What made you a Libertarian

[Baia]

I am curious about our resident Libertarians.

What are your stories?  

Have you lived in other countries or traveled away from where you grew up?

Have you lived in big cities in this country or do you feel more comfortable in small, rural or wilderness communities?

What life experiences have brought you to your philosophy?

And yes, have you been oppressed?  How?

I am reading an ebook by a man who grew up urban poor in Massachusetts.  His story is not too out of the ordinary in my observation but it is interesting to hear about his experiences growing up as a disadvantaged white boy.  His story could have easily been mine if I had been born a boy. 

I really want to know from real persons telling their own stories and not just talking points.

[Bob Stepp]

I took the test and came up as 'Liberal'.......no surprise since the only conservative issue I agree with is the right to bear arms.

[Joella]

Me too Bob.

[Faye Greener]

I came out conservative, but I know I have a few liberal leanings.  I guess it didn't take those into account.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Came  out liberal, but very close to the Liberal, Centrest and Libratarian intersection. No real surprise.

[Slim]

I answered the first couple of questions and quit.  I wanted more clarification on these questions.  Everything was coming out 'maybe'. 

[Baia]

The first time I tried it I put in a bunch of Maybes.  

Maybe that makes you a Liberal! ;o)

[Bob Stepp]

@ Slim and Baia..........afraid ya'll are just gonna go with who ever is on top at any given time....:-)

[Baia]

No fear of that, Bob.  I have been with the underdog many times in the past~~~sadly.

[A4L]

I am generally libertarian, and found that out as it occurred to me that much of my feelings about life were in line with what I was told libertarians believed quite a long time ago when I was young.

I have always been acutely unhappy with people who seemed to want to control me or others. 

I don't mind being controlled in the sense, when you are a "willing partner."

It is the intense unpleasant feelings that I have when someone crosses that line of trying to control apart from my will.


How is that not one definition of being a slave? Being forced to do something against ones will?

[Baia]

Welcome, A4L.  I'm grateful to see this discussion revived.

We are definitely living in interesting times.  Congress seems more interested in wasting money than spending it to actually benefit the health and well-being of individual citizens (as opposed to corporate citizens).  The grand gesture of shutdown then the surprise that actual people are being affected. 

Last fall, I traveled in Asia and while in VietNam I had the opportunity to talk with Vietnamese  people who had survived the turmoil of war and changes in government.  I asked one man what he liked best about the way things are now in his country.  He said that it was the freedom to think and believe what he chose.  Not an economic value, to be sure.  The road into town was lined with parking lots of heavy equipment being leased out for construction and heavy earth moving activities.  Roads and buildings were being built and people were crowding the central market where products of all sorts were being offered for sale with no apparent restriction.  This is still a "communist" country which we remember as being the battleground for my generation.  I criticized my government for it's decisions to send my classmates to fight and die there.  We left in defeat and now many return as tourists. 

What you say about the definition of slavery made me think about all this.  I agree that what libertarians say about what they believe now seem different from how we recall them when we were younger and exploring our political beliefs.  I think of modern Libertarians as more like the grasshopper in the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.  I don't mind paying taxes when they go to support constructive programs but I resent their being wasted in phoney "shutdowns", or in foreign aid that merely supports US industries of war and destruction, or in super-enrichment of robber barons of financial industries.

I am grateful that I have lived simply for most of my life.  The freedom to choose how to think is probably my most valuable possession.  Last year was the first year in my adult life that I received back my entire IRS withholding.  I say that meant I paid no taxes, but that is not entirely true.  It was held interest-free for that year, and then returned to me.  I have no idea how much it earned in government hands.  It was chump change compared to the amounts we hear about in the news going as bonuses to CEOs of failed financial institutions or as subsidies to giant farming corporations. 

I am grateful for this opportunity to vent.  Most of the time I don't say much.  There is much in life that I take on faith.  There is good coming out of our efforts.  I turn to history when I feel too frustrated and I am encouraged to see that overall, good is still winning.  IMHO.

[A4L]

Thanks for your response Baia.

 I am looking for forums that can talk about this stuff, where people can be on different sides of the spectrum politically, but try to agree to find what common ground that they have and seek more to understand why others may see things differently than themselves.

To me I like to look at these problems just like I would take a look at a piano that needed repairs. If different people have different approaches to fixing it, but they share the main goal of making it better, their differences do not have to be offensive.

In our present political system it seems that the political power plays are disproportionately important in regards to solving our real problems.

It seems that many of us would agree with the fact that there is much polarization and not much in unifying activities being actively sought.

It would not be as much of a big deal if it did not affect over three hundred million people, and more.

[Baia]

It didn't used to be this way, A4L.   

Maybe we could have a discussion about what is going into creating this polarity.  Who is benefiting from it?  I have my ideas about it.

I think that television has created a false notion in the public about what reality is.  "Reality" programming is inexpensive to produce and brings in a lot of money.  News broadcasting no longer has journalistic integrity behind it.  It has become sensational and opinion-based.  Political reporting is irresponsible, lazy and dishonest.  Politicians are playing to the emotions of their audiences and not deliberating seriously over the responsibilities of their offices to their constituents.

Campaign financing is used mostly for buying broadcast time.  Who benefits from that?

I am painting with a broad brush here.  There are responsible reporters and honest politicians and entertainers who don't pretend to be other than who they are.  But they are rare and unrecognized by the masses who have voted in our present government.