Becoming Interested
Why I Became Interested In Politics
For the first 27 years or so of my life, I was pretty uninterested in politics. Both parties had had several opportunities in the White House and my personal perceptions were that the most obvious changes in that time were that taxes were higher, inflation was higher, and that there was more crime. I didn't perceive any significant differences between the parties. I was pretty much a ``flip-flop'' voter, trying to express my dissatisfaction and oust the incumbent office holders before they could cause more damage.One day, I was riding in a car with a friend of mine and relaying this state of affairs--how I was really turned off by politics and the ``choices'' of well-known political candidates. My friend then said to me, ``If you consider yourself to be above politics, you are destined to be ruled by people below you''. This was a real revelation to me. Until that time, I did not understand how much of a disservice I was doing myself by my trying to minimize my involvement in politics.
My friend had definitely gotten my attention, and the discussion turned more toward finding candidates who had values compatible with mine. That's when I discovered that I am a Libertarian.
