I too have been an impractical idealist, and had commit the great sin of blind partisanship. I did not check my brain at the door as it were, I only continued to support an ideology despite contrary evidence against it.
If there is such a thing, I used to be a moderate conservative republican. I believed in the American spirit, free markets, small governments, and little or no government intervention in personal or business affairs (laissez-faire). Additionally, I believe in separation of church and state, and in equality of the human species regardless of gender, race, age, or sexual orientation.
There would be no change until the unfortunate Presidency of George W. Bush. I voted for him twice. Truthfully, I did not feel he was a good fit during his first election campaign, but I thought that Dick Cheney would round him out. The second time, I voted for him because I thought Kerry was not strong enough. I did not believe the “swift boaters” attacks, but Kerry should have returned the fight strongly.
Although Bush and his administration made many mistakes, there were two that irreparably fractured my ideological resolve. When George merged church with state, I began to cycle through the five stages of grief. What had begun to die was my belief in both conservatism and the republican party. ”How could a party, which espouses the Constitution, mix the business of government with religion?”
With a more critical eye, I began to see that the Republican Party is really a front for a kind of aristocracy. The Republicans made it plainly obvious that they are only concerned for the wealthy. I came to this conclusion after Bush and a Republican Congress cut taxes for the wealthy, while my spouse and I continue to get hammered by the “Alternative Minimum Tax.” They are for tax reform, but only if it benefits the top one percent of America.
Those were the two upsets that began my journey away from the Republican Party.
Fiscal responsibility. The Republican Party is NOT fiscally responsible. They need remedial home economics training to relearn how to balance a checkbook. You cannot cut income and raise expenses, and expect a happy outcome.
Laissez-faire and free markets. Every parent learns that if you do not give your children proper structure and boundaries they will run amok. The great conservative experiment has failed, you cannot let private companies and individuals run free without rules. They will selfishly run off with all the money, and crash the world’s economies. It’s time to strengthen regulation and consequences, after decades of weakening it. It is a careful balance.
Conservatism. I would later read a great article, “What is conservatism and what is wrong with it?“. Phil Agre had obviously given it a lot more thought than I. Perhaps you will enjoy the article too.
I have not swung to the opposite side of the ideological spectrum, I have merely become unmoored. I am no longer stuck in an ideological rut.
Posted by shadowinthedarkness 
