The story I am about to tell you is true and as I scroll backward, I think it is odd how life shapes you. How values can shape political beliefs. Back in my police chief days- I was hell bent on telling the truth. That was my standard. I tried very hard to always tell the truth to people even when I knew they would not like it. I didn't really care for pollyanna spin or lying politicians which I was finding in epidemic proportions. And if I caught you lying and waxing some bullshit to me- I made a point of calling you on it. This prevented a lot of subsequent bullshitting. However, this penchant I had for truth telling - cut my career a little short. That was the downside.
We all make choices. Kiss up or tell the truth. Very often, those two styles are mutually exclusive.
Many years ago, I was at one of these giant statewide meetings in Boise promoting Idaho's seat belt law. There were mayors, local and state politicians, city administrators, chiefs, sheriffs, the media. Vendors selling stuff. That sort of thing. The Governor and the Idaho Department of Transportation had picked some gal to speak about the benefits of the seat belt law.
She was one of those bubbly, high energy gals. I liked her. She spoke about traffic statistics, injuries, deaths, and thus- promoted all of the magical goodness and improvements that wearing seat belts would bring us. I was ok with most of this. And then she made a fatal mistake. She began to preach about how our medical costs would go down. How insurance and litigation costs would go down. By the time she finished that part of the rant, I decided to let her have it. I stalked her at the break. I caught her in the hallway.
I told her that I didn't give a shit about whether we saved insurance companies money or not. I stated to her that we have been putting safety devices on cars since 1969, that driving fatalities have plummeted over that time, and I'll be damned but insurance costs have gone straight up. Not once had an insurance company ever sent me a refund or reduced my premium. Nor had medical costs gone down. In summation, I said, I am in the saving lives business and absent that- I hate seat belt laws. I hate that private business, insurance companies in this case, can lobby politicians to pass laws that strip me of my freedom. I agree with seat belt laws for reasons aside from fattening insurance companies' and their profit margins.
That was the day I became a libertarian. I had no idea how bad America was going to get.
More than ten years later, the statists and moonbats are in control. They pass ridiculous laws regulating every facet of human conduct. They want recycling laws, laws outlawing light bulbs. They've outlawed happy meals in some parts of California. In my hometown of Moonbat Valley, they are trying to outlaw plastic grocery bags. Earlier this year, some school kids tried to outlaw transfat in local restaurants. They have a dog poop law on the bike path. In Seattle, you must wear a bicycle helmet. You must wear a life preserver if you go into the water. The democrats of California passed the great "stolen valor law."
http://thecivillibertarian.blogspot.com/2011/10/moonbats-introduce-and-help-pass-stupid.html
Screw freedom, pass laws. Worry about the enforcement costs later. That in a nutshell is how the left and the statists think. They can't stop. Statists will seek to regulate every facet of our lives. Statists hate freedom which in my mind- makes them de facto communists. That's right. I said it. If you want government regulating every facet of human conduct then get the fuck out of here. Move to N. Korea. Or China.
Am I the only one who is sick of the statists telling me what I can eat, how I can light my room, what is politically correct for me to say or not? Can I disagree with assholes like Al Gore who don't know anymore about global warming than I do? The libertarian party is refuge for me. The only place that makes sense in a world where all that really matters is regulation gone nuts and a kleptocracy/nanny government keen on stripping your wealth.
I am a patriot and I love freedom or at least the dwindling illusion of freedom. That's how I became a libertarian. Libertarians realize that every time you pass a law we lose freedom and money. Sometimes we are ok with that, mostly we are not. Libertarians have an actual platform that doesn't mutate. Ron Paul adheres to it.
At the end of the day, the Democrats might be called the Big Government Party. The Republicans might be called the Big Business Party. The Libertarians are called refuge. Minimum government, maximum freedom. That's how I found them- quite by accident.
http://www.lp.org/