IT'S NOT SO STRANGE AFTER ALL
I am a member of a few political forum boards. I just read the posts at most of them and never post anything myself. It's part of my daily routine. I like to hear what people are thinking and saying about any given topic. It's a great way to hear the arguments on both sides of an issue.
However, there is one forum that I do post at quite a bit. We have become a very tight knit "family" over there. It is a private, all conservative board. Many of us have started sharing our personal stories with each other. It has been extremely interesting to me, hearing the life stories of these people and how they all have come to be Conservatives. Even more interesting though, is how many of us have had dysfunctional upbringings. There are a few that have had picture perfect childhoods and it is great to read those biographies. However, there are several of us that had a rough childhood. Without going into details, there are stories of abuse, neglect, poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism, adultery, etc. You name it and someone at this forum has experienced it.
I have often thought how strange it is that I became a Conservative after growing up the way I did. As a matter of fact, when I run into old friends from High School and they find out what I am doing with this site and that I am a Conservative, they are almost always shocked. How can someone who grew up in the situation I did, become a Conservative? After reading the stories of the other people at this forum, it has all become much clearer. The reason we have all become Conservatives is because we have all had to depend on ourselves to survive. We didn't just accept our lot in life based on our childhood. We didn't fall into the trap of continuing bad behavior. We stepped up to the plate and took responsibility for our own lives. We have done or are in the process of doing the things that need to be done in order to make our lives better. We are making sure that our kids don't have to experience the same problems we did. We are working hard to overcome the obstacles that have been placed in our way. We have seen how liberal policies and attitudes can destroy families. We have seen how the lack of personal responsibility can ruin lives. We could have taken the easy route and just accepted our lot in life. We could be complaining. We could be asking for the government to take care of us. But we are not and will not accept that as our destiny. We are creating our own destiny by working smart and by working hard and by making good decisions.
There is this stereotype of Conservatives out there that we were all born with a silver spoon in our mouth....that we have all been given everything we always wanted and needed and that is why we can't understand the plight of the poor. The exact opposite is true. Many of us have lived the plight of the poor. We have seen what the government can and can not do. We have seen firsthand how the liberal policies are complete failures. We know that the only way to break the cycle is to take responsibility of our own lives. We can not wait for government handouts. We can not sit around and expect others to do for us. We must do for ourselves.
So it no longer surprises me that I became a Conservative. I no longer think that I am the rare Conservative that came from a broken home. I now see that I am one of millions of Conservatives that has made the decision to make my own destiny. It doesn't really matter how we grew up. What matters is the decision to take personal responsibility seriously.
