In my childhood, I paid no attention to politics. If I thought about them at all, politicians were like actors on television or characters in a book. They weren't real people to me, and, to some extent, that might have been a realistic outlook.
The first time I realized that not everyone felt that way was when President Kennedy was assassinated. Our teacher was called out of the room for a while. When she returned, along with the principal, she was crying. The principal announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated, and that school would be let out for the rest of the day. Later, as we were waiting for the buses, I made what I thought was a joke to the extent that I hoped they shot him again tomorrow, because we were getting out of school early, and nobody laughed. I was twelve, and I knew that I didn't have a future in stand-up comedy, although that kind of comedy would work today, it seems.
I became more aware, or interested, in politics during high school, eventually becoming involved in the antiwar movement. Although I wasn't aware of a single student in my high school who held that position, or even very many who did drugs, beer being the drug of choice at Stephenson High School in the 1960s, I had friends in Menominee (Michigan) and Marinette (Wisconsin), and, while I did have friends in SHS, my closest friends were in Menominee or Marinette.
In a sense, I can say that I participated in the 1968 Democrat Convention demonstrations in Chicago. I was 16 then, and I hitchhiked to Chicago for that purpose. However, I was arrested waiting for a crosswalk light soon after arriving in Chicago, and locked up with some scary people until my older brother came to get me. I was 16, then. I was held for about three days during the 1971 May Day demonstrations in Washington, D.C. The plan for that demonstration was for participants to leave their identification at home and refuse to identify themselves so as to clog up the system, and, indeed, we were held in the old Washington Senators stadium, and they released us without knowing who we were in three days.
When I returned home to Michigan, I had been renting an apartment overlooking the Menominee Marina. I couldn't help but notice a large crowd of people completely filling up the park that surrounded the marina, so I went down to see what was going on. I found some friends who let me know that it was an antiwar protest that also had something to do with the city having placed a curfew on the park after a previous curfew. I was there for about fifteen minutes when I was arrested for criminal trespass and inciting a riot. Inciting a riot? There was no riot; we were sitting on the grass, and I had just barely learned what it was all about, let along inciting the thing. They dropped the inciting a riot charge and dropped the trespass charge to a misdemeanor, despite the fact that I had no way of knowing there was a curfew on the park. There were several local or regional protests as well, while I was in college in Marquette.
However, I will say that I had attended meetings of the War Resister's League leading up to the 1971 May Day demonstrations, and throughout the other demonstrations I was involved in, I was never aware of anyone disrespecting those who served in Vietnam, and I doubt that was ever a plan. My brother was in Vietnam at the time. Of course, wherever you have thousands of people involved in something, there will be some idiots, but it was generally expected that those who made asses of themselves were probably employed by the federal or state governments, looking to stir something up that they could arrest people for.
In 1972, I worked for the McGovern campaign, although I pretty much lost interest in him when he dumped Eagleton as his running mate after stating that he supported him 1000%. I didn't know or care much about Eagleton, but dumping someone because they had received mental health counseling didn't sound like someone who deserved to be president. Besides, by the time of the November election, Nixon had positioned himself as the peace candidate. I didn't vote for either of of them; I voted for Gus Hall, the Communist Party candidate, knowing he didn't have a chance in hell of winning, only to have people wondering who in Mellen Township voted for a communist. When they printed the election results in the newspaper, I found that they hadn't even counted my vote. Thus, I learned that elections couldn't be trusted anymore than candidates could.
I don't think my political positions have changed a whole lot, although situations have. I am still opposed to the United States militarily inserting itself overseas without clear provocation, and I still don't believe that we should overthrow foreign governments in the name of democracy, particularly when we have far too many of our own problems. However, whether misguided or wrong, once we are involved in a war, I don't root for the other side to win, as elected Democrats do today.
Of course, politics has to do with a whole lot of things besides war. Politically, I wouldn't fit neatly into any of the political categories. My views would align with traditional liberals, not progressives, on many issues, such as individual freedom, equality (not equity), the protection of individual rights, limited government, and the rule of law, which are all things that today's progressives oppose. Democrats are not liberals. I would align with libertarians on some of the same issues, namely individual liberty, personal sovereignty, and limited government intervention in personal and economic matters, but, unlike most Libertarians, I wouldn't extend individual liberty to condone killing people, whether or not they have exited the womb yet, and I believe that government should have a role in protecting people from themselves and others. I can't think of anything that I would agree with progressives on, and progressives make up the bulk of elected Democrats. Although I hate Republicans, I would align with republicanism in that our elected representatives should have a role in protecting our individual liberties, combating corruption, and maintaining order. I believe in a limited government limited by constitutional laws, and a commitment to the rule of law. Generally, I vote for Republicans only to find that they don't do any of that stuff once elected to office. Constitutionalism is attractive in that I can readily accept that something is not necessary bad just because I don't like it, and that people who want different things than I do should have the right to work towards their goals so long as they do so within the bounds of the Constitution. When he was in office, I rarely agreed with the goals that former Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich was working towards, but I had the sense that he worked towards them within the bounds of the Constitution, and I could appreciate that.
Lastly, at least for now, I don't think it matters what we want or don't want in a government if we don't enforce our borders, remove foreigners who are here illegally, and have fair elections.
The first time I realized that not everyone felt that way was when President Kennedy was assassinated. Our teacher was called out of the room for a while. When she returned, along with the principal, she was crying. The principal announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated, and that school would be let out for the rest of the day. Later, as we were waiting for the buses, I made what I thought was a joke to the extent that I hoped they shot him again tomorrow, because we were getting out of school early, and nobody laughed. I was twelve, and I knew that I didn't have a future in stand-up comedy, although that kind of comedy would work today, it seems.
I became more aware, or interested, in politics during high school, eventually becoming involved in the antiwar movement. Although I wasn't aware of a single student in my high school who held that position, or even very many who did drugs, beer being the drug of choice at Stephenson High School in the 1960s, I had friends in Menominee (Michigan) and Marinette (Wisconsin), and, while I did have friends in SHS, my closest friends were in Menominee or Marinette.
In a sense, I can say that I participated in the 1968 Democrat Convention demonstrations in Chicago. I was 16 then, and I hitchhiked to Chicago for that purpose. However, I was arrested waiting for a crosswalk light soon after arriving in Chicago, and locked up with some scary people until my older brother came to get me. I was 16, then. I was held for about three days during the 1971 May Day demonstrations in Washington, D.C. The plan for that demonstration was for participants to leave their identification at home and refuse to identify themselves so as to clog up the system, and, indeed, we were held in the old Washington Senators stadium, and they released us without knowing who we were in three days.
When I returned home to Michigan, I had been renting an apartment overlooking the Menominee Marina. I couldn't help but notice a large crowd of people completely filling up the park that surrounded the marina, so I went down to see what was going on. I found some friends who let me know that it was an antiwar protest that also had something to do with the city having placed a curfew on the park after a previous curfew. I was there for about fifteen minutes when I was arrested for criminal trespass and inciting a riot. Inciting a riot? There was no riot; we were sitting on the grass, and I had just barely learned what it was all about, let along inciting the thing. They dropped the inciting a riot charge and dropped the trespass charge to a misdemeanor, despite the fact that I had no way of knowing there was a curfew on the park. There were several local or regional protests as well, while I was in college in Marquette.
However, I will say that I had attended meetings of the War Resister's League leading up to the 1971 May Day demonstrations, and throughout the other demonstrations I was involved in, I was never aware of anyone disrespecting those who served in Vietnam, and I doubt that was ever a plan. My brother was in Vietnam at the time. Of course, wherever you have thousands of people involved in something, there will be some idiots, but it was generally expected that those who made asses of themselves were probably employed by the federal or state governments, looking to stir something up that they could arrest people for.
In 1972, I worked for the McGovern campaign, although I pretty much lost interest in him when he dumped Eagleton as his running mate after stating that he supported him 1000%. I didn't know or care much about Eagleton, but dumping someone because they had received mental health counseling didn't sound like someone who deserved to be president. Besides, by the time of the November election, Nixon had positioned himself as the peace candidate. I didn't vote for either of of them; I voted for Gus Hall, the Communist Party candidate, knowing he didn't have a chance in hell of winning, only to have people wondering who in Mellen Township voted for a communist. When they printed the election results in the newspaper, I found that they hadn't even counted my vote. Thus, I learned that elections couldn't be trusted anymore than candidates could.
I don't think my political positions have changed a whole lot, although situations have. I am still opposed to the United States militarily inserting itself overseas without clear provocation, and I still don't believe that we should overthrow foreign governments in the name of democracy, particularly when we have far too many of our own problems. However, whether misguided or wrong, once we are involved in a war, I don't root for the other side to win, as elected Democrats do today.
Of course, politics has to do with a whole lot of things besides war. Politically, I wouldn't fit neatly into any of the political categories. My views would align with traditional liberals, not progressives, on many issues, such as individual freedom, equality (not equity), the protection of individual rights, limited government, and the rule of law, which are all things that today's progressives oppose. Democrats are not liberals. I would align with libertarians on some of the same issues, namely individual liberty, personal sovereignty, and limited government intervention in personal and economic matters, but, unlike most Libertarians, I wouldn't extend individual liberty to condone killing people, whether or not they have exited the womb yet, and I believe that government should have a role in protecting people from themselves and others. I can't think of anything that I would agree with progressives on, and progressives make up the bulk of elected Democrats. Although I hate Republicans, I would align with republicanism in that our elected representatives should have a role in protecting our individual liberties, combating corruption, and maintaining order. I believe in a limited government limited by constitutional laws, and a commitment to the rule of law. Generally, I vote for Republicans only to find that they don't do any of that stuff once elected to office. Constitutionalism is attractive in that I can readily accept that something is not necessary bad just because I don't like it, and that people who want different things than I do should have the right to work towards their goals so long as they do so within the bounds of the Constitution. When he was in office, I rarely agreed with the goals that former Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich was working towards, but I had the sense that he worked towards them within the bounds of the Constitution, and I could appreciate that.
Lastly, at least for now, I don't think it matters what we want or don't want in a government if we don't enforce our borders, remove foreigners who are here illegally, and have fair elections.
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