I vote how I vote due to experiences in my life, wisdom or knowledge I've acquired, and beliefs that have framed my choices. Someone said a socially liberal but fiscal conservative person ends up de facto conservative. And that a social conservative is rarely a fiscal liberal, since they won't fund things they feel are wrong. As such, I'd argue that I am a centrist, as I don't impose my outlook on others, and that I am libertarian with a very small letter L to start, as being a centrist means there is no party that represents my outlook. I get people who demand to know my voting history, since I turned 18 in 1982 I've voted for approximately the same number of Democrats and Republicans. But for US President, slightly more Democrats than Republicans, and more 3rd party than either of the main parties.
My views just don't easily find a home in parties. Frankly I am moving towards only voting for local and state elections, as my disappointment in the major national choices leads me to want a system with more choices due to the limits of all or nothing two party choices. As a person with political science degrees some feel I must have deeper outlooks to voting. I might, but not for my degrees. I focused upon international relations, and was as bored as I was angry about the American political system.
Choices are often argued as being held by the individual, but I've not chosen my own existence. I was born as a result of rape. My mother didn't get a choice. But how many people get to choose existence? How many humans are a result of purpose? The point I am making, is that there are arguments about why we exist. Are we a miracle? Are we an accident? Does our life reflect miracle or train wreck?
Who am I? In a course of study some of the class argued that a baby became human only after being wanted and born in healthy form. I was not by purpose. One of the students said, I don't even think adoption makes people into being human. The birth mother needs to have decided to have a child, however they were conceived? I said I am a child of rape, so you are arguing that I am not human? She immediately turned beet red, and said, I am saying you don't get to choose the label of what you are. A number of other students in the course started calling her names. I said stop that. We all have an ability to communicate freely, we are in America, freedom of speech should run through our veins. Do I believe in abortion as a right? I don't think society can forbid things that are moral choices, or they turn the concept into an act of rebellion against the rule makers. By leaving it as an individual choice, whether it is moral or not, is found in the heart of those who chose that act.
It occurred to me, in the period following 2020 that people of one view were not allowed freedom of speech. Someone said, my body my choice, and someone else said, in all areas except vaccine mandates. I am not a scientist, so I can't define the concept of herd immunity. As a confirmed non conformist *my wife certifies this statement* I did still get the vaccine. However, it wasn't an act of obedience nor obeisance. I was of the mind, based upon all the doctors I was seeing, that I'd not get my necessary surgery if I had not received the vaccine. My G/P doctor confirmed this. I had had a broken neck since a traumatic fall in February 2019. I walked around with an uncorrected neck break, was in a near fatal car accident, and by virtue of having no correction, by the time I had life saving neck surgery, I had two shoulders that were messed up. I had to get one surgery at least, or my neck surgery wouldn't have mattered much. I had shoulder surgery, but only post vaccine.
I am not saying anything about the vaccine itself. Nor even am I considering policy. I don't really know what herd immunity truly is. If it is a goal, they ought to have explained it better. The way it was forced upon people was I think was a mistake. Forcing conformity is tyranny without the best explanation. I did have to get my surgery, so there was no choice for me. I could have avoided making the choice, but the pain then was worse than now, and I would have lost my mind in the meantime. Maybe I didn't have a choice, or I made a compromise between my own body sovereignty and the suffering of pain.
I do think we are all upon a journey to find the truth. Some have lower standards of success. But I know, it isn't an easy thing to find the greater truth. We might all have opinions, and experiences, but regardless of that, not all ideas are equal. Not all choices are good ones.
Image by Jeffrey Catherine Jones©
