SouthBear's Political Philosophy
My political philosophy has developed over many years. I would say that it is greatly influenced by my personal experiences, inspite of what I have been taught to believe by my family. In my early years, my political beliefs were greatly influenced by my grandparents, who were staunch Republicans.  I adopted their views early, and kept them throughout my college years, when Reagan conservatism was at its height (the 1980s).  Throughout the presidency of George Bush, however, I began to question many of the political beliefs I had taken for granted.  I used to say that I was "politically conservative so that I could be socially liberal."  As such, I consistantly voted Republican in the hopes that the Republican's quest for smaller, less intrusive government would lead to less government intrusion on individual rights and liberties.  The fact that the Republican party consistantly voted against me, as a gay person, was at first an annoyance.  I came to realize that though the Republican party talks about less government, they continued to vote for increased intrusion into the personal lives of individuals by voting for legislation aimed at curtailing individual freedom (the Defense of Marriage Act and the anti-spousal benefits laws are just examples of this). My annoyance with Republican double-talk eventually led me to question my Republican loyalties.  As I questioned my political beliefs based upon my personal experiences, I began to look at the way the Republican party also voted against the concerns of other minorities, especially women and African-Americans.  I realized that in addition to voting against legislation that would make life easier for individuals, Republicans compound the problem by refusing to realize that there are individuals that need protection from other Americans and their baises, prejudices, and self-centeredness. Though I could not completely understand what it means to be African-American, or what it means to be a woman, I could understand their frustrations when the Republican Party takes a decidely anti-black or anti-feminist position on so many issues and refuse to consider easing the problems created by simply being different from the majority of other Americans.  I understand because the Republican Party lumps me and the gay community with them.  I began to realize that for the leadership of the Republican Party, the world is divided between "us" and "them", and their crusade is to keep "them" from taking over and corrupting their pure world.  "Them" has no place in their pure world. Republicans can argue against this conclusion all they want, but in the end their actions simply do not back up their talk.

                                                   Thus began my exodus from the Republican world.  Because the United States operates in a Two-Party political system (much to its own detriment),
                                                    I  began to explore the Democratic Party.  I was now treading on some very thin ice, politically.  This was the world of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton,
                                                   Ted Kennedy, etc. Now the crux of my political beliefs were being challenged.  You must remember that there had been a time when I believed that
                                                    Democrats were no better than Communists.  During my Republican years, the Democrats had offered up to the American people the likes of Michael
                                                    Dukakis and Walter Mondale.  I couldn't tolerate those two any more than I could tolerate Jesse Jackson. Keeping an open mind about the "other
                                                    side" was proving difficult, but I forced myself to do so.  In the process, I matured politically.  I began to realize that the word "liberal" was not a nasty
                                                     four-letter word as I had been taught to believe, but was reather a word that described a legitimate political philosophy to which many American
                                                     adhered, many of whom are men and women we hold as political icons today, such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, F.D. Roosevelt, and
                                                     John F. Kennedy.  I began to realize that many of the basic principles of liberalism upheld the progressive, ever-changing nature of our democracy
                                                     and also upheld by existence and value as a homosexual.  I had long ago rejected any idea or argument, religious, political, or social, that
                                                     homosexuality automatically - and by its own nature - equated to immorality, perversion, etc.  It was high time that I also accepted a political system that agreed.  So, I pulled my head ouf of the Republican sand took a walk to the left.  I voted for Bill Clinton instead of George Bush and I haven't been the same since.  On the contrary, I found myself to be quite liberated.

The best measure that I have found of American political philosophy has been offered by the Libertarian Party.  I am not a Libertarian, either by philosophy or by affiliation (though I do agree with many of their political planks).  The Libertarians have a wonderful little tool that they use as a campaign resource, but I believe that it is unbiased and accurate enough in determining where an individual stands in the poltical spectum.  It is called the World's Smallest Political Quiz.  The quiz uses the Political Philosophy Diamond created by David Nolan, who is a Libertarian.  The quiz itself uses questions to measure a person's political tendencies in two major spheres of political concern: Personal Freedom and Economic Freedom.  (This assumes that every function of Government revolves around one or both of these two spheres.) These tendencies may then be plotted on Nolan's Political Philosophy Diamand so that the person's political views may be viewed in relation to those of liberals and conservatives on one axis, and libertarians and authoritarians on another axis. The original test was designed by Marshall Fritz, a co-founder of the Libertarian Party.  It has since been modified by the Libertarian Party itself. Once a person's stand in these two realms of politics is determined, it can then be charted on Nolan's Political Philosophy Diamond.

Most Americans will find themselves in the center of this diamond in what Nolan calls the Centrist Cube.  (Jesse Jackson would find himself at the far left end of the diamond while Ronald Reagan would find himself closer to the right end of the diamond. Both Hitler and Stalin would have found themselves at the bottom of the cube, at the extreme end of authoritarian.) I find myself - with a score on the test at 70% personal freedom/50% economic freedom - at the left edge of the Centrist Cube, with some libertarian tendencies. This means that I am heavily influenced by libertarian and liberal principles.  This part of the centrist cube is made up of social democrats, or progressive socialists.  In Europe, these are members of the Christian Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party. In Britain, they vote according to the old Liberal Party and would vote today for Labour. In American politics, their votes go either to the Democratic Party or to one of the third parties, most likely the Libertarian Party.  This is revealing to me, in that my actual political beliefs are so far from the beliefs of the Republican mainstream from which I came.  It is clear to me that I had only identified as a Republican because I was told to do so.  It was my tradition.  While I'm no anti-traditionalist, I'm certainly no horse to be led by a bit.  When it comes to important issues facing my own well-being and that of my fellow man (or woman), I will make my own decisions, and I will make them with the welfare of every person in society in mind (not just myself).  This is a lesson well learned by any person who values his vote and his place in the political system in which he lives.

You can take the test for yourself by going to the website for Advocates For Self Government, a libertarian group that holds the copyright for the test.  Click on the link below to go to their site. (You will have to use your back navigation button in your browser several times to return to this website, which I hope you will want to do.)








So where is my political home today?  Good question!  I refrain from calling myself a Democrat because I believe that the DNC is too influenced by the
far left, especially Jesse Jackson. (I am no fan of Jackson, and I am so far removed from his beliefs as to identify with him under the same political
banner.) Should I go completely Democratic, I would have the same problems that I had with the Republicans.  I believe that both parties are too
nfluenced by the extremists of their political alignments (the Republicans by fascists and the Democrats by communists).  On the positive side, I believe
that the Democrats are less willing to put forth an extremist as a political candidate than the Republicans are.  For instance, the Democrats consistently
reject Jackson as a viable presidential candidate, whereas the Republicans gave Reagan the presidential nomination not once but twice, and very
nearly gave it to Pat Buchanan. No element of Republican political policy is put forth without the blessings of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the
preachers of the extremist Religious Right. The Republican leadership idolizes Jesse Helms - a man I can hardly stand the looks of let alone tolerate
his politics.  Buchanan, Robertson, Falwell, Helms, and Trent Lott - the man who believes that homosexuals suffer from the same disease as kleptomaniacs and apparently idolizes a known, unrepentant racist - these are all extremists, fascists if the truth be known, to whom the Republican leadership gives too much influence, importance, and power to keep me comfortable.  Before he publically hailed the segregationist beliefs of Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott could very well have been nominated for president.  Jesse Jackson never will be nominated.

                                                 I suppose that the next step in my political maturity is to investigate the merits of the various third parties.  As it stands now, I  could easily vote
                                                 Libertarian.  The Libertarian Party puts forth what seems to me to be a sound liberal platform. Of course, this party is not void of extremists either, I
                                                 realize.  On the contrary, the Libertarians consistently attract the pot-legalizers, the isolationists, the hippy-wannabees and other political goof-balls.
                                                Such groups as these are only comfortable living in the margins of any modern political party, whether it be the Democratic Party or the Libertarian.  Yet,
                                                 if you can pick your way through these, I believe you will find a fairly sound view of government and economics. The Libertarians get a bad rap for being
                                                anti-government. However, I don't find that to be the case. I do find that the great majority of their beliefs are centrist and to the left.  And that is just where
                                                I fit in. The only point I would wind up in trouble over with the Libertarians is my anti-gun stand, which would require a heavy, pro-active regulation from
                                                the government. True, Libertarians believe that we should be free to tote any sort of weapon that we desire, ignoring the fact that modern social
                                                pressures make this a deadly proposition. And yet, I find that compromise would have to be relied on for me to belong to any political party in the United
                                                States. For instance, the DNC's stand on legalized abortion is just too liberal for my comfort, and yet I compromise with them on this issue in order to
                                                vote for one of their candidates.
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© 2001-2006 SouthBear

This page was created on 1 September 2001 in Tupelo, Mississippi
Date of Last Revision: 28 October 2006 in Birmingham, Alabam