This is not a political blog & it never will be. But I HAVE made it clear that I am a Libertarian & I make no apologies for that. Today’s post is just a quick vent (before Rachel wakes up, if I can manage that). I am writing this purely for my own emotional benefit (e.g. stress relief), not because I need some kind of third party validation for my feelings.

Being a Libertarian is hard. Everywhere I go I’m always the outsider, the objector. If I’m with my family or my more conservative friends, I’m too liberal because I support gay marriage & the legalization of drugs & prostitution (not because I think drugs or prostitution are good ideas- obviously they’re not- but because I see no benefit to society to criminalizing them), plus I love rock/heavy metal. If I’m at work or with my more liberal friends, I’m too conservative because I’m not a hardcore feminist, I support lower taxes/small government, I hate socialism, & I support the second amendment. Basically I am always the crazy person. Ha!

To be clear, I am not complaining about my friends or family. They are all wonderful people who are accepting of me even though I’m very different in some ways. I’m just saying that there are days when I must admit I am jealous of those who have the luxury of truly fitting into a community of like-minded people. It must be nice to live in a world where you can be constantly reassured that your beliefs are the right ones, whether they are more liberal or more conservative beliefs. (Or maybe no one actually feels that way & I’m imagining it.) Meanwhile everywhere I go I feel like I’m constantly being told “you’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong!”

But at the end of the day I’m a Libertarian for a reason: I love liberty. I love freedom. I truly believe in individual freedom & self-responsibility. And I truly believe that individuals are better when they are freer & thus our communities are better as well. After all, what our communities made of if not individuals? And if that makes me permanently a bit of an outsider, so be it.

This cartoon is my life.