Anyways, a lot of these essays are in regards to my life, some instances of which some of you have been involved. So I thought you might find these little insights interesting.
Here goes...
Revolutionary Revelations
by RD Caruso, April 2006
Often in our life, we strive to fit into the proverbial political "mold" by seeking a classification simply to have one. Equally often we are uneducated in details of politics and their backgrounds. When we achieve that education, it reveals a deeper understanding for us. This being what is written or spoken about the practice of politics, is not always what it had appeared to be. That is where we begin developing a personal political ideology.
The journey towards building a political platform of my own began when I was a young child. I developed a system based upon my own political idealisms, aspirations and goals, and called it "Communitarianism". In effect, it had much the same ideology as that of Communism, but lacked the totalitarian extremes like the revolutionary ideas espoused by Marx and Trotsky. My "vision" was one of pure democracy, even if I didn't know what that fully embodied. It was a simple desire to see everyone treated equally and fairly under the government, instead of what I viewed as a state dominated by money and self-serving interests.
It wasn't until I was in my teens however and started using the internet that I became more educated in the details surrounding politics and ideologies. The vast variety of information and interaction with other people that was made available to me increased my knowledge tenfold. It was a very gratifying point in my life as I was able to correspond with people of similar interests as my own. As I continued my search for an ideological niche, I became aware of social democracy - a political platform very similar to my own ideals. At the behest of several longtime correspondents, I joined the SDPA (Social Democratic Party of America).
Upon my entrance to the SDPA, I felt uneasy about the situation. A pricey membership fee to a group which loudly abhorred money struck me as an immediate oddity. But I shrugged it off as a single incident, irrelevant to the greater good of the whole, and trudged forward as a good member of the party. After all, I was still new to being a member of a real political party and had yet to learn the ropes.
I communicated with other members through the internet, which seemed the primary method for participants. In this way I was introduced to many new people, all of whom were social democrats. The members of the SDPA were initially friendly to me, a newcomer, and welcomed me to the fold. But it was not long before this situation changed as I voiced my own opinions and ideas. Social Democracy, it seemed, was not so open to change and freedom as its platform had claimed. As I attempted to justify issues on the basis of right and wrong, my comments were rebuked as anti-party drivel, or scoffed at for playing lap-dog to Republicans. Suddenly I had become the subject of the SDPA's scorn.
During the course of roughly two years, my ability to review issues had grown considerably, and also by my late teens I became well-versed in politics and history. I placed a value on issues based on whether they were relevant, met the needs of the average citizen adequately, or were similarly justifiable. It didn't matter, nor did it occur to me, that issues could or would be blacklisted simply for having the support of a party not aligned with the SDPA. It was a shock to me that I was verbally attacked and my character belittled. Standing my ground, I confronted those who attacked my opinions and tried to talk sense into them, only to quickly discover the majority of the community had made an about-face and I was no longer welcome.
For several more months I tried to remain within the SDPA, tempering my support for issues with detailed analysis. My efforts were not entirely in vain, and I managed to gain the backing of a number of other members. But it simply wasn't a large enough majority. The SDPA had brainwashed itself into a fixed mindset where anything outside of their "box" became bad. I couldn't tolerate this contradiction any longer, and so resigned from the party within a year.
By the time I had resigned, my position on politics had changed completely. Discovering that despite its ideal foundations, social democracy was not all it was said to be, it awoke in me that I too had been thinking within a box. All my life I had believed that what was stated by people could be trusted, especially in the case of something as large as a political party. Perhaps it was the naivety of youth that led to this belief. But whatever it was, it had been destroyed by these events. I had become a centrist, supporting neither left nor right-wing politics.
I have stayed true to the values I have always supported, but now with the understanding that I didn't need a party to support, or vice-versa. My mind has been opened to the fact that it is neither the party nor the politicians that we should follow. We need to build our understanding of politics based on our own beliefs, not that of others. When we do this and unmask politics, then we build for ourselves a personal ideology that is truly ours and ours alone.
