forty2oz

For me skepticism of theism came naturally. I was the kid who set up a trip wire for santa claus on christmas eve in front of the fireplace. (not to catch him, but rather to prove to my parents that the ruse was over) For me, the big realization wasn't about santa, but rather about government, and the idea of freedom being a principle rather than something arbitrarily defined by somebody else. And in comes the introspection about whether or not my actions are congruent with my thoughts - or more accurately, the principles i was deriving from my thoughts. That's when I started asking myself, 'am I living in harmony with these principles? why am i voting? why am i paying taxes? I'd break down an example into bite sized pieces ... why am i paying a hundred bucks for a government issued sticker that says '2013' to slap on a license plate that the government forces me to attach to my car for the 'priviledge' of driving down streets i am forced (by the government) to pay for? The answer always turns out to be 'because I am not free'. So to answer your question, my actions in the past have always been yielding to the state (vote, pay the taxes, buy the hundred dollar sticker) - but as I grow older and wiser I understand that doing these things is not consistent with what I really believe to be just, and I am beginning to challenge it.

Oddly, I was never a leftist. Before I examined politics, the right seemed to make more sense (fiscally) - but the deeper I dove in, the more I began to realize that it wasn't a left vs right thing. It was a principle vs non-principle thing.

Well Pepin, I guess it has made me examine whether or not my actions are congruent with my thoughts!

My political inner ramblings over the past few years has led me here (in reflection, not by accident) - in a nutshell, it went like this... The discovery of the hypocrisy of govt led to -> Ron Paul -> Murray Rothbard -> Lysander Spooner -> 'oh wow, I'm an anarchist!' (simplified summary to be sure, but I can imagine you guys get the point) And so along comes Stefan and I said to myself, 'okay here's a guy whose successful enough spreading the message that he's creating a community of like minded individuals. I best hop on board because it's lonely in statism land!' Site looks good Stef. I appreciate the 'validation approval' and I look forward to hanging out with everyone!