I've always been an open-minded guy. That's how I discovered libertarianism
during my very shameful, neoconservative past self. I have never been that
offended or threatened over alternative viewpoints or what American society
considers horrible. That strength was proven during the famous "Kony
2012" campaign.
I remember very specifically people telling me that I didn't care about the
world or how I just wanted to kill African children (yes, that happened). I
also remember people within Quakerism standing up and advocating that movement.
It was very contradictory to me. Here was a video which specifically calls
for US intervention while not giving enough information on who they want killed
or the fact that children in the opposing army will be killed as well, and
there are Friends advocating the cause based on a thirty minute
documentary. To me, that communicated that this society is based more on
emotional logic that it is on intellectual logic. And that's not a good thing.
This all brings me to one of the biggest dilemmas facing many libertarians
right now: supporting Gary Johnson. I've heard many of my brethren say that
Gary's views on the drug war or the fact that he supports Kony 2012
automatically stops them in their tracks. I challenge those people to think
about this: at what point is somebody libertarian enough for your vote?
This website very much represents anarcho-capitalism and its views, in some
areas, contradict my own. I'm not going to hate on them, but I challenge each
and every single reader on this site to seriously consider their purity within
their philosophies. For me personally, I look at the views first and the
leadership qualities second. That's precisely why I can't support Mitt. He
fails so much in both of these areas. It disgusts me to see conservatives taking
this guy seriously all for the reason that he can "beat Obama".
Gary Johnson's views on some things honestly make me feel uncomfortable. For
one thing, he personally supports abortion. One of the few views that I have
clinged to throughout my life is the view that abortion is murder. However, he
says that he will overturn abortion of the federal level. Normally, I would not
trust this statement at all. For one thing, his personal view doesn't seem to
imply that. For another thing, he's a politician.
His record though tells a different story. I know what I'm getting when I
vote for him, and that's the number one thing that I ask of any candidate. I
suppose what I'm asking my brethren is to try to look at the qualities that a
candidate possesses and not just at the views themselves. There will always be
some views that you will disagree with. That is a fact of life. The question
then targets at the candidate's personal record and qualities. At the end of
the day, would you feel safer with Obama, Romney, or Johnson in the White
House?
I'm aware of the fact that Johnson supports Kony 2012, but I honestly could
live with something like that above invading Middle Eastern countries on the
basis of fear of nuclear missiles. Humanitarian missions usually fail to do
nothing, but Johnson strikes me as the type of guy who would learn from that
mistake - a mistake which Reagan also made and regretted until he died. If
anything, we should support Gary for the qualities behind the views, not the
views behind the qualities.
-ZA
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