loony left

I didn't write this. The author is "Ben There" from his blog. I like it.

Huh? I'm A What?
As much as I hate to waste words and space riffing on such an over-blog-exposed, inevitably dead end and inflammatory topic like politics, the time and setting is right and I can no longer contain my urge to do just that. It’s election season and I don’t think it’s too much of an exaggeration to say that this election may very well be the most important one so far in my lifetime. It is painfully obvious to all but the most indoctrinated and self-deluded among us that this nation is at a monumental low point.Before diving into this it seems appropriate to provide a little introduction to my own political background (or lack thereof). Up until the last 3-4 years I would have, without hesitation, described myself as a republican; moderate on social issues and more conservative on economic issues. However, my interest in politics was very minimal during that time and most of the viewpoints I held were based on unquestioned assumptions that were more or less inherited from family and social environment. Politics, much like religion, tends to be a culturally inherited mindset and one which doesn’t involve a conscious, deliberate decision making process on the part of the individual. There are of course exceptions to this but one can find exceptions to almost anything.During my college days some of my favorite and most personally influential teachers were economics and finance professors who, prior to teaching, had been very successful business men. I admired them tremendously, learned from them, and even developed friendships with a couple of them. I had no idea what career path I wanted to take when I started college but it was the influence of these individuals that helped steer me towards choosing a degree in finance. Even though I came from the land of republicans and thought of myself as republican, it was what I learned in my economics classes that solidified my reasoning for why I was republican. I was impressed by Adam Smith and fascinated by what I was learning about the free market, laissez-faire, and supply and demand. The horrific danger imposed on the free-market society by government interference was ingrained in my mind. I remember thinking – and I would have repeated this even up until the last few years – that anyone who had even the most basic knowledge of economics would absolutely have to be a republican.As you can tell, I had narrowed the entire spectrum of politics down to one specific issue in my mind and it felt good to be able to justify and articulate my political position. It should also be mentioned, however, that in truth I didn’t spend that much time thinking about politics or anything else of much significance. The real focus of my existence was on having fun any way I could, but then again, what else can you expect from someone in that 19-21 fresh out of the nest phase? Life during that time was one big party, notwithstanding the fact that I did learn a thing or two.Looking back, the harsh truth that I am forced to admit to myself is that I paid very little attention to the goings on in the wider world around me, whether that entailed politics or anything else. The people I grew up with and spent my time with were just good ol’ ordinary folks who played golf, hunted, fished, and generally attended church every Sunday. In general they truly were and are very good people and other than shooting animals, I participated in and still have no problem with any of these activities. It was East Texas and a town rife with old money, a mind-boggling abundance of churches, and more doctors per capita than any county in the United States.The political viewpoint that pervades such an environment isn’t hard to figure out and, like most everyone else, I took most of the political rhetoric at face value. Truth is, there was very little need for political rhetoric in a place where the political slant was (and still is) so homogenous.That is where I come from and how I became the ‘republican’ that I thought I was. Even though I have always had my qualms with certain conservative positions on social issues, prior to George W. Bush, I would have never hesitated to refer to myself as a conservative republican.So you can imagine my utter astonishment and surprise when I took an online political survey several years ago and the results came back and labeled me as – and I hope you are sitting down for this – a LIBERAL! What the…?The survey consisted of about 50 questions (wish I could find it now) and all I did was answer each one honestly. Turns out I’m a “liberal”. Around here that is tantamount to calling someone a child pornographer. I can mark the time period just prior to that survey as when I began taking a deeper look into the issues and who stood for what and why. I began to have a gut, intuitive feeling that there was something wrong with the hand-me-down political viewpoint that I subscribed to but I didn't have alot of concrete information to justify or explain what I was feeling.While I do still believe in the virtues of free-market and small government, I no longer buy into the notion that conservative republican leadership gives us anything resembling that that ideal. In fact, I would argue that the opposite is the case. Furthermore, it appears to me that republicanism has been hijacked during my adult life by the self-proclaimed “religious right”, a movement that I have found so misguided and even repulsive as to find myself sympathizing with some of the more extreme sentiments of the “loony left”, not because I necessarily agree with them but more out of the natural tendency of extremism on one end to engender extremism on the other end.With all of this being said, I do not think that the democratic party is our benevolent savior, nor is Barack Obama, although there are things about him that I not only admire but give me fleeting inklings of hope that maybe there is some sanity left in politics and the possibility for actual human beings to lead this nation. It may well be true that the American population is hopelessly screwed (how’s that for articulate prose?) under either major political party but I personally feel that we have to make the best of what we have to work with and make an honest effort at avoiding the easy way out and descending hopelessly down into apathy and pessimism.