So after taking a few online tests to see where I fall on the issues, I’ve learned that I am a bit of an anarchist. Those of you that know me, and think that I lean liberal, might be surprised to hear that. As such, I don’t really want the federal government to control anything. But how can this be? How could I argue for big government one minute, then no government the next? The fact is - I have never wanted big government. But I get so freakin’ irritated at the attitudes of those on both sides, that I end up - in typical fashion - playing devil’s advocate to the arguments that annoy me the most. And until recently, I have been most annoyed with the Republicans and their moral superiority complex. But lately, I have to admit that Barack Obama hit a nerve with his “spread the wealth” tax speeches. I don’t think I’ll ever be convinced that anything other than a flat tax is fair. You want the rich to pay more? Great! That’s the beauty of percentages - they do pay more.
Very early in this election season, I was a bit of a Ron Paul supporter. I have another friend (an Obama supporter) who also said back then that she might consider voting for Ron Paul. It’s interesting to see how a few key issues can take someone from being supposedly left wing to extreme right wing - yet they would never consider voting Republican … supposedly somewhere between the two.
I’m not looking to get in a debate based on this post - really. I understand the arguments from both major parties, and I’m really sick of hearing them. But I believe that I may have found a party that I can get behind. Turns out, I may have been a Liberatarian all this time, and I just couldn’t see it. It’s not quite anarchy, but it’s pretty dang close. I know - it just transfers control to the state, but it goes a long way toward getting the government to leave me alone. Plus, they don’t care who marries who, whether I have a gun or not, and while they (supposedly) care about the environment - they think the federal government would just screw up any efforts to preserve it. They are against censorship, they are essential pro-choice (that’s a toughy), and they care about privacy. All of that sounds pretty good to me.
So what do I do now? Do I “throw away my vote”, and vote Liberatarian - or do I try my best to overlook my problems with the two major parties and cast my vote in one of those two directions?
I guess I’d better hurry and figure that out.
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I stood for a long time at the polls wrestling with this exact issue. What I couldn’t get around was that it wouldn’t just be “throwing away a vote” as if it didn’t count; not voting for the “major party” that I most agree with felt like it would be, for all intents and purposes, a vote for the other side. Conversely, if every person who truly wanted such a limited amount government control voted Libertarian, the party might actually have a fighting chance. At least, maybe, eventually. (I couldn’t do it, in the end.)
I’ve been feeling really restless and afraid of what’s happening in this country. Not in a logical way I could argue or explain, but I have this weight in the pit of my stomach that gets stronger every step closer towards Election Day… regardless of what I think the outcome may be. At what point does fighting for our freedom mean fighting against our own government? What will we allow to happen that will finally be that last straw?
I know this is probably not the appropriate venue for these sorts of thoughts, but the whole situation has left me hurting and wondering what happened to the foundations of our country. I just wonder if anyone else feels it too.
I certainly understand. What gets to me is that I think that our country was founded on ideals unique to each of the two major parties. The problem is that each party is forced to support extreme positions to avoid giving ground to the other extreme position. I still believe that most of the voters in this country are moderates in most areas (a few hot-button issues notwithstanding), but they are forced to choose between polar opposites. They feel the need to jump on a bandwagon and go all in for that one party because there is no third option that has a chance of making it into the White House.
Thanks for the post.
I, myself, have wandered far and wide before stumbling upon my own political label. I hated the War in Iraq, and couldn’t really put a finger on why. I know what I heard from the left — and a lot of it made sense — but there are so many things that the left stand for that I can not abide by. Specifically high taxes and socialist ideologies that quite permeate that political path.
It wasn’t until I wandered onto the smallest political quiz in the world that I began my political self-realization. I, too, am just shy an anarchist.
And, in my case, following the libertarian path has also brought me to a completely new (for me, that is) view of economics by reading and soaking in the Austrian Economic (AE) ideology. In fact, it has so influenced me that I spend a lot of my day, recently, listening to the basis of AE thought.
If you wish to “strengthen” your libertarian ideology, I would like to suggest going to http://www.mises.org and read/watch/listen to as much as you can handle at any given time. It can be quite heady at times but the benefit is well worth it.
I also read a fiction book by Ayn Rand entitled “Atlas Shrugged” that has completely changed the way I view a lot of things politically — no, changed isn’t a good word to use in this case, perhaps shore up, make more stable, would be better.
Nate-
I will definitely check out those links. I will say that I am glad this election is over. It’s tiring complaining about both sides like I do
You know I had a hard time this election as well. I knew I wasn’t the only one but since I choose not to really discuss politics I wasn’t sure who else would or could think like me. With all that Greg and I are going through right now I have been on the side of chucking all politicians and letting some real people run things for a while, can’t really get that much worse. Anyways, I really enjoyed reading your post didn’t think you were controversial at all just stating some very hard truths.