Today I was at the usual study group before Interpretive Methods and we were talking about the midterm elections. Eric is quite political and was very thrilled with the results. The rest of our group is solidly Democrat, and I’m good with the House reversal because perhaps a Democratic house vs GOP-ist everything else will just lead to a government that can get less done. I maintain that because there is no coming Libertarian Revolution, the best scenario for me is a government that can’t get anything done.

(Still waiting to hear on the Senate.)

I was only half listening to the discussion, but I definitely heard “…and we’re all liberals,” said in the tone that, of course we’re all liberals, because to not be a liberal is to be the worst of all political demons. To not be a liberal is to automatically be against abortion, to be homophobic, and a number of other sins.

Lucky for me, I hadn’t even begun to shake my head before Eric pipped in with “No…”

And I interuppted with “Actually, I consider myself a conservative.”

Of course, I am a liberal in the “classic” sense of the word, but word does not invoke that connotation and therefore, I do not want to be that word.

There are 101 reasons why I do not consider myself a liberal, most of which are probably obvious for anyone who has read any of my political nonsense. I guess what bugs is the assumption that because I am a well-educated, relatively intelligent person, then I MUST be a liberal, because to be an thing else would just be silly. Add in the fact that I was raised in the Northeast by former hippies and that I’m Jewish and my political affiliation is probably even more puzzling.

(My parents don’t like that I’m a libertarian either. They think it’s a late teenager rebellion)