Atheist/liberal correlation

[Mister Agenda]

I used to be a Republican. I voted for Bob Dole. I thought Bush Senior got a raw deal from a biased media that leaned against him when he ran for reelection. And back then I wasn't quite there yet on the atheist thing, I thought of myself as more of an agnostic at that point and didn't identify as atheist until 1996.

During the Clinton years I became more of a centrist/moderate libertarian. I didn't like waking up find out who we were bombing that day, and I didn't like the circus the Republicans threw over a blowjob. I still thought Republicans were better than Democrats when it came to not starting wars. When Clinton was up for re-election, I voted for the Libertarian candidate (Harry Browne), but it was as much a protest vote as anything.

Then along came Bush II, who incidentally campaigned on not getting us into nation building. I saw how he ginned up public support to invade Iraq, a country that never attacked us, with media complicity. When he was up for re-election I voted for Browne again. When it was McCain vs. Obama, I voted Barr, but it was just a protest vote, if he actually had a chance to win, I wouldn't have wanted him to. I was kind of pleased when Obama won, because he struck me as a good, intelligent man even though I thought he was too hawkish.

That's when the congressional Republicans seemed to lose their minds. There had been signs earlier, that I attributed to general polarization in politics, but this was naked hatred unjustified by his actions and policies. Now, I often jokingly referred to myself as a 'liberaltarian'. I wasn't happy with all the drone strikes, but I was considering voting for Obama's re-election, especially if the Libertarians ran Bob Barr again. I was considering leaving the LP, the SC LP definitely listed to the right, where I was very slightly left of center. But they put up Gary Johnson, and I like Gary Johnson, his selection renewed my faith in the national LP, and that's who I voted for. But I voted for mostly Democrats down ticket.

In November, I am going to vote for Johnson again. But if I were in a swing state, I would vote for Clinton, because despite all the times I've said there's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, I can't really say that anymore. The Democrats haven't changed much, but the Republicans were basically taken over by the Tea Party and this time, it really will be disastrous for America if we let the greater of two evils win.

I'm against throwing our military weight around except under dire threat. I'm against persecuting people because of their religion no matter what 0.1% of them have done. I'm for fiscal responsibility and reducing the national debt. I'm not happy with our complex and sometimes counterproductive welfare system, but I don't believe in yanking away people's benefits. I think raising the minimum wage has undesirable side-effect that at least should be taken into consideration and compensated for, and I think a guaranteed no-strings basic income for every adult American not on Social Security is more efficient than both welfare and minimum wage hikes, and I've been convinced by data that the economic consequences, like people avoiding work, have been overestimated, while the benefits (kids staying in school longer and having lower crime rates) have been underestimated. I don't think medical care should drive people into bankruptcy. I don't think corporations should be able to weigh in on their employee's reproductive choices.

I'm not sure what that makes me politically, but though I've drifted left since becoming an atheist, it's not as far as the GOP has drifted 'right' towards greater authoritarianism, culture war absolutism, and corporate cronyism.