Getting Here

It's hard to really write about how I got to where I am politically. I never had a single "ah ha" moment where everything that I currently believe came together. Like so many Americans, for most of my life I floated somewhere in the moderate morass picking and choosing things from both the Democrats and Republicans that suited my political views. I never really understood politics, especially the conviction with which people spoke so passionately.
Like so many others who have grown up in Pittsburgh, I grew up with Democratic leanings. It was, and still is, the political machine of the region. Rich people were Republicans and that certainly wasn't me growing up. One of the teachers that made a huge impression on me in high school was Mr. Gentile. I took his AP American History class my sophomore year and that ended up being my only AP course. I don't remember him ever using the word socialist to describe himself, but he certainly leaned that way politically. I liked his brash, take no crap attitude and more than anything, I liked the challenge. I was far from the smartest kid in class, quite frankly I'm surprised I was even allowed to register for it. The only thing that I dreaded more than the weekly quiz on Friday was getting the results on Monday because the person with the lowest score was presented with the Spicoli Award. For those of you not familiar with Jeff Spicoli, he was the surfer dude played by Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Anyway, I came away from Mr. Gentile's class with some nuggets of wisdom. That was the first place I had heard the phrase "Billy Six Pack" in reference to the people who go home after work and throw back some beers. Mr. Gentile told us that we could do that or we could make something of ourselves, He also introduced the concept of Guns and Butter and how the government plays a balancing act between buying one or the other. Mr. Gentile was a butter man.
Perhaps the biggest influence on me politically was in reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I have read the book about a dozen times, and with each read through I still manage to find things I missed or forgot. Written back in the 1950s, it is a cautionary tale of how Rand saw America progressing down a socialist path and its inevitable end. The book is not meant as a play by play prediction and it does tend to be extreme, which is probably the result of a relatively short time line. It opened my eyes to the evils of communism and the communist mantra, "From each according to his ability to each according his need." With each reading, I walk away with an awareness of the world around me and the ever encroaching efforts to separate me from my freedoms.
My political views continue evolving over time, though I always return to asking the questions, Whose judges ability and need? Each day, I see the government attempting to better define that. And the more I ponder the questions, I remember that I am a man of ability and it is my neighbor's need that is thrust upon me in the form of indentured charity. More and more I am living for less so that others can live with more, MY more.
This blog is just the latest step in my personal progress. Whether or not anyone follows what I have to say does not matter because I will continue my path to figuring things out for myself, which is something that everyone must do if they wish to remain free.

Thank you for your time.

Adam