The Story Behind the URL…

Let’s start this thing off with a little story. Picture it, the day after the Midterm Elections in 2018. A Libertarian-leaning young man (yours truly) was involved in a political discussion on Facebook (I know, I should have known better) that revolved around the opinion “Some people will foolishly not vote…” First and foremost, I did not vote in the election, and I made the argument that while it is a “right” to vote, it is also a “right” to vote for people that will represent your personal interests and beliefs. And if you do not find candidates who you feel represent you, it is also your “right” not to vote at all. I personally find the election process is more like a high-school popularity contest, and regardless of who is in charge, nothing will change because both major parties want essentially the same thing; to marginalize one group for the benefit of another group.

I received the typical reaction to my opinion, which I was expecting. “Vote for those who you think will do the least damage to the country!” “ If a person doesn’t vote then they don’t have a right to complain when there freedoms are taken from them.” But then something unexpected happened… another individual (who will not be named, I will not be calling people out on this site unless it is warranted, and for this story, it’s not important) commented “Not Voting Helps Satan’s Liberal Agenda.” Hopefully you can understand how this caused some conflict inside me, and required a little more probing to see how, exactly, this person came to have this belief.

Instead of attacking this argument head on, I decided to take a different route, partly for the case of the entertainment that I knew would surely be to come, but mainly as an experiment to find out exactly where this person’s ideals were based and whether it would even be possible to open their mind to different views. As a side note, I am currently in a different state from this person, although I’m not sure they were aware of this. My reply was “If I could have voted in the election up there, it typically would have been for a 3rd party candidate. Is that also helping Satan’s Liberal Agenda?” And the reply I received to that was exactly what I was hoping for, and one I had been dreading at the same time. I never bash anyone for their differences in opinion, however, I will stand up for my beliefs and I try to respectfully tell people when I believe their ideas are misguided or incorrect. One of my biggest pain-points in political discussions is when people refuse to be open to other ideas, and it makes me sad to see someone base their entire being on things that are so wrong. Also, I will not try to tell anyone what to do with their life. I never try to talk anyone out of voting for the person they thought best represented them, I simply expressed that there is no way I’m going to settle for voting the “lesser of 2 evils” when I don’t believe in what they represent. The response? “Any Vote Other Than Red Helps Satan’s Liberal Agenda Because Any 3rd Party Vote Has No Chance Of Winning.” All I can say is, wow, this is perfect! This opened up so many avenues of approach! I knew this person would not change their mind by anything I had to say just based on a conversation that consisted of 2 sentences from them, which was unfortunate, but THIS was the moment I had been waiting for. A teaching opportunity if you will; not necessarily for this individual, but for others who may have been reading the conversation. Hopefully someone more tolerant and open-minded could appreciate this.

My next response was a little lengthy, but I believe got the point across. I could have started off with an argument on the “Winning” part of the reply, but I decided to try to teach something that should have been basic logic. I responded with, “This is how 3rd party voting works. I don’t support Republicans or Democrats. Its voting according to my own personal convictions. A vote for a 3rd party simply says that neither of the parties are working for my best interest. A 3rd party vote shows that I am tired of the “status quo” and wish to return the country that I love to its foundational beliefs, based on the Constitution. Limited government, free markets, peace, tolerance and individualism are the principles I believe in. Which candidate offered me those things?” I also posted a cute little meme that I found.

Let us pause here for a moment. I did not vote in this election because even the 3rd party candidates were not an option for me. These were, for the most part, true freedom-loving Patriots, and as far as I could tell in the research that I did, they were trying to get in office to change things, but some had questionable beliefs that didn’t match up with my own, and some didn’t push their ideas hard enough. No big deal, you can believe what you want, and speak how you want, but you will not receive my vote to represent me since you do not, in fact, represent “me”. The part of my response regarding “Limited government, free markets, peace, tolerance and individualism…”? Those are the 5 Principles of Liberty (click Here for a great explanation of this). These are the ideals that I believe will help return this nation to prosperity. Everyone will be freer if these principles are applied to all aspects in life. Tough sell to some people, but there it is.

This person would not budge, and I still had more to say. The next response is almost not worth my typing. “ But The Reality Is That Your Vote Will Never Change Anything. You Might As well Stay Home.” I had to scratch my head a bit here. You’re trying to tell me that by not voting, I’m helping “Satan’s Liberal Agenda” but then you turn around and say if I’m going to vote 3rd party, I might as well stay home? Anybody as confused by this as I was? I posted my response before I could even really know what I wrote: “Which is exactly what I accomplished yesterday by not voting. I will not vote for someone that I don’t think best represents me, just as I wouldn’t expect you to vote for someone you didn’t believe in. I’m glad you voted your convictions. That’s what makes this country great.” I’m GLAD when people find people to vote for that represents their views, even when I find those views to be wrong! At least they are doing something they believe in. And my issue is NOT with people having differing points of view. My issue is with people refusing to work with someone else who has other beliefs. Goes back into that whole “5 Principles” thing ( see “tolerance” and “individualism”).

This is where I spoke my thoughts on what I believe is the basis for a majority of the problems that face our society today. Another post from me: “Voting isn’t about “winning.” That’s what’s wrong with this country. The “team mentality”, Republicans vs Democrats, Rich vs Poor, Black vs White. The country is so divided an nobody wants to work with anyone with different beliefs.” Read that again if you need to, and get your tin-foil hat ready if necessary (this is just the tip of the iceberg of what I consider to be “conspiracy theory”. I can go further, but will refrain from doing so in this post). This country is divided, and I personally believe it is done so on purpose by an out-of-control Federal Government, both Republican and Democrat, who wants to gain as much control as possible. When the citizens are so focused on hating people who oppose their views, the Government is free to slowly take away our rights and freedoms without anyone making much of a fuss about it. Ignorance leads to divisiveness, which is part of the reason I decided to start this blog. I think it’s great that others have different opinions than me. Life would be dull if everybody was right all the time. But the truth is that each and every person is wrong about certain things, that nobody has it all figured out, and the way we get to a better world is by discussing topics openly, and without harshness, and working together towards the betterment of all mankind. This starts by being more open minded, and not hating others for their differences.

The rest of the conversation was pretty non-eventful. I was thanked “For Not Voting For A Democrat !” and was then told that “My 2 Combat Tours In Viet Nam Have Made Me Sensitive To Those Who Are Trying To Bring Our Nation Down. I’m First A Committed Christian And second A Committed Patriot. So Much So That I will Never Again Watch An NFL Game.” I, too, am a Veteran who served in Iraq. And, obviously, I am also sensitive to those who are trying to bring our nation down. I know many Christians who have opposing political views to this persons, and many patriots who do too. As for the NFL thing, it doesn’t bother me personally (topic for a different blog post, for sure.) I prefer to watch College football anyway. So overall, I guess that was a good compromise, and a nice way to round out the conversation. We found some common ground and nobody was put down for their beliefs too harshly. I wish more conversations could be worked out in this manner, where at the end of the day, nobody’s feelings were hurt, nobody was insulted and everybody was able to appreciate that there are differing views on things. Maybe I was able to help open minds, after all! And even if not, at least I came out of it with a clever name for my new blog.