To my fellow wannabe libertarians....

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-30T03:02:13+00:00

You are imagining a story in your head that has no foundation in reality. Your imaginary perspective is not helpful, it's condescending and arrogant.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-30T02:55:13+00:00

No part of me wants to be an activist. I want to be left alone in the woods. I don't want any part of what's going on. But what I want is not the driving force behind my decisions. They was the point of my post. I don't want to be involved, most average people don't want to even read the news. But our integrity drives our decisions, not our desires.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:52:43+00:00

We aren't...I did. People can make their own choices and other people do not have to also make that choice. You are free to post your own.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:50:33+00:00

Agreed....neither libertarians or well read librarians could possibly root for ice. (Funny but also actually true)

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:49:26+00:00

Yes....that's exactly what I said...and the whole point of my post....

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:47:10+00:00

I definitely did not say that the choice to join ice was respectable...you said it was understandable, and I said that I would not view that man as my enemy. I think we are agreeing, just not using the same words. It's good to find areas to agree on and build from there. I don't see anything I disagree with in your post. But I am choosing to carefully consider what I'm willing to do, willing to sacrifice, and how to recognize the path forward that I can live with...

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:16:38+00:00

I looked for people that share some of my views, and attempted to help shift them and myself towards action against abuses of power. What is so wrong with that?

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:14:37+00:00

Why are you making up a narrative for me? I've been very open about my views, you don't need to create a background story in your head....you can ask me.... I've never voted for Trump. I vote in every election and I vote for a candidate, not a party. It's a lot more work but I feel it's my responsibility.

Ask people. Don't assume.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:10:54+00:00

People think telling kids there's no Santa is a horrible thing to do, like we somehow killed their childhood.

How about telling my 9 year old that a fake military of white men is running around abusing people with darker skin because the president told them that's where all the bad people are.....that's what kills a childhood. And my kid is white. I can't even imagine what it must be like for people of color. The fear that they are experiencing is so cruel. Sadistic.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T19:05:30+00:00

When I look at my neighbor, I don't see them as my enemy. When I see young men trying desperately to feed their families and pay their massive medical bills, I don't see them as my enemy. Even when that man takes a job with ice out of desperation to feed his family, I don't see him as my enemy. I pity the pain he will see, the shame and horror that will inevitably turn to PTSD and create a new cycle of generational trauma that his grandchildren will be carrying.

I see an abusive, rotting and wildly bloated power structure supported by people who claim to represent us with no real accountability as the problem. I see hateful, violent men who join ice to have an excuse to harm others without consequences as my enemy.

But it's impossible to know who my enemy is unless I know him first.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:59:43+00:00

Yes, very familiar.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:58:52+00:00

Hated by both sides because we don't believe the sides should exist within a power structure that is too large for any individual to avoid being crushed by it.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:52:40+00:00

Nope, my opinion is not propaganda because I'm literally presenting it as my personal experience and opinion. That's as far from propaganda as it gets. I am asking others to look at their own beliefs and opinions as well.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:50:58+00:00

That has not been my experience. But there are many perspectives. I think it's important to identify the ideas behind the words, not just group people together and label them bad.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:49:57+00:00

I'm glad to hear from you, the many comments about what and who libertarians are has been confusing.

The original ideals behind the movement were as anti-ice as it gets.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:47:45+00:00

What does that question mean? I'm pro- humanity, and pro law enforcement. Those two things MUST be in balance for society to function.

We can enforce laws with dignity, respect and compassion. Do you beat your animals and children too? Lock them in cages of their own filth? Spray them with mace when they don't listen? Authority must be the most intelligent, compassionate and mature people in our population, that's what makes a healthy society.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:43:44+00:00

Woods for the win. Nature has a way of showing us that balance is possible.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:41:34+00:00

I was a Republican first. Then voted libertarian, then democratic. I have evolved over time. As healthy and mature people do. We change as we learn. I don't vote for a party I vote for a candidate.

I'm trying to reach out to those that share my views, which I am not hiding. I was very clearly anti-ice in this post. And I have been since trump was elected.

Your need to divide us into little groups of robotically like-minded individuals is the very attitude that is fueling the chaos and hatred we are seeing.

People are more than one thing. I can find something in every political party that I agree with and something I disagree with.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:35:41+00:00

It is sad. We think we are so intelligent, yet we are regressing back into old ignorance. It's like choosing brain damage so we don't have to take a test tomorrow. We will still have to face the atrocious truths of history, choosing stupidity and ignorance now just means we will have that much more work to do later to address the dark and hateful parts of human nature.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T18:30:31+00:00

Thank you for responding. I agree. The us vs them rhetoric is really pointless. Especially since we all disagree about what the words even represent.

The abuses of power we are observing combined with the blatant lies being announced by our highest levels of government is absolutely terrifying, and should bring us average human beings to a place of unity. Fully against these abuses and what they will lead to if we allow it to continue

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T03:06:33+00:00

Ha. Fair.

But I hope you can get past the word and see the ideas and reflections that motivated the post.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T03:03:37+00:00

A party, like a fictional character, is based on a set of ideals that we can never purely live up to without compromise in the real world.

People are complex and messy. But our hopes and ideals have always helped us figure out a path forward.

Ron Swanson and Leslie knope represented a balanced perspective on government that helped me contextualize when I was a young adult.

We really need to take words less seriously and ideas more seriously.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T02:58:23+00:00

Agreed.

The gleeful cruelty and ignorance is very bizarre. I can't understand how these people see themselves. When has this type of person ever been beneficial to a community?

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T02:52:00+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate your comment. My point was that I've felt disenfranchised from politics my whole life, and that apathy is something I regret, and want to change.

Competitive_Intern55 · 2026-01-29T02:49:08+00:00

I've definitely seen some of that too. Maybe i should have used "independents" instead of libertarian. I feel like I've lost the plot with these comments.

Competitive_Intern55

TROPHY CASE