Anashtih
13th April 2008, 22:56
Hello. My name is Daniel, although I prefer the moniker Anashtih; however, as I realize this is rather unwieldy, I'd appreciate being called Az. I'm 17 years old.
For the last three years, I've undergone something of an internal philosophical, and, by extension, political revolution of thought. Until well into eighth grade, I was a staunch supporter of Bush. If I might explain this, however, I was raised in a very conservative Christian home, and homeschooled until eighth grade. I had very few outlets of learning past reading, which I did in abundance. Starting in late eighth grade and a bit later, a Socialist friend showed me a lot of information and we talked a lot, and I moved on and haven't looked back.
A bit of explanation might be in order. I'm one of about five individuals in my town that share roughly the same philosophies. I live in a five thousand person town in South Eastern Kentucky. Right in the middle of the Bible Belt. It's primarily made up of hypocrites, morons, other conservatives in general.
I suppose a brief overview of my own political philosophies might be in order. I'm not entirely sure if I'd consider myself Leftist, primarily because I find that Left and Right seem a bit too dualist for my tastes. If I had to say, though, I'd most certainly be quite far left on the spectrum. I'm not staunchly in any one group, however. I've more or less studied what I can, and tried my best to come to my own conclusions, instead of finding the group I identify with most and trying to ignore the bits I disagree with.
I suppose I'd say I've got elements of Marxist Socialism, Nietzschean nihilism and existentialism, and more than a few ideas on individuality from writers such as Crowley. Many more, as well, but most of those have been lost in the whirlwind.
I don't hate capitalists or fascists, at least not those part of those groups that are conditioned or even misinformed. The ones I can't stand are the ones who actually understand the philosophies and try to force it down another's throat.
I do, however, hate Nazism. I, myself, am mostly of European, but I'm also directly descended from an African American on my father's side, and my mother's great great grandmother was Mi'kmaq. I find no real pride in any of my heritage, but I find great pride, for instance, in my great great grandfather, who was a farmer, or his daughter, who was a great woman who influenced me greatly. I personally don't think race means anything. My respect is earned based on you. Not your parents. Or your color.
A final note I'd like to make is my frustration with the current state of Revolution, particularly Youth culture. I have several friends who understand socialist or communist ideology, and might even be passionate about it, but to them, it's just something to think about, or an excuse to complain. I seem to the be the only who truly wants to make a difference, and if given and opportunity to do so, would in a heartbeat. My heroes are the ones who have given up much of their own to do so. A few examples would be Che Guevara, Meher Baba, Timothy McVeigh (for the message he wanted to convey, not in any way for what he did), and people like the astronomer Galileo, who insisted on telling the truth, regardless of the consequences.
Anyway, I apologize for the length of the post, but I just wanted to get that out of the way. This is precisely the kind of place I'm interested in, and I hope to learn a lot.
For the last three years, I've undergone something of an internal philosophical, and, by extension, political revolution of thought. Until well into eighth grade, I was a staunch supporter of Bush. If I might explain this, however, I was raised in a very conservative Christian home, and homeschooled until eighth grade. I had very few outlets of learning past reading, which I did in abundance. Starting in late eighth grade and a bit later, a Socialist friend showed me a lot of information and we talked a lot, and I moved on and haven't looked back.
A bit of explanation might be in order. I'm one of about five individuals in my town that share roughly the same philosophies. I live in a five thousand person town in South Eastern Kentucky. Right in the middle of the Bible Belt. It's primarily made up of hypocrites, morons, other conservatives in general.
I suppose a brief overview of my own political philosophies might be in order. I'm not entirely sure if I'd consider myself Leftist, primarily because I find that Left and Right seem a bit too dualist for my tastes. If I had to say, though, I'd most certainly be quite far left on the spectrum. I'm not staunchly in any one group, however. I've more or less studied what I can, and tried my best to come to my own conclusions, instead of finding the group I identify with most and trying to ignore the bits I disagree with.
I suppose I'd say I've got elements of Marxist Socialism, Nietzschean nihilism and existentialism, and more than a few ideas on individuality from writers such as Crowley. Many more, as well, but most of those have been lost in the whirlwind.
I don't hate capitalists or fascists, at least not those part of those groups that are conditioned or even misinformed. The ones I can't stand are the ones who actually understand the philosophies and try to force it down another's throat.
I do, however, hate Nazism. I, myself, am mostly of European, but I'm also directly descended from an African American on my father's side, and my mother's great great grandmother was Mi'kmaq. I find no real pride in any of my heritage, but I find great pride, for instance, in my great great grandfather, who was a farmer, or his daughter, who was a great woman who influenced me greatly. I personally don't think race means anything. My respect is earned based on you. Not your parents. Or your color.
A final note I'd like to make is my frustration with the current state of Revolution, particularly Youth culture. I have several friends who understand socialist or communist ideology, and might even be passionate about it, but to them, it's just something to think about, or an excuse to complain. I seem to the be the only who truly wants to make a difference, and if given and opportunity to do so, would in a heartbeat. My heroes are the ones who have given up much of their own to do so. A few examples would be Che Guevara, Meher Baba, Timothy McVeigh (for the message he wanted to convey, not in any way for what he did), and people like the astronomer Galileo, who insisted on telling the truth, regardless of the consequences.
Anyway, I apologize for the length of the post, but I just wanted to get that out of the way. This is precisely the kind of place I'm interested in, and I hope to learn a lot.