Coming Out of the Closet
// 5.27.06 // Filed under: Freedom & Politics, Homeschooling, Parenting, Thriving
ItâÂÂs not what you think, but I got your attention, didnâÂÂt I?
Over the past year, IâÂÂve been slowly making a transformation. People who know me may be surprised â even shocked – when reading some of the things that have been written on this blog lately. Yes, I am changing.
For many years, I felt like I didnâÂÂt stand for anything. I was open to just about any idea and could easily see the pros and cons. I had trouble making decisions. I put things off, subconsciously hoping that somehow the issue would just resolve itself. My favorite phrase was âÂÂanything is possible.â I held Scarlett OâÂÂHaraâÂÂs philosophy: âÂÂIâÂÂll think about that tomorrow.âÂÂ
Well, if you live in reality, anything is not possible. And âÂÂthinking about it tomorrowâ has gotten me nowhere fast. No one is coming to sprinkle fairy dust and suddenly make my life perfect. I am responsible for myself.
As IâÂÂve been contemplating all this, IâÂÂve learned a lot about myself. Things I am not so proud of and want to change, as well as things I am confident about and now willing to stand up for. And IâÂÂve discovered that I have - gasp! - strong opinions and beliefs!
So here it is, out of the closet: I have become an individualist. I think people should be responsible for themselves. The government should not re-allocate wealth. The government should not dictate how a businessman runs his business. The government should not have a hand in my childâÂÂs education. I think the âÂÂbig governmentâ we have now is bordering on tyrannical, but in a covert way that is possibly more dangerous than those governments who openly suppress their people. We are being controlled and we donâÂÂt even know it.
I considered creating another blog where I could rant anonymously, keeping the political stuff separate from the mommy stuff. But that seems disingenuous. ItâÂÂs all connected. The way I raise and educate my children is intertwined with my philosophical and political viewpoint. PHAT Mommy is not going to turn into a daily rant about political issues. But I will be posting more to support the beliefs I just laid out above. IâÂÂll be writing about my children, but also writing to encourage people to see the problems with the public education system and why homeschooling is a wonderful alternative.
Many bloggers state on their blogs, âÂÂIf you donâÂÂt like what I have to say, then donâÂÂt read.â I have a different view. If you donâÂÂt like what I have to say, ask yourself why. Really, ask yourself WHY. Then post a civil comment and challenge me. I am most grateful to the people in my life that helped me think outside of my comfort level and reach for a greater understanding of life. Those people have helped me come out of the closet of uncertainty, to rationally think through a belief, and to acknowledge whether itâÂÂs right or wrong.
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14 Responses to “Coming Out of the Closet”
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Welcome to the dark side.
Good for you. I may not agree with all your views, but I respect anyone willing to say, “This is who I am and where I stand, and I have the goods to back it up.”
My major brush with Libertarianism was a meeting my friend took me to in an office at Carnegie Hall. So when I think Libertarian, I think,
“Guy gets in a cab. Guy asks cabbie, ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall?’ Cabbie answers, ‘Practice, practice, practice.”
Yes, I have been feeling like this recently, I have a 3 month old and have never really questioned anything in my life, recently I have been questioning a lot, mostly the education system in Britain. What makes a uni grad with little or no life experience more ready and able to teach my child? What’s with schooling all day only to come home an do homework ‘because the teacher said’ – it’s no wonder they don’t do enough exercise, nor are they able to pursue personal interests. Why should my child only be able to choose from a limited list of subjects, why does she have to do eight – she may prefer to excel in 5 but no 8 it is because – well, that’s the rules. Why? And who’s rules? Help I am ranting, I have more questions than answers…reading lots about homeschooling at the moment.
Keep it up Erica! You’re asking all the right questions, IMO!
I have for many years felt strange and out of place because of the things that I saw wrong with the world that I felt nobody else saw.
Reading your post really gives me some hope that more people are beginning to awake to the smell of real freedom, not what we have been allotted by our corrupt government for so long.
While we may argue about the free internet stuff that is only details. If we could change all the stuff that we agree on the world would be a great place to be.
It’s amazing what parenthood and a few years of maturity do to you. Bravo for making yourself aware of what you think and not being afraid to say it.
I do so love your thinking, girl! We are the only ones who can make things better for our children and ourselves…and blogging is such a great forum. I never want to be one of those folks whose deepest thoughts are about the next sale at Strawbridge’s!
I think those are excellent changes and ones I strive for myself. I am guilty of wishing for fairy dust too.
I wholeheartedly agree that our government is more covertly controlling than many others throughout the world. It’s why getting active in politics and exercising our right to vote is so important. How sad is it that more votes were cast for American Idol than in any presidential election?
Congratulations on meeting the you that’s nestled in waiting. I look forward to reading more.
Oh and Jules – take that Idol count with a grain of salt. Yeah, it sounds big and impressive to say more votes were cast last week than in any presidental election – but remember, no one can legally sit up all night and press redial (manually or with technology) all night long to vote for President. It is not an apples to apples comparision.
I hope you’ll take my one minor quibble with this post as a note of encouragement. When I settled into an individualist mindset myself some years back, I recall looking at much of the sphere of local, state, and federal governmental activity with horror. And not without reason! But while my town, state, and country might give me the most fodder for complaint, simply because they affect MY life, I eventually found that the real horror stories could be found in those places in the globe that didn’t even make a pretense of respecting the individual. Whatever the numerous and descpicable shortcomings of the governments we deal with may be, they do not seek to stamp out every trace of self respect. As such, even normal, non-heroic folks like you and me can find that the seeds of healthy individualism were merely dormant within us. And also important, that the potential for political change is still there, even without the need for violent revolution. Not to say it’s always easy, or even worth it to try, but it’s still a damn lot better than someone living under the thumb of Robert Mugabe or Kim Jong Il or Saparmurat Niyazov. So yeah, the often subtle oppression of our governments can be much more dangerous than you might think at first, but the overt re-education-camp no-jury-trial no-elected-representatives every-fifth-man-is-connected-to-the-secret-police type of oppression found in too many other places is a nightmare, a living hell on earth. And it’s much more dangerous than what we’ve got here.
I think people should be responsible for themselves.
Damn straight. People think I’m a liberal. Funny thing, though? Every time I’ve posted on a liberal site something to that effect, they jump all over me.
Fucking whiny crybabies. They seem to think that no matter what, a person is a victim. Poor? It’s the government’s fault. Kill someone? It’s the chemicals in your brain. I’ve posted on KOS for the last time because of shit like that.
Not that anyone would ever mistake me for a Republican. Like you, I’m an individualist.
I agree. I’ve had people bemoan that the rich get richer and the poor, get poorer. I was comfortable, now because of people wanting something for nothing, I am out of a job and getting poorer. But, you can’t take money with you when you die.
I wish I could have home schooled. But having to be the single parent when the ex left for greener pastures, I couldn’t. (Not that she would have ever listened to me anyway. She was born an individualist.) So, I did the next best thing. I found her private education teaching the basic skills needed to think on her own, but with inclusion of moral values and the freedom to know the joy of a classroom where daily prayer was included.
She has turned out magnificently, I might add. At least everyone tells me that.
So, go for it!
And I’m here from Michele.
Now Shannon – Get back in that closet and turn on the TV, do what THEY say, shop till you drop, and support big business and big government. After all, they know what’s best for you and your children. And please, don’t think for yourself.
Rich
If you want to feel reassured that your concerns/opinions are valid I suggest you do some reading. Start w/ the Declaration of Independence and continue on to the U.S. Constitution.
I think a major issue is that the government (largely) is not accountable because we do not hold them to be. It’s a shame how few people vote. This if followed closely by the number of people that vote and have no idea what they’re voting for or what issues are valuable to them. Being a citizen of this country comes with some degree of responsibility (we the people…that’s us!). Unfortunately, I think many people are either too busy, too lazy, too uninformed, too ignorant or have been lulled into a state of disdain which causes them not to act and own up to their responsibilities. I’m one of those people who says, “If you don’t vote…don’t complain.”
NJDrummer