I've gotten into a few discussions recently related to political philosophy and economics and these made me really think about what it is that I believe and why I believe these things. I think it is always good to have these kinds of conversations because they led one to really research the different nuances of certain ways of thinking and can either lead to a) a stronger belief in that school of thought or b) an abandonment and subsequent search for a new way of thinking. Whatever the result, the outcome is always the same: the gaining of knowledge. We are all born ignorant, but we should all strive to achieve as much knowledge of our world as possible in hopes to improve our situation and the situation of those we leave behind after we are gone.
So, I think it is important for me to chronicle my intellectual journey from birth to the present. Maybe those that read this will take something from it as well, which is great, but my intention is to help clarify my current beliefs to myself in order to strengthen my conviction and resolve.
I was born and raised (and still am) Catholic. My parents raised me in a very loving environment and a very socially-conscious one. Myself and my siblings were constantly reminded of how blessed we were and how most people in the world were not as fortunate as us. At many nighttime prayers and prayers over meals, we would pray that the homeless could keep warm, the hungry could be fed, the sick could be healed, etc. etc. My father, my younger brother and myself would collect coins all year in a plastic container and around Thanksgiving would go to a Coinstar machine in a local grocery store and receive paper money for all of those coins that we had collected throughout the year. We would then sit down and look through a brochure for a charitable organization and purchase an animal for a poor farming family. The rest of the money would be spent on Christmas gifts for our family and friends. So we were taught to not only pray for those less fortunate, but we were also encouraged to be generous with what we had.
Both of my parents were fairly liberal (at least economically) as they felt that it was their duty to help others in need. I grew up with this line of thinking as well, that it was our duty to help our fellow man. I still feel strongly about this today. My faith has a lot to do with what I believe and it has been very central to what political philosophy and economic views that I espouse.
In high school, I became more conservative, at least I thought I was. I was a proud supporter of George W. Bush and the Republican Party, mainly due to the constant preaching I received from my church and my community about how it was a sin to support or vote for anyone who was pro-choice. So basically my idolization of W was the fact that he was "pro-life". However, during my senior year, I began to question the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wondering how one could preach that they were "pro-life" and yet favor war and other things such as the death penalty. I was still largely ignorant however and this resulted in a general apathy until my freshman year of college at the University of North Texas.
While at UNT, my roommate introduced me to Ron Paul, a presidential candidate for the Republican Party and a Congressman from Texas. I saw many YouTube videos and many televised debates, forums and interviews with this man and his republican opponents. His logic is what blew me away. It was what I was thinking but unable to articulate. He just made so much sense to me! He was consistent in every thing he said and did and that is what drew me to him. I purchased his book "A Foreign Policy of Freedom", which is just a collection of speeches he delivered relating to foreign policy during his time in the House of Representatives. I read it fairly quickly and became anxious for his book, "The Revolution: A Manifesto". I saw him speak on the UNT campus and everyone was cheering about things like peace and ending war and helping others by ending policies that had the intention of helping others but ended up just exacerbating the problem. Finally his book came out at about the time that I was attending my county and state republican conventions in order to bring about change in the Republican Party. I read the book in one sitting, enjoying every bit of it, and attended the Republican State Convention of Texas, which I soon regretted. It completely disillusioned me to the democratic system in how corrupt it is. I soon realized that this "We the people" business was nonsense and an illusion that is necessary for the political elite and those dirty businessman that are in cahoots with them to maintain their control. I saw Ron Paul speak again at the convention one night (not at the actual convention because they would not let him speak there), which was the one redeeming part of the three days I spent in Houston. This talk, the one at UNT, and his book "The Revolution: A Manifesto" introduced me to the Austrian School of Economics and gave me a deeper understanding of libertarianism.
The following school year, I attended the University of Texas where I joined an organization called Libertarian Longhorns. This group helped me in my understanding of libertarian philosophy and the Austrian School. I started reading LewRockwell.com and Mises.org and began to become very interested in economic freedom and how it benefits all. Keep in mind that my main reason for becoming libertarian was that I felt it was most in line with my Catholic faith. I felt that if the world were more libertarian then the hungry could get fed, the homeless could have shelter, the sick could be healed, etc. etc. This is very prevalent in the Austrian School and in libertarian political philosophy, so I kept reading and learning.
My biggest leap (besides the whole Neo-Con statist to libertarian thing) occurred this past summer. I attended a one day seminar hosted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Fort Worth where I heard many great talks by some great thinkers whom I admire very much, including, but not limited to, Walter Block and Thomas Woods. I also purchased many books that have influenced me deeply, the one I enjoyed the most was "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt. I wonder to this day how different the world would be if everyone were to read that very short, simple and beautiful book. Shortly after this seminar, I attended a week-long conference held at the Mises Institute called Mises University, which was this seminar times about a billion! I was able to converse with some great minds, and my knowledge and understanding of libertarianism and the Austrian School grew by leaps and bounds (although it is still nowhere near the level of many of my peers). It was also at this conference that I attended a few lectures given by Hans-Hermann Hoppe ("Law and Economics", "Economics of Risk and Insurance: From Healthcare to Welfare", "Economics of Political Centralization", and "Protection and the Market for Security") and which single-handedly transformed me from a Classical Liberal or a Minarchist (believing in a very limited government) to an Anarchist or what Murray Rothbard called an Anarcho-Capitalist (believing in no government at all, but maintaining a free market and private property). I again purchased many books and I am still working my way through them as we speak and, in all honesty, probably won't have them all read for a while.
So there you have it, my journey from a statist to a libertarian has been a long and thought-provoking one, but all the while it was spurred on by my sense of morality and concern for others that has been instilled in me since childhood. During my statist phase, I supported many socialistic policies because we are told that they work. They do have good intentions, but I later found out that the results are not what they originally envisioned.
Now, I urge all of those that read this to ask themselves why it is that they believe what they believe, and if you don't know, then maybe you need to educate yourself. Find out what is important to you, and find out how that can be achieved. That is what I did and I found out that the answer to the question "How can I help change the world for the better so that all may benefit?" is a simple one: liberty.
UPDATE (11/18/09): I was talking with some of my Libertarian Longhorn friends last night and one of them brought up the fact that there are rare moments in one's life when a light bulb just goes off. These epiphanies are very important to one's intellectual development, and I have chronicled some of the important ones in my life above. I would like to add two to the list:
1) Chuck Young from Texans for Accountable Government came and spoke to Libertarian Longhorns and he said a couple of things that really hit me. The first wasn't that big of a surprise, and that was that the Ron Paul "Revolution" has already been compromised and co-opted. During the election, Ron Paul had the chance to remain radical and keep the radical message alive, but instead he settled. The Libertarian Party told him that he could have their nomination, which would have led to ballot access in all 50 states, but he settled. Now his son, Rand Paul, is running for US Senate from Kentucky and he supports the war in Afghanistan! The second thing he said was what REALLY hit me. He asked the simple question, "Will a libertarian society be a good society?" He stressed the importance of being good people first, then achieve the freedoms that we should have. Even if we had all of those freedoms, the world would be a horrible place if we weren't good people.
2) It seems like every time I hear Mary Ruwart speak I have an epiphany! I at least get a reminder that we need to spread the message of liberty with a smile because as she says, "Liberty gives people what they want!"
I will continue to update this as I live my life!
Yours in Liberty,
Andy
