metalsoup111
27th December 2010, 07:35
Hello, everyone. I stumpled across this site this afternoon and simply couldn't resist. :D
Firstly, I'm 21 and I like to talk/type. I consider myself an Anarchist, more specifically, a Liberatarian Socialist/Anarcho-Syndicalist. Admittedly, though, I'm an absolute newcomer to this end of the spectrem of political philosophy (8-10 months) and I find that as I continue studying that my ideas are changing on an almost daily basis.
I live in the US, specifically Arkansas and, given my location, as far as I know there is little to no legitamate collective of like-minded people with whom I can associate. I was raised in a staunchly Conservative (by its Americanized definition) and Southern Baptist household that, although very loving and nurtuing, was particularly oppressive towards any dissenting opinions or viewpoints. Thus, I grew up blindly following in the same footsteps.
I began my transition at age 16 when I began to become seriously interested in a variety of intellectual pursuits, one in particular being that of research into religion as a whole. As I studied I found myself disgusted by the ridiculous claims made by a majority of the various religions as I had simply marched in lockstep with the sugar coated, literalist view of Christianity I had be raised to believe. In retrospect, I sincerely feel that my move towards atheism, completed by age 17, fueled my motiviation towards more left-leaning ideals.
By age 19, I considered myself a Liberatarian (again, by US standards) and I believe this too lead towards the overall shift. I was rather naively enticed by such empty rhetorical slogans of my fellow stoner, Liberatarian college mates such as, "Legalise and regulate". My dreamy visions of what Libratarianism was supposed to be lead me to discover an individual that, although at the time I deemed him somewhat insignificate, would eventually become a profound influence on my own thinking.
It was Noam Chomsky. My introduction during a brief and rather benign conversation with my Psychology I teacher on his revolutionary work 'A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior' left me relatively unchanged beyond the obvious fact that the man was breathtakingly intelligent. It wasn't until shortly before my 21st birthday that my intellectual curiousity turned to researching political philosophy. I found that the tautological basis of what I had been taught about politics throghout my schooling was utter rubbish. It was then that I rediscovered Chomsky's work.
My overall purpose here is to engage others in interesting conversation and to learn more about indiviidual perspectives on left-leaning ideologies. I hope to contribute as much as I feel compelled to, but I tend to do a lot of reading and lurking. More hopeful is that some of this will lead to tangible signs of responsible action and not just mental masturbating bullshit. With that, what's going on...?
tl;dr: Howdy! I'm a virgin Anarchist. What's up...?
Firstly, I'm 21 and I like to talk/type. I consider myself an Anarchist, more specifically, a Liberatarian Socialist/Anarcho-Syndicalist. Admittedly, though, I'm an absolute newcomer to this end of the spectrem of political philosophy (8-10 months) and I find that as I continue studying that my ideas are changing on an almost daily basis.
I live in the US, specifically Arkansas and, given my location, as far as I know there is little to no legitamate collective of like-minded people with whom I can associate. I was raised in a staunchly Conservative (by its Americanized definition) and Southern Baptist household that, although very loving and nurtuing, was particularly oppressive towards any dissenting opinions or viewpoints. Thus, I grew up blindly following in the same footsteps.
I began my transition at age 16 when I began to become seriously interested in a variety of intellectual pursuits, one in particular being that of research into religion as a whole. As I studied I found myself disgusted by the ridiculous claims made by a majority of the various religions as I had simply marched in lockstep with the sugar coated, literalist view of Christianity I had be raised to believe. In retrospect, I sincerely feel that my move towards atheism, completed by age 17, fueled my motiviation towards more left-leaning ideals.
By age 19, I considered myself a Liberatarian (again, by US standards) and I believe this too lead towards the overall shift. I was rather naively enticed by such empty rhetorical slogans of my fellow stoner, Liberatarian college mates such as, "Legalise and regulate". My dreamy visions of what Libratarianism was supposed to be lead me to discover an individual that, although at the time I deemed him somewhat insignificate, would eventually become a profound influence on my own thinking.
It was Noam Chomsky. My introduction during a brief and rather benign conversation with my Psychology I teacher on his revolutionary work 'A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior' left me relatively unchanged beyond the obvious fact that the man was breathtakingly intelligent. It wasn't until shortly before my 21st birthday that my intellectual curiousity turned to researching political philosophy. I found that the tautological basis of what I had been taught about politics throghout my schooling was utter rubbish. It was then that I rediscovered Chomsky's work.
My overall purpose here is to engage others in interesting conversation and to learn more about indiviidual perspectives on left-leaning ideologies. I hope to contribute as much as I feel compelled to, but I tend to do a lot of reading and lurking. More hopeful is that some of this will lead to tangible signs of responsible action and not just mental masturbating bullshit. With that, what's going on...?
tl;dr: Howdy! I'm a virgin Anarchist. What's up...?