At 18 you make a lot of mistakes. Drinking too much, staying out too late, that girlfriend, or maybe a box you checked while registering to vote. For me, I will only admit to the latter. I come from a family bulging with Democrats. My Grandparents passed the donkey down through my aunts, uncles, parents, and cousins. I should mention also that I live in an extremely liberal part of the country. My friends, friends parents, neighbors, teachers, and mostly everyone I knew was progressive in their thinking if younger than 18 or a registered Democrat if older than the legal smoking age. Being democrat was just a fact of life.
Nearly two years ago, I was cruising through my downtown when I was approached by a young twentysomething female who then asked if I had registered to vote. I had just turned 18 and being the lazy guy I am, hadn't fit swinging by the post office to fill a form out into my time. So I filled out the voters registration and came upon a series of boxes labled: Democrat, Republican, Constitutional, Green, and Other. Check one for the Democrats.
I really didn't think much of my choice at the time. It was a familial and environmental tradition, right? I had been immersed in Democrat ideology throughout my life, so this must be my party. Then I became a news junkie.
Internet, TV, radio, if it was news I was listening to it. I had a keen eye/ear for politics. Over time I came to question my checking of a party on that form. Not because of the Democrat beliefs I was exposed to, but because of all the party line beliefs I was exposed to. I was raised to think independently. I aged thinking that being able to be a independent thinker set the U.S. apart from the one way or the highway places of the world. The places where monoarchy and dictatorship go hand and hand with government .Our national holiday is Independence Day for crying out loud. We, as Americans are independent thinkers by nature. Why then do so many of us conform and abridge our differences of opinions by joining heaping party A with one voice or heaping party B with one voice? There is no way every Republican is against abortion and every Democrat is against the War in Iraq. But you are viewed as having a defined and unwaivering set of beliefs if you are a member of either party. What if I believe that abortion is good for the society and the War in Iraq was good or the death penalty should be abolished and gay marriage shouldn't be allowed? Does that make me a bad Democrat or a bad Republican? It would if I were registered as either. But I'm not, I'm now registered as an independent.
This week I have been getting my daily dose of the DNC in Boston (I am picking on the Democrats mostly I realize, mostly because all the planets lined up for them when I decided to write this. But, I feel the same way about Republicans). Do I agree with some of the things that have been said there? Sure. There is other stuff however I don't agree with at all. So I don't want to ignore some of my ideology just to support another slice of it.
I'm not saying that people are being herded like sheep in an Orwellian fashion by joining a party. I am saying instead that I couldn't support a platform that doesn't totally match up to my beliefs and I refuse to align myself within a spectrum that would force me to bench some of views. Sure I vote for Democrat and Republican officials for office but I want to still leave room for how I see things as an individual. And I feel that party politics forces me to cut the edges off my beliefs.
Maybe I am being idealistic (I hear that is common of those who are 19 going on 20). Maybe in the long run if I want any of my views to win in the political arena I will have to sacrafice. But not now.