I have decided to start this blog because I am an ex-Republican who eventually became a Democrat. It was last year that I decided to convert to being a Democrat after being an independent for a number of years. I have decided to start this blog right here, rather than on a professional blog, because I have a very small budget and I hope that if this blog grows in popularity, then I can switch to a more professional one. However, I wanted to get the truth out and get facts into the hands of my fellow Democrats. But, before I do this, I want to explain a number of facts about myself in the way of an introduction.
First of all, who am I? My name is Matt and I am a resident of California. I grew up a preacher's kid and in a very conservative family. Both of my parents are strong Reagan conservatives and both are registered Republicans. So, having grown up in a household that was conservative, both religiously and politically, I know the conservative mind quite well. Now bear in mind, I don't claim to be an expert on politics or an established authority on conservatism. I have no Ph.D. in political science but I don't believe that the vast majority of Republicans have one either so I don't believe that many Republicans have a special leg up on me in that regard. However, I do have one thing that speaks in my favor. I know how many conservatives think and act and so, knowing what I know, I can help my fellow Democrats out.
So, why on Earth did I quit the Republican Party? Why did I eventually become a Democrat? To explain why I became a Democrat, it is helpful to understand why I abandoned conservatism. First of all, I abandoned conservatism because I believe that it is a pseudo-intellectual ideology that is grounded in fear, hatred, arrogance, and ignorance. This is not to say that there aren't intellectuals who are conservatives or who have embraced a respectable conservatism in the past. I believe that there are and have been.This isn't to say that there are no conservatives who aren't loving and generous people; there are. This also isn't to say or suggest that all conservatives are fearful; I know some who live lives of hope and love. There are also some conservatives who highly educated people but how informed some of these people are is a matter of debate.
Second, I abandoned conservatism because what I detest about it the most is a toxic masculinity that I see from it. As I will explain in a future post, this isn't some left-wing myth; toxic masculinity is very real and it infects the conservative movement as a culture. I detest this kind of masculinity and I see it as being very destructive. I have no respect for people who I describe as being "muscular conservatives" and there are plenty of them. Words like "snowflake", "girly-boy", and even words like "faggot" and "sissy" are beloved epithets of muscular conservatism. Not all of these words make it into popular trade books published by the modern right but they come into open display in conversations that I have been a part of and comments on both social media and news outlets. I have observed this kind of atrocious masculinity growing up and I have been a victim of it.
Third, I abandoned the conservative movement because of the blatant hypocrisy that I have seen. Many conservatives accuse the left of demonizing them but I have seen a number of conservatives do the exact same thing. I have seen conservatives gripe and whine about just how nasty and insulting people on the left can be. And I have seen some liberals do this, unfortunately. But I have seen conservatives give as good as they get and when people on the left sink low, I have seen these same conservatives sink just as low. I thought conservatives, as a whole, were more sophisticated than that but they certainly fooled me. I don't want readers to get a false impression here. I am not a liberal and I am not defending liberals when any of them sink low and insult the right when it's completely unnecessary. It's not so much conservatives fighting back that I take issue with; it's the hypocrisy of condemning left-wing behavior, especially when it's abusive and then resorting to that same behavior.
Another reason is that I see conservatism as tied to the hip of theologically conservative religion. Most conservatives that I know of are antiabortion, antievolution, against same-sex marriage, believe that climate change is garbage, and are against the adoption of children by same-sex couples. Why? Because of their theological views. Political conservatism in its current form is tied to the hip with religious conservatism. I am not a religious conservative although I used to be. I considered myself a born-again Christian from age 14 to 24. If I have anything that can be considered a religious outlook, it is very similar to Albert Einstein's view: I have an humble appreciation and awe for the the natural world, its laws and evolution, and an admiration for science as a method for understanding. However, I am not a panentheist as I am convinced that Einstein probably was.
Finally, I see something very dangerous in the modern conservative mindset. I see a very authoritarian mindset in the modern GOP that strikes me as being very dangerous. I will explain this in greater detail in future blog posts and I will share the information that led me to this conclusion. I will explain why I am a Democrat. I know that the Democratic Party is not perfect and I believe that it has a lot to apologize for. But the Democratic Party has improved and I have uncomfortably joined it. But I am done with the GOP for the foreseeable future, possibly forever. I am not alone; there are other conservatives who are done with the GOP and people who are former conservatives whose research has informed my views. I will share my research and my thinking with readers who might appreciate a unique perspective from me.
I became a Democrat because I support same-sex marriage and I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children. I became a Democrat because I don't believe that supply-side theory in general, and tax cuts in particular, are always the keys to economic growth. I became a Democrat because I consider evolution to be established science and I strongly suspect that climate change is as well. I became a Democrat because I believe that the Democratic Party, despite its flaws, mistakes, horrible history, and some crappy people, has become- ironically-our best hope for making the USA a better country. The GOP can do so much better but because of the rise of modern conservatism and its antintellectualism, has done awful and I only expect it to do much worse.
Just so that readers know, I don't claim to be someone of prominence within the GOP. I am not some power-broker, some high-ranking chairman, an important author or someone of influence. I wish I was. I registered as a Republican when I was 18 and I was in college. I attended Las Positas community college in Livermore, California. I was the Treasurer of the College Republicans and when leadership changed hands, I then became the Vice-Chairman of the club until I graduated in 1999 with an A.S. in biology. Some people who grew up in a Democratic household or have been political progressives all their lives and cannot imagine how anyone could be a conservative in this day and age might find what I post here to be fascinating and even illuminating.
I hope I can inform some people. If I can convince one person how dangerous the GOP is to America especially in the "Age of Trump" as I call it, and how rotten an ideology conservatism is in America. I will have done my job. There is a lot of nonsense out there. I want readers to know that I don't plan on posting every single day. I plan to post once or twice a week if time permits. For right now, I won't have time to engage in conversations with people on this blog, so I will temporarily disable comments. But if something comes up that I find worthy of commenting on, I will likely make a response, especially if someone posts something in rebuttal to anything I have put on here.
Having said this, here is what you will find on this blog:
1.) a critique of modern conservatism
2.) a critique of modern conservative religions
3.) the documented lies, mistakes, and nonsense coming from Donald Trump and his apologists
4.) a defense of facts, especially scientifically and historically established facts disdained by the right
5.) a strategy for defeating conservative Republicans, both in theory and practice
6.) a critique of the political spin offered by pundits on right-wing radio and Fox News
7.) hopefully valuable insights and commentary that is independent and fact-checked
8.) a hopeful vision of what America can be: a country that is truly free and fair for us all
Lastly, I will do my best to make sure that my blog articles are factually correct. I take responsibility for any errors of fact, poor grammar and spelling, and any mistakes that readers encounter in this blog. All that might be wrong on this blog is my fault and I own up to my errors. While I don't promise that this blog will be completely error-free, I can promise to do my best to try to minimize my errors and correct them whenever they arise. My best hope is that this blog can help move the conversation forward and this is my contribution to helping make the USA the best country that it can be!
Thanks for stopping by and reading this!
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment