"A
foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little
statesmen and philosophers and divines." Ralph Waldo Emerson
The first political issue that I remember being
interested in was affirmative action.
I had watched a TV6 editorial that argued that affirmative action was
itself wrongful discrimination, I agreed, and affirmative action became the
subject of a paper I had to write for my sixth grade English class. Thereafter, politics and debate became
something I enjoyed immensely.
I majored in economics and political science in
college and then attended law school.
I did volunteer work, for college credit, on George W. Bush’s first
campaign for President. I was more
of a libertarian than a republican, but I was clearly not likely to vote for a
Democrat unless they ran on a gay marriage or legalize marijuana platform,
which at that time Democrats shied away from. My views were pretty unwavering from middle school through
law school. Individual
responsibility, free markets, equality of opportunity not equality of outcome,
and consistent application of laws and principles were cornerstones of my own
political and economic philosophy.
Then I graduated from law school, entered the “real
world” and slowly but surely began to question many of the things I believed so
strongly before. I struggled, made
it through some rough spots in my life, and questioned rugged individualism. It’s not that I threw out my prior
beliefs. It’s just that I began to
question how far you take a principle.
When I was in college I was puzzled by one of my economics professors,
who was exceptionally bright and very fiscally conservative and who told me
that he thought social security was good policy because, “You don’t want people
dying in the street.” I thought
social security was one step away from communism. I didn’t understand how he could justify what I viewed as an
inconsistency in his personal political and economic philosophy.
I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 because he is an
African-American. My first child
was not born until 2011, but I remember thinking and telling people, “I don’t
want my kids to grow-up in a country were only white guys can be
President.” I still don’t think
affirmative action in the form of quotas is good policy. However, I am less certain that race
should never be a consideration because “white privilege” exists and very few
things in life are actually “merit based” anyway. Life’s not perfect, so I can handle a little inconsistency
if it makes our society better off.
It’s looking like Hillary Clinton will be the
Democratic nominee for President in 2016.
If not Hillary Clinton, I would put money on it that the nominee will still
be a woman. I think Democrats know
if they nominate a woman, they’ll win.
If Republicans want to prevent that, they should also nominate a
woman. That would take the thunder
out of voting for Hillary Clinton for many people, like me, because either way
a woman would win. I am not
particularly excited about Hillary Clinton, but I want a female to be elected
President in 2016. It’s time. It’s long over due. My mother always told me, “You can be
whatever you want to be” and I believed her. My first daughter is about to be born any day now, and I’d
like her to believe she can be whatever she wants to be.
That’s My Argument.
© Brandon J. Evans December 2014
