Although my Dad identifies as a Libertarian and my mom shuns any political affiliation, both my parents hold extremely conservative ideals. I grew up in a Conservative part of the country and as such, considered myself to be a Conservative through my early young adult life. It wasn’t until the final years of the Obama presidency that I began to examine my beliefs on particular issues and come to the conclusion that despite my upbringing, I am a Liberal to my core.
It started with my alliance in the flight for marriage equality. I slowly moved away from my religious insistence that homosexuality is a sin, to “well even if it is a sin it shouldn’t be illegal because this isn’t a theocracy,” to “what kind of loving God would want His children to be lonely and unhappy? Not the one I believe in, that’s for sure.” So politicians who supported the right of consenting adults to enjoy the same benefits as married couples regardless of gender started to attract my attention
Next came my views on the economy. I used to be a firm believer in the Just World Fallacy, which basically proposes that if you do what you’re supposed to do, you will succeed, and if you don’t then you must have done something to deserve failure. I saw protestors outside McDonald’s picketing for a livable minimum wage and I parroted the “burger flippers don’t deserve that much money” rhetoric. Until I took a closer look and realized that with the state of the job market, many of these “burger flippers” were qualified adults who couldn’t score a job in their chosen field and had no choice but to take whatever was offering a paycheck. Not to mention that while working in fast food might not require much skill, it is still pretty labor intensive. I know; I did it all through high school and college. So politicians who supported raising the minimum wage started to gain my support.
After that, my understanding of the realities of healthcare was shaken. I had a good job with health insurance and was in the middle of a planned pregnancy before I realized that I had a $2500 deductible AND a 20% coinsurance. Plus, after the baby was born, he would need a policy of his own, which would be another $300 a month out of the paycheck that was exactly enough to cover expenses as it was. I had a college degree and was working in my field and still needed help, so I enrolled in Medicaid as secondary insurance. It paid everything my primary insurance didn’t, and it covered 100% of my son’s expenses for his first year of life. After that, my husband was able to start his career and his insurance was much better, so we were able to get off of the government aid. But many people don’t catch a break like that and need assistance in the long term. They should never have to put off taking their sick and suffering child to the doctor because they can’t afford a visit.
It was a snowball effect after that. My mind had been opened and my empathy triggered for people in harder situations than me. I started looking at the world as more of a unit full of people who should be taking responsibility for one another’s quality of life. I imagine a small village of, say 100 people. They would take care of each other, because everyone is a piece of a collective that needs all pieces functioning. They would take care of each other, because everyone would know each other personally and by human nature be emotionally invested in the wellbeing of their friends and family. If someone got sick, someone else would care for them. If a woman had a child, the other women would take on her responsibilities while she recovered and cared for her newborn. No job, no matter how menial, would be worth less than a living. No one would be living extravagantly, but everyone would be comfortable. Now, obviously we don’t live in a small village where we know everyone’s individual circumstances or have the means to help in specific ways. That’s why we pay taxes, and the government distributes aid as necessary. Why is that such a terrible thing? People have become so self-centered that they don’t want their hard-earned money going to a stranger whose suffering they can’t confirm for themselves…and even if they could, they would likely tell themselves that the person probably brought it on themselves and has to get out of their own mess.. Well, I simply don’t think that ignoring the suffering of others should be an option for those with the means to do something to help. The fact is that sometimes, even when a person does everything right, they still can’t get a leg up on life because of the way capitalism works. So I have no problem with paying some extra taxes so that people who haven’t had the advantages I’ve had in life can have everything they need. And if you do have a problem with that, you should really examine your motivation in life. Mine is to be happy and try to help others be happy, too. My happiness should never come at the expense of someone else’s.
Most recently, I've become more invested in environmental issues, and for the life of me I can't understand why anyone wouldn't be. Why, WHY would we want to unnecessarily fill the limited space on our planet with trash instead of reusing or recycling it? Why would we want to use limited resources when we could be harnessing the power of the wind and sun? Why would we want to fill the air that we breathe with harmful chemicals? I see Democrats trying to pass regulations to protect the world around us and Republicans blocking them because it might be bad for business.
Now, I’m not naïve. I know that both parties have corruption and high ranking politicians are usually looking out primarily for the own interests. But as a general rule, it seems like Democrat policies are about leveling the playing field for everyone, while Republican policies focus more on keeping the rich and the poor right where they are and blaming oppressed populations for not being able to play their rigged game.
I believe in kindness and empathy. I believe in honesty and respect. I believe in spreading joy and love and making sure everyone has a positive experience in this life. And that’s why I can’t possibly continue to vote for leaders who actively work towards preventing that from happening for so many people. So I guess that makes me a “snowflake.” That’s ok though, the cold never bothered me anyway!
It started with my alliance in the flight for marriage equality. I slowly moved away from my religious insistence that homosexuality is a sin, to “well even if it is a sin it shouldn’t be illegal because this isn’t a theocracy,” to “what kind of loving God would want His children to be lonely and unhappy? Not the one I believe in, that’s for sure.” So politicians who supported the right of consenting adults to enjoy the same benefits as married couples regardless of gender started to attract my attention
Next came my views on the economy. I used to be a firm believer in the Just World Fallacy, which basically proposes that if you do what you’re supposed to do, you will succeed, and if you don’t then you must have done something to deserve failure. I saw protestors outside McDonald’s picketing for a livable minimum wage and I parroted the “burger flippers don’t deserve that much money” rhetoric. Until I took a closer look and realized that with the state of the job market, many of these “burger flippers” were qualified adults who couldn’t score a job in their chosen field and had no choice but to take whatever was offering a paycheck. Not to mention that while working in fast food might not require much skill, it is still pretty labor intensive. I know; I did it all through high school and college. So politicians who supported raising the minimum wage started to gain my support.
After that, my understanding of the realities of healthcare was shaken. I had a good job with health insurance and was in the middle of a planned pregnancy before I realized that I had a $2500 deductible AND a 20% coinsurance. Plus, after the baby was born, he would need a policy of his own, which would be another $300 a month out of the paycheck that was exactly enough to cover expenses as it was. I had a college degree and was working in my field and still needed help, so I enrolled in Medicaid as secondary insurance. It paid everything my primary insurance didn’t, and it covered 100% of my son’s expenses for his first year of life. After that, my husband was able to start his career and his insurance was much better, so we were able to get off of the government aid. But many people don’t catch a break like that and need assistance in the long term. They should never have to put off taking their sick and suffering child to the doctor because they can’t afford a visit.
It was a snowball effect after that. My mind had been opened and my empathy triggered for people in harder situations than me. I started looking at the world as more of a unit full of people who should be taking responsibility for one another’s quality of life. I imagine a small village of, say 100 people. They would take care of each other, because everyone is a piece of a collective that needs all pieces functioning. They would take care of each other, because everyone would know each other personally and by human nature be emotionally invested in the wellbeing of their friends and family. If someone got sick, someone else would care for them. If a woman had a child, the other women would take on her responsibilities while she recovered and cared for her newborn. No job, no matter how menial, would be worth less than a living. No one would be living extravagantly, but everyone would be comfortable. Now, obviously we don’t live in a small village where we know everyone’s individual circumstances or have the means to help in specific ways. That’s why we pay taxes, and the government distributes aid as necessary. Why is that such a terrible thing? People have become so self-centered that they don’t want their hard-earned money going to a stranger whose suffering they can’t confirm for themselves…and even if they could, they would likely tell themselves that the person probably brought it on themselves and has to get out of their own mess.. Well, I simply don’t think that ignoring the suffering of others should be an option for those with the means to do something to help. The fact is that sometimes, even when a person does everything right, they still can’t get a leg up on life because of the way capitalism works. So I have no problem with paying some extra taxes so that people who haven’t had the advantages I’ve had in life can have everything they need. And if you do have a problem with that, you should really examine your motivation in life. Mine is to be happy and try to help others be happy, too. My happiness should never come at the expense of someone else’s.
Most recently, I've become more invested in environmental issues, and for the life of me I can't understand why anyone wouldn't be. Why, WHY would we want to unnecessarily fill the limited space on our planet with trash instead of reusing or recycling it? Why would we want to use limited resources when we could be harnessing the power of the wind and sun? Why would we want to fill the air that we breathe with harmful chemicals? I see Democrats trying to pass regulations to protect the world around us and Republicans blocking them because it might be bad for business.
Now, I’m not naïve. I know that both parties have corruption and high ranking politicians are usually looking out primarily for the own interests. But as a general rule, it seems like Democrat policies are about leveling the playing field for everyone, while Republican policies focus more on keeping the rich and the poor right where they are and blaming oppressed populations for not being able to play their rigged game.
I believe in kindness and empathy. I believe in honesty and respect. I believe in spreading joy and love and making sure everyone has a positive experience in this life. And that’s why I can’t possibly continue to vote for leaders who actively work towards preventing that from happening for so many people. So I guess that makes me a “snowflake.” That’s ok though, the cold never bothered me anyway!
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