Obama and Romney

Why did I vote for Mitt Romney? (brad speaking here)

That's right, I voted today. Spent a very long 75 minutes in a line feeling slightly uncomfortable seeing as how I was the only white person and the purpose of the line was to get a turn to either vote for a white guy or a black guy as our next president....

So Why did I vote Republican?

I consider myself an extremist. I do not agree with any of the parties. Therefore I am forced to vote for the party that comes closest to what I’d dream for. I hold my views based on principles. Principles that I believe if followed yield prosperity of a nation and if neglected yield destruction of a nation.  Due to the fact that these principles are unchanging, they are relatively boring. Turn on the news, “hey lets hear more about those thousand year old principles!” Nope. Not happening. The media would much rather entertain us with who said what, who was caught doing this and that. Attack ads are everywhere, but they rarely attack principles.  In my opinion, about 90% of what’s reported on TV is not important.  I personally don’t care what the president said in his first press conference in response to a strike on an embassy.  I don’t care what Romney left out of his Republican National Convention speech.  I definitely never care about what the polls are telling us, nor do I care about Obama’s beer factory or Romney’s dog.

Here’s what I do care about.

I care about freedom of choice, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedoms of due process, and all the other freedoms guaranteed in the constitution.

I do not care about freedom to avoid parental responsibilities, freedom of food, freedom of healthcare, freedom of education, freedom of employment, and freedom of tax exemption.

Note the words, “I do not care about” are not equal to the phrase, “I am against…”

The first freedoms I mentioned are very expensive, however I believe that they’re worth paying for at ALL COSTS.

The second list of freedoms is also very expensive, but they are not worth paying for until we become a very very rich nation.  I would love to buy anything I wanted, but the trouble is that I have a brain. If I can barely afford what I have now and attempt to buy more, then I risk losing all that I have. It is the same with our country. 

Always remember that a Democracy is the most expensive form of government.

I enjoy the famous quote by Francois Guisot (1787-1874): "Not to be a

republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is

proof of want of head."

This idea that the young dreamers with big hearts vote Democrat and the old realists with life experience and knowledge vote republican was just the case for myself.

When President Obama ran in 2008, I was just beginning to care about politics. I was beginning to be convinced that many aspects of the Republican party were old and irrelevant, while on the other hand many other aspects were old yet will forever be relevant.  Due to my Christian faith many social issues were Republican (abortion and traditional family).  However, since I was a student of science and thoroughly educated, I saw a few problems.  I distinctly remember an enormous amount of passion which I felt for alternate forms of energy, specifically nuclear energy.  Obama was definitely on my side here.  It just bothered me that old people and ignorant people could be so frightened of nuclear energy. It’s the greatest invention of all time! How could we not harvest it? Why do we continue to ruin our planet with dirty fossil fuels? One other topic close to me was immigration.  I didn’t understand the politics of immigration, but it seemed like Latinos liked Obama more, and since I love Latinos, then I also thought Obama could do something more for them. One last thing about republicans is that I didn’t like war. I believed that we were only in the Middle East for oil. I thought that Bush was never getting us out of there. I was honestly tired of war.

So I headed to the polls ready to vote in a presidential election for the first time in my life. I was ready to vote for Obama.  But then I told my wife, and she said no. I couldn’t cancel out her vote.  So I displayed wisdom, Happy wife=Happy life, and voted for old man McCain or whatever his name was.

Now it’s been 4 years and I’ve learned better.  And perhaps it’s thanks to president Obama.  Indeed he did many things as President, and in doing so it has never been easier to see the difference between our nation's two parties.  The left has moved very near to socialism and the right has responded in realigning itself to the rebel ideals of free market capitalism and independence founded by really old men from the 1700’s. 

Obama created the Affordable Care Act and the Tea Party arose out of nowhere in defiance.

Suddenly nuclear energy and immigration did not matter. These two parties were squaring off against each other over a much greater set of ideas.  A second did not pass until I knew which side I wanted to be on.

I’m young, but I have some international experience that few people get.  Add to that my formal education in Spanish and Latino-American history and I can tell you without a doubt that socialism is not only a path to poverty of freedoms but poverty of all temporal needs. Look at history, look at the present day Venezuela and Cuba.  Look at this old cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh75ylAUXY

And when I saw the pathway Obama was leading America, I didn’t like it.  I finally realized the difference between the fundamental way of thinking between the two parties.

We both want free healthcare, we both want to let kids be on their parents plan until they’re 27. We both want pre existing conditions to be irrelevant.  But the republicans say no.  Why? Well a Democrat will say “because they have no soul,” and the Republican will say “because we can’t afford it, because it gives government too much power, because it’s unconstitutional, and because this leads us one step closer to socialism and loss of freedoms.”

This same argument repeats itself for more issues:  We both want food stamps to be available for the poor, We both want Medicaid, and Medicare for all who apply. We both want all senior citizens to retire and live wonderfully at age 65, and we both want everyone everywhere to be rich. We both want everyone to have an equal chance at achieving the American Dream. We both want to judge everyone and if someone has a statistical lesser advantage for financial success well by golly we should give them a handout and equal the playing field.  But the Republicans often say no. And is it because they have no soul, or as I believe, they know better. These are dreams that aren't possible without putting our more important freedoms at risk.  This is eating our dessert instead of our vegetables.

And here is where the Democrats fail to understand the Republicans. How they can just let suffering occur? How can these heartless republicans ignore the suffering, the old, the poor, and the veterans?

This is where one of my extremist principles come into play. Specifically this is the principle I am most passionate about. Here comes some religion.

One of the fundamental reasons we are placed on this Earth by God is to experience Charity, the love of God. Although the Democratic party boasts to have more Charity, it literally destroys it. Charity is the responsibility of the individual and not the government.  If you vote for someone because they’ll take care of the poor people for you, then they are inherently stripping you of your ability to feel one of the greatest joys in life. Real charity is never experienced by voting to have money taken from the rich and given to the poor.  Real charity occurs by working extra hard so that you can sustain yourself and have some leftover to donate to those less fortunate. It  is an opportunity that nobody should ever shrug off.  Charity and love holds families together and it can hold a community, a city, and our nation together.  There needs to remain a bond between all of us if we want to stay a United States of America.  When we give up that responsibility to the government, letting it become the steward of charity, then perhaps the poor get fed but the love that individuals feel is gone, only rarely being echoed in the hollowness of political speakers. I would like to have the right to give 20% of my earnings to charity, instead of having the government take that same 20% by force to feed the poor and support the elderly.  And now to consider those who are in need of help; consider the difference between waiting in line for the government to give you what you HAVE A RIGHT to receive versus being visited by someone who is willing to give of his/her own earnings to help you for the time being.  Who is more grateful? Which situation builds a greater country? And in which situation is there CHARITY? 

I watched a documentary about the changes made in Iran only a few years ago. A woman from Tehran said that before Iran became a religious state, she would wear her veil. It was a symbol of her commitment to God. It was sacred to her. Now all women are required by law to be veiled.  She said that this new government had robbed her of her religion, in the name of religion. What once was sacred is now despised.  It is the same with Charity.

But wait, you say, I don't want love. I want food. Love doesn't feed my babies.  Well of course it doesn't! Family must feed your babies, Religious organizations feed your babies.  There are non profit agencies all over the place where good people are volunteering to save those in need. Where the government to allot this responsibility to it's people and give them the opportunity to feed themselves and feel charity then do you think we could do it?  I not only believe we could be more productive than the government, I believe it would save our souls.

I have much much more to say. If anyone has any specific requests for me to describe my views on the family, abortion, immigration, foreign policy or anything else, then send me your opinion first and I will send you mine later.  (Oh and by the way my opinion on renewable energy has changed) These things take time to explain and that is not something I have much of.

Remember that understanding yields peace, not contention. My purpose is to help you understand me, and why I voted for Mitt Romney.

Love yall!
-Bradly Larson