WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, AND LIBERTARIANS

Having been raised by southern democrats and educated by the 60’s hippies turned teachers, I have a lot to be thankful for. The liberals taught me two main lessons that will be with me forever, and effect how I think.

First, they taught me empathy. They taught me how to feel bad for the homeless, feel pain for the hungry, and feel the unfairness of any given situation. They taught me how to get in touch with my heart. But more importantly, they taught me to question.

You still see the bumper stickers around that read “question authority”. The democrats taught me to question anything, with any kind of authority. I was supposed to question creationism, history, religion, those in power (the republicans), and on and on. This was a lesson I learned very well. Questions can be fun! Dig in and question everything. Oops. Maybe I took their lesson a little to far, because my questions led me to the republicans.

Growing up, I always thought those republicans were the scary, and unfair people. But in the quest for answers I had to question them as well. The republicans taught me to take those feelings and questions to the next step and apply human nature to them. Feeding the poor only helps them momentarily. What do you do next?

The republicans also taught me to be even more empathetic than the democrats. Teach the poor how to feed themselves. Isn’t abortion just the murder of a sweet innocent baby? Why should we help those who refuse to help themselves?

Unfortunately, I kept finding that those feelings were getting in the way of my questions. If you let those feelings control you, you quit feeling the need to question. You stop, and pursue the solution to that last feeling. Feed the homeless. Stop abortion. What was that last feeling? Go with it.

I didn’t like being just a creature of feelings. That will just wear a person out! In came the libertarians. They taught me the most important lesson of all. They taught me that it is all right to have all those feelings, but the most important feeling you should have is the feeling of freedom and liberty!

At first, I thought that was easy. Feel free! The democrats and the republicans taught me lots about freedom. Or had they? Democrats seem to want to control me with anything to do with money. Ah yes, they had taught me that money was evil. If you have to much the democrats should have the right to come and take it away, to help those who don’t have so much. Wow, is that freedom? That seems to smack of socialism, and seems to be telling me that I don’t have the freedom to earn as much as I want.

Ah, but the republicans don’t believe that money is evil. Maybe they taught me how to be free. Oh no! They seem to want to control what I do socially. They are trying to control how I am allowed to die, whether or not I should wear a seat belt. When I am allowed to drink alcohol. Once again I must ask, is that freedom? Not so much. Seems to smack like socialism again.

Seems as though the libertarians have the toughest lesson to learn. You would think the feelings of freedom would be instinctual, but when you have lived life not free, those feelings are squashed.

I am still learning the liberty lesson. I think this is a lesson that I may have to work on for the rest of my life. The biggest thing that seems to help me find those freedom lessons is remembering that the government is not my parent and should not act like it!