I was listening to Friday's Tom Woods' show, and I heard Scott Horton say something curious. I actually decided to make an entire post about the idea: What is Libertarianism, and how can I apply that to my life?
I can't remember Scott's exact words or how he came to say this, but I do remember very specifically that he said "Freedom and liberty versus death and taxes." For the full episode to hear it yourself, you can find it here. Personally, though, this line resonated with my so much that I had to stop walking my dog and write it down immediately.
Why is this important? I guess this requires a bit of my back story. I grew up in an old steel town in Western Pennsylvania whose population has been on the decline since the fall of the steel industry in the area. Most people in the area vote Democrat, if only because that's how they've always voted, or that's how their parents voted. Most of them spoke and seemed to agree with modern Republicans, but would never vote for a Republican. My father, being from a more rural background, was a registered Republican. He was my biggest influence. After a few years of learning libertarian ideas, I now understand that he's a lot closer to a Constitutional Minarchist than anything the Republican party stands for now, and he has always been an outspoken critic of government over-reach.
In high school I was required to read Atlas Shrugged, where my journey into Libertarianism really began. I read the book three times before I graduated, and once since. I've already read most of Rand's other works of fiction and a few of her non-fiction works. For a while I was a devout Objectivist, but for some reason I could never seem to reconcile this with my upbringing and this caused some internal struggles. I don't know if this is the only reason, but between this and the fact that I was 18-23 years old, I was not particularly politically involved during that time period.
The first time I heard the word "libertarian" was from my Government/Economics teacher in my senior year of high school. He was just bright enough that most of us knew he had no business teaching at our crap little school (though a little time attempting to become a teacher leads me to believe he may have been there in an attempt to not have to pay back some grants the government gave him). He had little time or patience for the disengaged students that mainly populated our school, and it was obvious. For those few of us (we pretty much all hung out) who actually gave a crap about learning anything, he treated us like gods among men. He acted like my older brother, directed me to look into certain things and read different books, and he's the first person who told me I might be a libertarian.
I bring this up because, unlike most people my age in the libertarian movement, I had honestly never heard much at all about Ron Paul until recently. Being in PA, and given that our primary is one of the last, his name wasn't on the ballot by the time I was ready to vote, so I didn't know about him. I didn't even vote in the primary for the 2008 or 2012 election because it was basically decided by the time it came around to my state. I then spent my college years almost completely disengaged with politics except that I was deeply distraught that Obama had won the white house. I spent a year or so after school listening to Rush and Hannity, but I wasn't happy with what I was hearing and I couldn't seem to find a reason to really care about politics. I even skipped the midterms in 2010 because, well, why bother?
2013 changed my views more than any other year. That was the first time I really had cause to fear my government and their over-reach. When Edward Snowden leaked to the nation just how far from freedom and liberty we've allowed our government to get, I realized that this does affect me and I need to care. That was also the time I first heard of Rand Paul. I knew nothing of his father at the time; remember, I had probably never even heard his name before that. Rand drew me with his filibuster and his stance against the NSA. I followed him on Twitter. I signed up for his newsletter. I even donated money to his campaign and hoped against hope that he would run for president in 2016.
Now, before I get into that, I need to define what I alluded to at the beginning. Libertarianism is different for every libertarian, but for me, it's the last bastion of Freedom and Liberty in the fight against Death and Taxes, and Scott Horton summed that up perfectly with those words.
So, back to Mr. Paul: On which side of the battle does he stand? Lately I find myself every day questioning why I wanted for him to run for president in 2016. He's now running, and I almost wish he wasn't. Whose side is Rand Paul fighting for? Does he fight for Freedom and Liberty? Many would tell me he does. Now that I've learned about his father, I could understand why they would think that. My father was a huge influence on my political leanings, and though I edge closer to anarchy daily, I still find myself clinging to the last vestiges of minarchy that my father taught me growing up. My father's views, though, are not exactly the same as mine. Rand's views do not appear to mirror his father's, either.
The real problem I have is that I have no idea where Rand even stands. His namesake, Ayn, would roll in her grave to hear him flip flopping so much while still trying to throw out how he stands for Freedom and Liberty. Can't he take a principled stand on anything? Could he at least tell us what his principles are? I honestly don't know.
Here I am, a young libertarian of a mind to vote for Mr. Paul if he would only tell me that he stands for even a portion of what I stand for, and yet I feel as if I will be voting for a Libertarian come November. At least Gary Johnson, or whoever the nominee for the Libertarian Party ends up being, will certainly have no problem telling me that they stand for Freedom and Liberty, not Death and Taxes.
In the mean time, I will keep searching for ways to forward the cause on my own front, however small my contributions may be. I hope you all do the same.
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