge tuition spikes in California...but not mention of raising property taxes (landmarks like Disneyland, the Capital Records Building, etc. pay less per square foot in taxes than new single family dwellings...it's quite unfair). It came to the point where I saw conservatives justifying greed as being good. My VERY conservative boss spent tens of thousands in donations as to stop Hillary Clinton's campaign for universal healthcare. His reasoning was not ideological; he thought we all should be covered regardless of income. However, this would be bad for business, as he sold health insurance.
Later, I would be angered by the attempts of insulting those out of work. I lost my job, but I believed I needed to work a part time job while on unemployment. I tried looking for fulltime work, but that didn't pan out. Then, congress suspended unemployment payments to some individuals. I was one of them. It was a hard time. Conservatives wanted to push that through, while push for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
I feel that our nation is too far to the right. I don't subscribe to communist beliefs, I think that both capitalism and socialism can work side by side...if managed well. There is a temperate solution that some nations have found.
It's easy to be a conservative if you come from a middle class background or higher. It's easy to say "Why should I care about XYZ?" However, that's how societies fail. The measure of society is how well the poor are doing. Wealth disparities hamper development and innovation. It's important for success that we try to decrease the gap. Conservative policies simply don't do that.
I was a Conservative until Bush jr was elected, especially after the way he trashed Mccain to gain the nomination. After that and the false war in Iraq, I swore away voting for republicans for a very long time and so far, none has even got me remotely interested as of yet.
Yes, when I was a young and ignorant college student with no skin in the game I was a liberal. As I grew up, I grew up. I am a conservative with libertarian leanings (like most recreational drugs should be legal).
I was a Conservative until Bush jr was elected, especially after the way he trashed Mccain to gain the nomination. After that and the false war in Iraq, I swore away voting for republicans for a very long time and so far, none has even got me remotely interested as of yet.
Check out Ron Paul. He was the lone Republican who questioned the militaristic policies of the last administration in the last presidential election. It took principle and a bit of chutzpah to stand on the stage and tell the other candidates they were wrong. Check the video:
Nice try but Clinton reduced the deficit and also reduced the national debt. The facts are very clear on this - Bush 43 inherited the Clinton surplus and decided this money was "our" money and he proceeded to cut taxes disproportionately towards the wealthy. If that wasn't enough, Bush then decided to wage 2 wars all the while keep tax rates on the wealthy at historic low rates.
If anyone were to change their political philosophy it would have been conservatives who witnessed a very un-conservative President Bush and Republican Congress spend our money like drunken sailors - I guess that's what started the Tea Party.
I dont belive in having one political philosophy, mines is a mixed one that is ever changing depending on the circumastances. Bush's incompetence, the republicans embrace of ignorance and the democrats lack of courage and strength make me an independent i guess.
Which is a round about way of saying that you do not have any real principles by which you live?
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