Kind of where I am, actually. The big issues for me fall on both sides of the aisle, and it is not just split between social and economic. For instance, I am pro-choice and pro-fry-some-murderers (and rapists too, if I had my druthers). Pro guns. Anti-drug war. I like me some separation of church and state. School choice. Mostly, I’m libertarian(ish), but with a lower-case ‘L,” because I definitely consider myself an Independent. I think the spending by our government is outfuckingrageous and sickening.
I get pissed off when conservatives say liberals are unpatriotic and unrealistic idealists. I get pissed off when liberals assume that all Conservatives are Christians and Rednecks, or that all Christians are trying to force their religion on others. And I get absolutely livid at the thought of people having children they can’t afford and won’t bother to educate and then expecting their country to support them. I get furious at throwing money at schools and knowing they aren’t going to improve without parental involvement, no matter how much more we pay teachers.
I just feel like everyone is so damn divided that we will never come together again. Why won’t you all just do things my way! Stop worrying about what the next door neighbor is doing, or trying to change it, and start taking responsibility for your own damn lives. (And by “you,” I mean, “people,” not you in particular, Clue, or any Buzzers in particular.)
I can’t really pigeonhole my beliefs into one of the two big parties, so I just end up frustrated.
Whoa. Well, I feel better now, anyway, just having written it down. Going to get myself a glass of wine and watch some football. Because they make the pain go away.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson