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You! No Not You. Not You! Get Out of the Way! YOU!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kanen
  • Start date Start date
K

Kanen

Hello there.

Ugh. I've never really been good at these. Introductions, I mean. I think it's awkward to have to talk about yourself. But ehh, I'll give it a go.

I'm Kanen, a sixteen year old gay guy living in Texas. I'm an atheist. I play the violin and the drums. I act a lot in my school's community theater. I'm on the debate team. When I get back to school, I have hopes of starting a school newspaper. Hmm. What else?

I consider myself to be socially liberal. I mean... gay and and an atheist, so it goes without saying. But for a long time I had trouble really labeling myself. A lot of people told me that, no, I didn't need a label. Why did it matter, they said? Well, it matters to me. Having a label helps me understand who I am and what I think. I like things to fit into nice little boxes.

So yeah, for a long time I couldn't decide. I would say I use to have socialist leanings - you know, help the poor and the weak and feed the masses and all. I still feel that way, only I don't think people should be forced to do such things. It should, in my opinion, be voluntary. I've toyed with the idea of libertarianism. It seems to fit me kind of perfectly. I'm against Big Brother, against people telling me how to live my life. While I do consider some taxes as a must, and I think it's silly that a school teacher can be in a higher tax percentile than Mitt Romney, I don't think taxing the hell out of everyone is going to solve anything. I think the money I make is mine and should be seen as mine. So yeah, libertarian, right? (If you can't tell, I'm new to this way of thinking. Just bare with me while I try to sort it all out in my head.)

I recently started reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Can you tell?

The differences between left-libertarian and right-libertarian are so confusing to me. I chose left in my profile thingamagig because I consider myself socially left, if not economically. If I could vote, I'd be voting for Obama. Romney urks me, even if he is a successful buisnessman. He's far too conservative for my taste. And don't get me started on his mormonism. That's the one problem I have with considering myself a libertarian - they are associated a lot with the GOP, something I really, REALLY don't want to be.

My hero is Christopher Hitchens. I only came to love him after his death, but he opened my eyes to the world, to reason and thinking for myself. I own most of his books, watch him constantly on youtube. In truth, I want to be him. I'm not even joking. I'm a writer (always have been ever since I could hold a pen), and my goal in life is to become a journalist. Preferably a foreign correspondent for a newspaper. I'd love to be able to travel. And, like Hitch says, I don't want people telling me the news. I want to go out and find it for myself.

I can't think of what else to say, so I'll guess I'll end it here. I look forward to speaking with all of you. To intelligent debates!

-Kanen
 
:wcm:2wave:
 
Hello there.

welcome to DP!


The differences between left-libertarian and right-libertarian are so confusing to me. I chose left in my profile thingamagig because I consider myself socially left, if not economically. If I could vote, I'd be voting for Obama.

All libertarians should be to the left on social issues, so your views on this do not make you left libertarian.

I consider the term itself to just be a ruse to hide true feelings. The easiest way to see it, is to ask a simple question. Are people in this country at the poverty line exploited by capitalism.
 
Welcome to DP. You stand to learn a lot being here, and at 16...what an early start! Just remember, ignorance was bliss...kiss bliss goodbye!

Texas here as well
 
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I too live in Texas, so - Howdy neighbor! Welcome to the fray! You write very well, a true credit to the Texas school system (I hope). I too was 16, but that was 42 years ago, good luck!
 
Welcome! Hope you stick around for awhile.

As a fellow Texan I'd like to express my condolences for the beating summer is about to inflict upon us.
 
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