I have listened to a lot of podcasts. I have heard a LOT of people talk about their journey to libertarianism or anarcho-capitalism. So many of them have narrowed it down to a distinct moment or at least very few moments that led them there. Every time I think how? Why has my journey been so different? Has it really been that different or have I just not reflected enough to pinpoint it?
I was not very into politics in my teens and early twenties. I was old enough to vote in 1996 but did not bother registering. My work neighbor listened to enough conservative talk radio that I thought I was a conservative. The rhetoric of conservatives when it comes to personal freedom and fiscal responsibility seemed reasonable enough…oh, and because “democrats want to take your guns, by god!” Oh the naivety of a child. By Y2K I was registered to vote and I cast my vote for Bush Junior. <facepalm>
When 9/11 happened I was as Red, White, and Blue as every other American. “They hate us for our freedom!” I was told—and I believed it. I could not help but noitce, though, that our leaders were already talking about Hussein and Iraq before we invaded Afghanistan to “get the people responsible.” I even have this Mandella Effect moment where I am convinced we occupied Iraq before Afghanistan, but the history books do not back that up.
By the time the 2004 election cycle rolled around I was tired of ol’ Dubya. I was pretty certain he had lied us into Iraq, though I still was not that big into politics and was not quite sure why I felt that way. That year my favorite radio morning show had a guest on who said he was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for President. To this day I can not recall what he said that caught my attention, but in November 2004 I voted for this guy named Michael Badnarik for President.
So that’s it, right?
Ha, the Stockholm Syndrome from 12+ years of government indoctrination does not just let go of you that easy. I was fully convinced that Obama was the greatest abomination ever and now is absolutely not the time to “waste a vote” on Libertarians. It was throughout the Obama years that my ideology transformed the most. Gay marriage was a hot issue and I realized I really do not care what two people do in their bedroom. Why is marriage, any marriage, the business of the state anyway? That one question, “why is it the government’s business,” was a big step in my journey to Ancapistan.
Although I had become convinced we were lied into Iraq I was still a “turn the middle east into glass” neocon. I think war is the only topic that I can clearly identify what triggered the change in my views. I had a childhood friend, Al, whose father was from Iran. I heard they had gone to Iran to visit his grandparents and got stuck there. With no American embassy there, their American passports were confiscated by the Iranian government and they were not allowed to return to the U.S. It was knowing that my old friend Al was over there that really opened my eyes to the fact that they are people too. When you start to ignore the fear mongering “they hate us” rhetoric from the government and recognize the humanity of the people it makes a world of difference. An overwhelming majority of Middle Easterners are not religious zealots hell bent on destroying us. They are humans, just like you and I, who just want to live their lives in peace.
Speaking of war, why the hell do we (the U.S.) need military bases in 140+ countries? The answer is WE DON’T! It is not our job to police the world. This country was founded on revolution and ideals of individualism and personal freedom. How do you spread freedom by occupying 140+ countries? This is why the Bin Ladens of the world hate us, because we occupy their countries under the guise of “spreading democracy,” not allowing them to freely navigate their own lives.
I mentioned earlier how the anti-Obama rhetoric had taken hold of me. It was so strong that I missed out on the Ron Paul Revolution <sadface>. It was after the Aurora, CO movie theater shooting in 2012 when I really started paying attention to politics. I started carrying my pistol on my person rather than just having it in my car. I dove head-on into the Alabama code and studied the laws related to firearms and self defense thoroughly; after all, I wanted to be a responsible “law-abiding” gun owner. I doubt it is news to you that the gun community is heavily conservative. It does not take long in that community to start identifying the hypocrisy in so much of the rhetoric—think of your neighbor with a thin blue line sticker on one side of his truck and a Gadsden flag or “come and take it” sticker on the other. Cognitive dissonance much?
From my first introduction to Libertarianism in 2004 to my finally arriving in Ancapistan I entertained a number of other ideologies. The TEA Party had a great name, “Taxed Enough Already,” but turned out to be just another form of conservative authoritarians who put party above principle. I found myself leaning more towards our founding documents and the men that wrote them. The Bill of Rights and The Anti-Federalists who demanded it being the most important pieces of the era. Patrick Hery, Thomas Jefferson, et.al., their message of Liberty over everything still resonates with me.
In 2016 I took a micro- and macro-economics class. Both Professors taught outside of the convemtional Keynesian text. It was these two classes that introduced me to the Austrian school of economics. It was also when I first heard of the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP). Such a simple axiom, “don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff.” That was it. The NAP and Laissez-Faire free-market economics were the foundational blocks I was missing. It’s so simple, without government imposed price floors, ceilings, barriers to entry, and with sound money, the market can adjust; prices fluctuate freely based on simple supply and demand. The only necessary role of a governing body is to enforce the NAP, to protect people’s rights and property, and to protect them from being defrauded. Anything else, EVERYTHING ELSE, that government does is interference with peaceful people pursuing life, liberty, and happiness, and it is wrong!
So that is it. That is my journey to becoming an individualist, an anarchist, and a lover of liberty and the free-market. Thanks for joining me through my journey. If I got off on any tangents or side tracked along the way let us blame it on the undiagnosed ADD. I would apologize, but you received fair warning. The blog is called Danny’s Ramblings after all.