Political Journey

Changing your views as you change through life is normal. Politics is an area where people seem to migrate for most of their life. The accepted school of thought is you start out very liberal and become more conservative as you age. I think the baby-boomers are the model for this school of thought since I am from the lost generation “Gen X”—I was different.

I started being aware of the political process during Watergate. I did not understand much except our President and many other politicians were crooks. It did not take long for Jimmy Carter to become President and I became a student of politics and economics. The classic “Liberalism” of Thomas Jefferson was what I believed in politically and economically. Much of Jefferson’s views were being the Republicans and Libertarians. At age 16 I was a Republican. This was kept to me as it turned off most girls and at 16 girls were much more important than which ideology should lead the free world.

Eventually, as Carter’s Presidency started its’ circular ride on the Toilet of Bad Presidents, many became more vocal about our free market attitudes and Classic Liberal theories. Surprisingly, many called us fascists, because we were “right wing”. The Nazis were fascists and were so right wing they greatly resembled communism. While we were promoting less government in our lives, less taxation, and more personal freedom to choose how we run our lives. My rights stop your nose or property—that was the gist of my beliefs.

When Ronald Reagan was elected it affirmed that my beliefs were correct. The Iranian hostages were released, the economy turned around, inflation faded while taxes were reduced. The military was overhauled and equipped. Eventually, the Berlin Wall fell and the air escaped the Iron Curtain communism was dead—in Eastern Europe.


Now as a middle-aged Gen Xer, I’m still a Classic Liberal and am worried a dieing breed. The Republicans are left of the Democrats of the 1960’s. The Democrats are—well, just a mess. They are very social leaning but are trying to use the War in Iraq as the new Viet Nam. The end result of all this is our own social freedoms and people who try to protect our social freedoms are now under attack. Houston Police are ordered not to bring in Illegals if they are involved in a wreck. Border Patrol agents are being imprisoned because of testimony from Mexican drug lords. Cameras are being set up everywhere to protect us from the “terrorists”. Sovereignty seems to be an issue that few are ready to deal with—will we remain the United States of America?

I don’t think I have really journeyed that much in the last thirty years, but I know the politicians have. Would a Democratically controlled Congress pass the tax cut that JFK signed? Hell would a Republican controlled Congress sign it? We are currently living in an oligarchy of political parties that seem to have their own survival as their primary goal. It is still representative and we can still vote them out but the alternative, in most cases, is less desirable. Kudos to Joe Lieberman for hanging in there. A party of Liebermans could do a lot for this country. Screw the party system—it’s time for Democratic Anarchy.