Political Philosophy; Political Affiliation

I grew up in a very liberal area. I went to an Ivy League university which, while not as uniformly liberal as some other colleges, was also very liberal. I am in an age group, as are most of my friends, that is very liberal. My mother, and her side of the family, is also liberal.

In short, most of the people I have ever met have been liberals. More than that, in these environments, there is an assumption that everyone else agrees with the liberal philosophy as well.

Therefore, I am a bit of an anomoly. When others get an inkling that I do not agree with them on political issues and, more than that, that I disagree with some of their basic assumptions, it always launches into a discussion of what I believe.

I usually explain that I have a libertarian philosophy, but that I am not necessary affiliated with the Libertarian Party. When asked why (as I usually am), I explain that, given that our political system* with only two serious parties, people who have libertarian tendencies and are practical hold their noses and choose between the two parties. This leaves only the impractical, more extreme people to be involved in the party which, in turn, pushes the party further from the moderation necessary to appeal to median voter**.

In other words, minority parties tend toward extremism as the practical people who share the beliefs become members of the major parties and try to convince the party to adopt some of their ideas. In fact, these days, many people labeled 'moderate Republicans' are essentially members of the Republican party with libertarian tendencies.

*Poli-Sci geekiness: We have a Winner Take All system (without regional parties as they have in Canada) which tends to drive out minority parties, rather than a Propotional Representation system which allows non-regional minority viewpoints a greater voice.

**More Poli-Sci geekiness: In a two party system, the 'median voter' is the one to whom each candidate plays two because, according to the theory, both candidates can capture their own base leaving the voters in the middle open. Therefore, the candidate who can capture the voter in the middle will win.