So it occurs to me recently that I am naive. I don't want to be naive, but you can't be born into experience. I don't mind that I am young, or that I have a young family; hey- that can stay that way for a long time, as far as I'm concerned! But I would like to have the wisdom and knowledge and experience that someone who has lived a little more would have.
I have tried, since early last fall, to begin educating myself in the realm of "politics", or rather, what my viewpoints really are. I don't really care about politics, but I want to know exactly what it is I believe in and why, so that I can share this view with everyone and do it responsibly. This self-education is not as easy as you may think. One of the reasons I find it so important to be informed is my children; yet, I find it takes a back-seat to parenting...kind of a rock-and-a-hard-place, catch 22 sorta deal. Spend all my time with the kids(not hard to do at all) and know nothing more than they do; or spend hours and hours researching and listening and learning about what has already happened and what is going to happen in the world of our messed-up government and in doing so, neglect the fam. My husband has an advantage/disadvantage: he drives alot for work, and subsequently listens to alot of talk radio. While talk radio hosts are not the end-all of informants, they do sorta keep you in the loop. But, the disadvantage to this is that he is gone so much- and he misses us. So there is the catch 22 again- be with the family, or not.
If someone would just send me everything there is to know to be responsibly educated on the viewpoint of being a Constitutionalist or Libertarian (don't mock me for sounding dumb- are they different? I am just not well-versed in these things), then I could read, absorb, and move on. But every time I think I know something, I am reminded I know nothing.
I spent a decent amount of time last fall convincing my brother not to vote for Obama. His opinion was, and I quote "Well, he's (Obama) young, so I have to vote for him. I don't think I can vote for someone who's so much older than me. (McCain or Paul) They just don't understand my generation." In the end, he didn't vote at all. I voted for McCain. Now, slowly, I am realizing- that was a mistake. I would take it back if I could, but alas, it is not to be. I thought, at the time, that I was being responsible. I had never voted before. I wish I could melt into the resolve that "my vote didn't matter anyways," but the knowledge of my lack of knowledge, and the fact that I contributed in such a way at all, makes me ill with remorse.
This is a world where nothing is as it seems, where "people" (they say they are human, but I've yet to see them bleed, so I can't be sure) can say they are one way or stand for one thing; but in reality it's all politics. They don't anymore stand for one thing than they do the other. I just want some honesty, folks. No duality. To me, it seems pretty simple: you have the rules, follow them.
My professor said to me the other day that he finds there are quite a few flaws with capitalism; mainly that it isn't fair that someone who has worked hard all their life could be wealthy while someone else in America is starving. So when I asked him then if he believed in the redistribution of wealth, he said yes. And I then asked if he was a socialist. He answered, no, that his disagreement with capitalism came from a "moral" point of view; he thinks that people should be obligated to give to others because they may not be so inclined otherwise. (at this point, I am trying really hard not to laugh at him). I begin telling him capitalism, like anything else, is a vehicle, and it in itself is not necessarily flawed; it is only to be driven one way or another, and it's there that it becomes flawed. The idea behind the redistribution of wealth is socialism- forcing taxing or what have you on someone who has done well for themselves and giving it to a bozo who doesn't do much more than wait by the mailbox for the next check, and calling that fair. The founding idea behind America is that you come to work for yourself. Not for someone who doesn't care or doesn't want to. The founding fathers are undoubtedly rolling over in their graves at the amount of power we have given our government to take from us. At the point in this little rant where I said something about the "founding idea behind America" my professor smiles this smirky little smile, as if to say, well, we just don't see eye to eye because you are "one of those people" kinds of smiles. This both pleased me and irked me at the same time. I am glad that I presented some thing to him that he opposed- I hate to be a sheep. But it reeally bothers me that he honestly thinks that it is wrong that people like my in laws have the money and property that they work very hard for. Sure, they aren't in Forbes or anything, but in his opinion, they shouldn't have "wasted their lives on pursuing the selfish goal of money." This angered me: they have worked, and they have given, and they have been blessed. God intends for some to have and some not to. God rewards faithful children who obey Him and the law. Why then is it wrong?
Thing is, he's Catholic. He confessed to me that he was forced to vote for McCain because Obama is pro-choice, and his bishop said they had to vote for McCain or else (not really sure what "or else" would have meant.) He is also my age, and this was the first time he and his wife had voted as well. So, perhaps he was floundering, and just took the lead his misguided church gave him. But I think he would have rather voted the other way. I think he idealizes the path of knowledge in the liberalist manner that many professors do; oh, give up, you hippies! Get real. What did you get from "free love"? AIDS and STDs and death. And those stupid little leather headbands across the forehead looked super dumb, btw. (He has also told me on many occasions that his parents were both educators and vegetarian hippies...he really had no hope of becoming much more).
I am saddened that he thinks this way. In many respects, he and I are alike, and I thought we might be friends even after these classes are over. But he made it clear that he didn't agree with me, and since then, has been avoiding more conversations with me than are necessary. Oh, well. Hippie.
Our exchange may have put a wedge between us, but it also opened my eyes to how little I still know, and how much more I need to know to be able to converse with confidence. I might feel a certain way, and believe in certain ideology, but without the words and knowledge to put behind it, I am nothing more than a hippie with "feelings."
The pursuit of knowledge continues. I am planning on watching Glenn Beck's show on Fox on Friday- he is going to unveil the "We Surround Them" deal he's been working on with people across the country. That sounded interesting. I am going to research Chuck Baldwin and try and not think about the other Baldwins...
It is long overdue that I begin taking responsibility for my own views.
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Elise,
ReplyDeletecheck out infowars.com alex has an interesting point of view. you can get his podcast thru itunes
I had been asking Ron Paul to run for more than 8 years when he finally announced his candidacy. I had promised I would help if he ever did. I only wish I could have done more. If he runs again, I will probably consider working for his campaign a full-time job.
ReplyDeleteWe voted for Ron Paul in the primaries after working our fingers to the bone (or so it felt) to get his name out there, keep it out there, raise money (oh BOY did we raise money!), get the message heard, and fight tooth and nail to make Liberty, and not "Ron" the center of the campaign. It worked, and because of that, the Campaign for Liberty is still going strong. He is still interviewed several times a week and despite being 72 years old people are still pleading for him to run again in 2012. We voted for Chuck Baldwin in the general election.
To put it succinctly, Elise, I am a "small L" libertarian. I do not and most likely would never subscribe to the Libertarian Party as I truly believe they are a joke. The party is filled with a bunch of liberals who want to also be able to smoke pot, and both Republicans and Democrats love the drug war, so their best bet is the Libertarians. Their nomination of Bob Barr as their presidential candidate should be enough evidence for how "libertarian" they are NOT. And for that reason, I don't associate with them, despite being very, very liberty-focused.
Read the Republican platform. That is what a conservative looks like, and the people that "Republican" voters have been voting in are not platform Republicans. Voters should be ashamed of themselves. McCain is not a Republican. George Bush is not a Republican. Mike Huckabee is not a Republican. Rudy Giuliani is not a Republican. The only real Republican in the debates last year (with exception given to Fred Thompson, who *at times* gives one hope but has little history on which to base it enough to vote for him) was Ron Paul. When you read the platform and compare it to the candidates, he's the only one who comes out clean.
No one likes it when I say that, because they want to justify their vote. But they can't. It's time to turn this thing around and start voting for principle again, instead of voting to beat the Democrats.
And girlie, it's time for you to stop being too hard on yourself. Over the past two years, I've worked really, really hard. I got to meet and talk to some really amazing people. Some of them just cried over where our country has gone. One person told me he hadn't voted in over 20 years because there were no conservatives to vote for, and now there was since he could vote for Ron. Another lady cried because she felt horrible for voting for Bush and now people were dead because of him. I'll tell you what I told her: When you know better, you do better. Her one vote would not have made Bush lose the election in 2004 and stopped so many people from dying in Iraq. But her one voice in 2008 made a HUGE difference.
Now you know better, so you can do better. Learn, grown, change, and teach your children. You can't change your vote now. But you CAN take the next year or so to figure out exactly WHY McCain wasn't the answer, and why someone like Baldwin, or Ron Paul, or Mark Sanford (Keep your eye on him...good guy...he's not Ron, but he's a good guy) is.
You, my sweet, wonderful, kindred spirit, are an inspiration to me.
Hmmm - I may have to post something later when I have more time, but for now I'll just offer a word of clarification to Tam's post - read the TEXAS republican platform. It's much closer. There's still some junk in there, but it's still much better than most any other state or national platform out there. (The libertarian one used to be pretty good, but they gutted it, and it was a bit technical for jumping in.)
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can actually provide you a decent list of books to give you some points to ponder. They deal more in the area of thinking about things at a more broad level, so that when you come to specific issues you can think about it from a perspective of liberty. That's far easier than trying to specifically research every individual item. And most if not all of these books are fairly short and easily accessible w/out a degree in economics or political science. :-) For example, I'd definitely recommend 'whatever happened to penny candy', Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in one Lesson", and Bastiat's "The Law". Most of those you could read in a few days time. After you've read it a couple times you can read 'the law' in an afternoon. :-)
Then - you might look at some books like '33 questions about american history you're not supposed to ask', 'the politically incorrect guide to american history' and 'the politically incorrect guide to the constitution' Again, all very accessible works, and good points for finding areas of politics and american history that interest you for further study. Most also have bibliographies that can be good jumping off points for that study.
Elise! Elise! This is a VERY good reason for homeschooling!!!! You can teach your kids right along with learning yourself!!! It's been so great teaching my kids...I would go to the library and get a huge stack of books about a certain subject (lots of kids books, and a very few adult books) and we would read, read, read. It's amazing how much you learn by reading children's books! When a subject grabs you, just GO with it! For instance, July 4th is coming up...get books about that...and branch out with reading the Declaration of Independence; and the making of fireworks; and make construction paper flags; find a July 4th parade to walk in...you will be surprised how much YOU will learn, by merely approaching the subject with your kids. Then when they've (finally) gone to sleep at night, you can read a bit in the adult level books.
ReplyDeleteHaving the conversation you did with your professor is a very good way to solidify your thoughts, even though it's pretty hard to be in that situation at the time. (I hate controversy.)
Read the Constitution, and when something comes up, read it again. I started doing that last year after hearing Ron Paul speak for the first time, and I was amazed at how things became much more clear to me. I still have SO FAR TO GO, but I am much more informed than I was 18 months ago!!!!