Recently, I wrote one of my favorite Ranger fire team leaders about some internal conflicts I had about the current U.S. government and the political ideologies that proliferate it. Never in my life have I seen the nation so divided when it comes to politics. On a personal level, I’ve always been conflicted over what political party I should be affiliated with. While I have certain conservative views on things, I also – because of my nature – have what some would call liberal views. These liberal views include feminism, equal rights regardless of race, gender or sexuality, prison reform, and even some socialist views (socialist as in prioritizing funding for social services and college education for American citizens who can’t afford it).

Although I hold many liberal views, I also hold some conservative views when it comes to certain economic and defense policies. Additionally, it goes without saying that I am ultimately against government control – a stance that some would label Libertarian or even anarchistic. Ultimately, the root of my political stance originates in the ideal that the individual should be protected from government control and oppression. Furthermore, my political stance is also foundationally rooted in the ideal that Americans should be able to decide who and what they are without being labeled by conservative puritanical politicians or irrational Marxists.

With concern about the Republican versus Democrat clash presently happening in Washington and, because of my internal political conflict, I reached out to my fire team leader. Since leaving the service, has graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science.

This is what he had to say:

Regarding your political perspective on America, I agree with everything you said. You say that you notice that your professors are liberal – many even lean towards socialism or communism and you feel conflicted because of your view of liberal and conservative political views. I have a couple of things on that. Professors are constrained as best they are to facts and rationality. It is with this constraint that they engage with the world. As you understand, the world is complicated and unjust. Professors therefore look at the world and recognize this truth because they respect truth and rationality.

I don’t mean to say that conservatives are not untruthful and irrational. They recognize their own truth, but they, by their nature, prefer that the world stay the way it is. As previously established, the world they wish to preserve is unjust. Conservatives, therefore, are satisfied with an unjust world. I am not. If we accept the country as it is, we commit an unpatriotic act. We can be proud of where we are, but we must continue to work to allow America to represent the values contained within the Declaration of Independence.

I think I understand your reticence to being considered liberal. After all, conservatives purport to be the law and order party. They claim to be patriotic and tough. The rational that follows is that liberals are somehow deficient of those qualities. However, the Republican Party has built into its strategy to appear as though it owns patriotism and strength. Keep in mind that no one has a monopoly on patriotism and compassion doesn’t make you weak.

When I received and read his letter, much of what my team leader said hit home for me.

Being in prison I am bombarded daily by stagnant mindsets, from inmates and officers alike, that want nothing to do with change and everything to do with maintaining the status quo. Their mentality seems to be: “keep everyone oppressed, keep them quiet, punish those who get out of line, provide inadequate access to healthcare, and make the DOC employees’ life easier at the expense of the people who are incarcerated.

If conservatives want to “keep the world as it is” then I have never been and never will be conservative. If what my team leader said about the conservative party is true, then all the unnecessary suffering I have witnessed in prison originates from a stagnant conservative mentality of “keeping things the same.” This blog is a testimony to the fact that I am in absolute opposition to this mentality.

To be frank, I do not consider myself a democrat either. While I may be emphatically liberal, I do not believe in policing language, expression or religion. Additionally, while I may have some socialist ideals, none of those ideals are for the U.S. becoming a communistic state. (The last thing I want is for our nation to become like China, the old Soviet Union or North Korea.)

At the end of the day I want people to be able to walk out of their homes without fear of being oppressed by religious or political extremists. I want all Americans to have the opportunity to thrive in our nation regardless of skin color, sex, gender identity, sexuality or culture.

As you read this post, I hope, at the very least, that it helps you wrap your head around American politics. I would personally like to see our nation working together to address issues instead of squabbling over everything (but maybe that’s just the nature of politics). Ultimately, I aim to protect the rights and freedoms of all Americans, including yours. In the future, I would like to see our nation unified.