One Good Thing about Obamamania

For the past few months I've struggled find the right way to relate to supporters of Barack Obama. In spite of glaring philosophical differences, the Obama movement is similar to the the Ron Paul movement in one very important way: the ability to draw young people to rallies. Sure, attendance at an Obama rally dwarfs any venue featuring Dr. Paul, but the diverse groups of young people attending both rallies is a cause for optimism. Obama's eloquent speeches and his fresh promises to "change" Washington have resonated well with young democrats, but exactly what Obama plans to change and how he plans to achieve his objectives remains to be seen. Similarly, Dr. Paul's brand of conservatism and steadfast devotion to Constitutional principles have struck a chord with a portion of young people, but his support was not widespread enough as Dr. Paul came up short in the primaries.

Although I disagree with Obama's stance on nearly everything and believe he is no different than any Republican candidate (save Ron Paul, of course), I see a silver lining concerning voter ignorance when it comes to differences between Republican and Democrats this fall. As a new convert to the non-voting ideology, I see enormous potential for growth of the voluntaryist/non-voting libertarian movement should Obama become our next President.

I'm no expert on the inner-workings of every Obama supporter, but because a large contingent of my friends are die-hard supporters of his, I'm familiar with the general underlying principles guiding them to cast their vote for the Democratic nominee. Like (hopefully) every voting American, all of my friends are hard-working, intelligent, rational people who pride themselves on keeping up with current events and making their own decisions. Politically, Obama supporters may differ on a few minor details here and there, but in general they are united toward the common goal of ensuring America does not elect another George Bush. On this point, I wholeheartedly agree: another George Bush-like president would be disastrous for America. Electing another warmongering, spend-happy, government-expanding lunatic would bankrupt the country as well as further diminish American credibility overseas.

I've had numerous conversations with Obama supporters. To be sure, you're more likely to have a civilized discussion with Obama supporters than McCain supporters. Perhaps unsurprisingly, because Obama himself has yet to outline the specifics of the "changes" he plans to bring to Washington, his supporters are also infected with a vocabulary full of cliches and slogans. In short, the Obama movement is strong on faith, but weak on details. It has been said that faith can move mountains, although I'm not sure that statement applies to big-time American politics. It is here I find reason for hope in swelling the ranks of the non-voting movement.

The reason for my optimism is perhaps best conveyed by telling a story.

A friend of mine likes to recall a story from his high school days about the first girl he ever loved. The way he describes it, he was obsessed with this woman. She was beautiful, smart, witty, etc. all the things a hormone-crazed high schooler values at such a tender age. He was convinced they were going to be married and live happily ever after - until that pesky thing called college got in the way. My friend went to a military school, I don't know where (or if) she attended college. They broke up after about a year of trying to make the long distance relationship work, and it took my friend a long time to get over the loss.

Looking back, my friend now candidly admits he allowed his ex-girlfriend to walk all over him. Whatever she wanted or was interested in became my friend's top priority - without question. (His friends as well as his brother still give him grief about how 'swept away' he was by this woman).

The most entertaining/meaningful part of the story is when my friend recalls a conversation he had with his father shortly after his girlfriend broke up with him. My friend was (understandably) distraught, enraged, perhaps a little depressed. He described for me in detail what was an hour-long rant about how his life would never be the same after losing his girlfriend, and how being at a military school was not helping matters. Indeed, what had once seemed an achievable goal for him had vanished...and of course my friend looked to his father for wisdom and advice.

His father's reaction was priceless: he laughed. My friend's father laughed at his downtrodden son, telling him "this is the best thing that could have ever happened to you, son - you're going to learn a lot from this!" At the time, my friend couldn't believe his father would laugh at him when he looked to him for advice and/or consolation...today, of course, he sees the wisdom in his father's laughter.

And thus my reason for optimism regarding the voluntaryist/non-voting libertarian movement in the upcoming election: I see President Obama breaking the hearts of a lot of his emotional supporters who, in their quest for change, willingly overlooked the danger signals emitting from the Obama camp. When distraught Obama supporters reflect upon why they voted for a man who promised change but instead delivered more of the status quo, I hope they realize the inherent evil in voting and disengage from the system altogether. And when Obama supporters realize this important lesson, the voluntaryist/non-voting libertarian movement will be waiting with open arms - no laughter needed.