Hello, I'm a college student in MA, and I figured the best way to introduce myself was on this comfortable thread. So...people seem to be sharing their personal quest towards libertarianism, allow me to share mine.
I considered myself quite the conservative Republican just a short four and a half years ago. (And yes...IN MASS!)
I was a staunch supporter of the GOP and the conservative iniatives in Congress - most notably the Contract with America as drafted primarily by Newt Gingrich. During the 2000 Election I was a Team Leader for the GOP. I had always been raised to understand the Republican party to be the real party for the middle class. Most importantly, I had always thought the Republican party's most endearing quality was it's desire to see government limited for the people's well being.
So you might be saying to yourself, "oh no, here comes the socialist turn about where he starts talking about how he's a big liberal now because of evil President Bush". Hardly. My right-leaning outlook on life persists but it has been tempered by the cold hard reality that government in all its forms and faces exists to exploit the people they "serve". It is the nature of the beast, and for that reason it cannot be blamed directly. But that doesn't mean I have to accept that.Â
Socialism in all it forms serves only to disrupt the course of nature, and it places our weaknesses above our strengths. I will always believe this, because I have faith in humanity. All one must do is look to history. History shows us that it is when human beings experience freedom (be it physical, intellectual, etc) they are able to overcome their weaknesses and evolve. Socialism and most appropriately, Communism, tells us that the only way we as human beings can truly live in harmony and evolve is to mechanize. We are to become the very Machine that Marx and Engels claimed they were seeking to destroy. Liberty inevitably produces results. Yet the current political climate in this country allows for anything but that.
Sure, there comes along a politician now and again who actually seems to have his head on his shoulders but let's face it, too many American's are entirely too apathetic to this disgraceful mockery of the Constitution. Such is the reason why I admire and appreciate the efforts made on the part of the FSP to counter this civic degradation. It's nice to know that regardless of the minor political differences we all must have due to our nature as free thinking beings, that there is a group who recognizes that our culture is suffering. It is being pulled apart by two opposing forces, and our liberties are caught in the crossfire.
I support my President, always. First and foremost it seems like it is our responsibility as citizens to stick through the hard times and maintain internal solidarity - especially during wartime. We might have our difficulties with a President, as many of us most likely share for President Bush, but we must also realize that right now...the world is watching. They will jump at any chance they get - as they already have - to seize the moment when they perceive our "empire" to be faltering, and they will use the hatred that already exists in many countries around the world to see us fail.
I do not perceive President Bush to be an evil man. I think in his heart of hearts he believes that what he is doing is right, and on some levels he is. Yet, his failure to take into consideration the impact his rejection of the international community would have on the war effort is perhaps his largest mistake - outside of the Patriot Act. I mean, I'm certainly the last person you'd ever find glorifying the tragedy that is the United Nations, but Bush's utter lack of diplomatic skills is striking to me.
Worst of all, the Bush presidency has forced me to recognize that which I have already alluded to - the government in all its forms is not to be trusted. Whether the White House is colored blue or red no longer seems to matter. It is time for change.
Corey
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Topic: Birth of a Safe Place for Newcomers and Civilized Conversationalists (Read 133819 times)