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And I will tell you why:
Because after being a "state socialist" for seven years, two things happened:
1. I was introduced to the HORROR that is GOP "big government."
2. I spent the summer reading libertarian, anarchist, and anarchosyndicalist philosophy.
It was at this point that I realized:
1. That the government, which includes the military and the police state, exists to legitimize corporatism, and provide an infrastructure where the concentration of wealth is encouraged.
2. "Personal Responsibility" needed to be stolen back from the GOP, and meant to mean personal responsibility for EVERYONE, not just the fabled "welfare queens," and that mothers, fathers, elected representatives, CEOs of big companies, Wall-Street brokers, Christians, et. al., have a RESPONSIBILITY to their society, and that responsibility includes protecting the environment, being fair, giving workers decent wages -- it's all psychological.
3. That rather than helping some "poor exploited underclass," the left is actually entrenched in saving millions of apathetic, irresponsible, complacent lower and middle class consumers from themselves.
4. The power to be discriminate with labor and consumer choice, is as good a weapon as anything.
5. The "free market" is not what the GOP is advocating -- they want corporatism or corpo-fascism, which includes regressive taxes on the middle class, corporate and farm subsidy, stripping the consumer of bargaining and purchasing power, using the government to bust labor unions, and using the military and the police state for corporate interests.
6. That it was a lot more effective to expose the right for what it was, which is A CABAL OF BIG GOVERNMENT THEOCRATS AND JACKBOOTED CORPO-FASCISTS, and accept some of the critiques of the left -- in other words, leave behind some of the "identity politics," and uphold civil liberties, while at the same time, giving more power to the states, and an opportunity to let people segregate themselves, if they so wish, and have "looser" or "tighter" state laws.
7. That I am intensely in favor of being involved in city, county and state politics, which both libertarians and Libertarians encourage.
8. I like the environmental policy of the libertarians, which wishes to cede some public lands to private nonprofit groups, Native Americans, environmentally friendly homesteaders etc. -- realizing too, that the air and water is our property, and rather than creating environmental REGULATIONS, they would create rather large fines for corporations found guilty of poisoning our air and water.
9. I believe in both the individual and the collective, and the right to choose to which group you wish to belong.
10. That the utmost respect for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the tenets of classical liberalism make more sense, philosophically, than either the left or right doctrines. (you can see that I'm not a "pure" anarchist/anarchosyndicalist because I do accept hierarchy, as well as Constitutional government -- I really am a mix of left and right libertarian).
11. And that, from this perspective, I can more easily argue with Republicans, and reveal them for what they are: hypocrites, liars, theives, corporatists, jingoists and snake oil salesmen. Because one day I'm a state-socialist, a GODLESS COMMIE, and then three months later, I'm the one who gets to wrap myself in the flag, I'm the one who's loudest about protecting the second amendment, I'm for freedom, they're for fascism, and I can point out to them EXACTLY why. It's quite effective for disillusioning GOPPERS, who were still under the illusion that their party gave a rat's ass about liberty, freedom, the free market, or anything else they give lip service to, but their policies obviously don't match.
Good enough?
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