Bucking the Two-Party System

On the political spectrum, I have always considered myself a Conservative. However, this has never fully translated to being a Republican, despite the fervent belief by some of my more left-leaning friends. For me, I have always weighed candidate over party or issue over platform. Though aligning with the Republican platform on most issues, it has been difficult at times to tell whether the Republican Party is really any different than the Democratic Party. We seemingly get screwed no matter who is in office, with neither adhering to the core, Constitutional principles of the Founding Fathers. Much like Ronald Reagan when he switched parties in the early 1960s, I feel that the Republican Party has abandoned the vision rather than me abandoning them – all in an attempt to be almost Democratic-lite rather than Conservative-strong.

Holding to this idea, I recently seized upon the opportunity and joined a third political party – The American Conservative Party (A.C.P.). Perhaps if you're feeling the same sort of angst over the current political landscape in America, check out their platform and decide for yourself. After all, it's your individual right.

[From The American Conservative Party website:]

We Believe:

• the legitimacy of government exists only as long as it defends human liberty.
• the origin of human liberty predates government, and therefore liberty cannot be repealed by government.
• the existence of human liberty presupposes the right to defend it, and the basic right to live begets the rights of self-defense and free expression.
• the self-ownership evident in human liberty begets basic rights over one’s self and time, and that the right to pursue happiness and self-fulfillment originate here.
• the boundary of human liberty ends where it transgresses the rights of another. Jurisprudence exists to mediate disputes where the boundaries of more than one individual intersect.
• the armed forces and law enforcement exist to bolster private defense, not to supplant it.
• that the American Experiment was born out of these beliefs and that it has resulted in a bountiful gain for the human condition.

Read the rest here – Platform

©2010 Steve Sagarra