cdc3rd

Why not a Libertarian?

Good points, Carl. Don't worry about being critical. I'm here to learn. Pretty much all of my military education has been along the lines of this video: I disagree with you about me being the one stealing from the people. I did not vote for the taxes, I do not collect the taxes, and I do not enforce domestic tax laws. I don't know how to justify it. I'm filling a job that "the people" said needed to exist. Right now I'm not willing to say that everyone in the military is a theif for getting paid with tax dollars. It looks like I'll have to do some more thinking on that point. As far as the "fire yourself" thing, it doesn't work like that. I have about eight years left in my active duty service commitment. I believe they'd put me in jail for a while if I decided to stop showing up. (Pilot training is extremely expensive, $1 mil+. They don't want people getting their wings and then leaving to go work in the private sector so there is a ten year service commitment) I'm not saying I do not like my job. In fact, I love where I am and am proud of the work I have done to get this far. I consider myself extremely lucky. The way things work are not ideally how I would like them to, but the conflicts with my beliefs are not severe enough for me to take action at this moment. I'm hoping by going this route that I will actually be in a position to make a difference in the future.

Just saw this article and it reminded me of this topic: http://nypost.com/2014/12/25/plane-passenger-tossed-after-angry-reaction-to-merry-christmas/ Isn't it just a lot easier to not be a dick about people saying "Merry Christmas?" It takes a hell of a lot more energy to make someone feel bad about saying it than it does to just smile and nod.

It's also up on YouTube for $6 if you want to go the honest route.

I'll vote for grinch, too. No one is attacking you by wishing you "Merry Christmas," by sending you a gift, or by inviting you for dinner. You should be happy people are willing to do those things for you and enjoy your time with family and friends. Just because you disagree with someone about religion doesn't mean that you need to cut them out of your life. Do you also give people a hard time about Haloween? Thanksgiving?

Well, both sides have trade offs. Strating out on a reginal airliner after paying a ton for flight training has to be a drag. I hear those guys make in the low $20k/year to start out. Military O-1s start out at $35k/year + a housing allowance + other pay. Some of the advantage of military are the high(er) pay, free training, and job security. Getting a pilot slot is pretty competitive. I never ever thought I would be a pilot before I applied. You can actually apply to officer school (once you have a bachelor's) for a specific officer job. I only had two things listed on my application, pilot and CSO, and I got picked up for pilot. (In other words, I applied to be a pilot and knew I had a pilot slot before I ever signed my contract) I really don't want to be specific. I in no way want to give any impressions that I represent my service or my airframe. Let's just say you've probably never head of what I fly and I couldn't tell you anything about our mission publicly, anyway.

Yeah, I realize where my paychecks come from. Money is taken, stolen, from the people in the form of taxes and given to the giant government machine from which I get a piece of. National Defense is one of the few things I think the federal government should do, however the funding of it should be voluntary. There is nothing I can do about that right now. If I wasn't in this position, someone else (probably less qualified and less of a fan of freedom) would be. If I was fired tomorrow because people woke up and decided to shink government, I wouldn't complain at all. As far as doing something I consider wrong, I won't know until I'm presented with that situation. If it is something illegal, I sure as hell won't do it. I want to be able to have anything I ever do be posted on the front page of the paper and be proud of what I've done.

Penn mentioned her in the podcast he was doing a few years ago. The name of it was Penn Point. He now does Penn's Sunday School and I listen to that every week. Penn also was a guest on John Stossel's show a few times and Stossel had an episode about Rand. As far as other pilots being receptive to libertarianism, I would have to say that I wouldn't know because I haven't tried to share my political beliefs with many. I'm still a low ranking officer, so I keep my opinions to myself for the most part. Politics aren't talked about much where I work, believe it or not. If I had to say that among the younger officers, the trend is apathy. I have really only met one other military pilot that was straight up libertarian and that was a fan of Ayn Rand.

Thanks. Yeah, my outlook on life has changed since I joined. All I was thinking in the beginning was "what would be the most awesome job ever?" I'm not saying I want out at all. I'm happy with where I am. We will just see what happens down the line. I will just always try to be the voice of reason. Going the civilian route has to be a lot more difficult. Do you fly for a living or just for fun?

Howdy. I've been listening to FDR for about six months now and am really glad I found this valuable source of information. I recently set up a auto donation to help out a bit every month and decided to check out the board after getting the "thank you" email. I started down the whole libertarian track a few years ago when I discovered "Penn and Teller's: Bullshit" show. I found that I agreed with a lot of their arguments and started to follow Penn. From there I found out about Ayn Rand and read all of her stuff. I'm really not sure how I first discovered Stefan, but I somehow did. I am a military pilot and find that my personal beliefs conflict with my career. I have yet to actually face something that has forced me to act in a way that I think would be wrong, but I'm not sure that will last the rest of my career. I did swear an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," but I feel that most treat that as lip service. (I know I should have affirmed, but yey for not sticking out) Fun times ahead, I'm sure. Anyways... Hello! (I noticed that FireFox's spell check doesn't work in this text input box, booooooooo)