ConZervative

I spent a lot of time poring over Milo's content, both on his YouTube and in his writing, to try and find my own evidence that he believed the things his enemies said he did. For a while I told myself that, even though a lot of what he said resonated with me, I was looking into him because I disagreed. I couldn't wait to find the evidence I was looking for, because my brain was so conflicted.

See, back then, I thought I was a liberal. Or at least, I thought it would be unnatural for me to be otherwise. I also thought that my predispositions, as I'd never heard them validated or spoken aloud by anyone other than myself, were probably immoral.

So as I listened to the first young, edgy conservative I'd ever heard, my brain was on overdrive. Things he was saying were making sense, and my feeling of misplacement among my peers started to melt away. Even the things he said that I didn't agree with were opening my eyes.

I started wanting to hear more. I switched from the “videos” section of his channel to the “playlists” section. I put it on autoplay. I got out my knitting. I tried my best to listen.

But nothing made me want to watch more than the protests I saw. People my age – grown adults – throwing tantrums at other people's opinions just did it for me. Validated my suspicions that all wasn't as it seems.

And I was disappointed. My favorite video to watch, even though it wasn't technically his own video, was the one of him, Stephen Crowder (who is hilarious), and Christina Hoff-Sommers (an amazing woman) speaking at a school in my own state. I was appalled at how people my age – grown adults, capable of making huge financial and personal decisions – couldn't handle a difference of opinion.

I think that's another reason I really want to write, to speak out; to say that we're not all this entitled, we're not all this desperate to be right, we're not all unable to hear discord. In fact, some of us want to be the discord.

So I said at the beginning that I am a Conservative Libertarian. I think the blog as a whole will be a good way to learn what those terms mean, but if you're wanting an up-front touch-base then let's go for it.

Conservatives are typically people who believe in traditional values and the wisdom handed down from earlier generations. We believe that human beings are easily swayed and corrupted and led to selfish ways, and that we need to hold each other accountable. We do not believe that the government has a place in any of this. In fact, since human beings and governments are easily corrupted, we believe it is safer to have a very weak government. This way, when it falls into the wrong hands, which it always will, those hands can't do much harm with it. Russian Roulette with water pistols.

On the flipside, Progressives are the types of people who believe in breaking the status quo, challenging the ways of life and the ruts that the world can sometimes get into. They tend to believe in scrapping systems and building them new, but they can go overboard and challenge things that are necessary for human happiness, which I'll talk about when we get to the Feminist movements.

Obviously both are very important and there is a lot of proof of that in the world. They are like the two hemispheres of the brain, one very stable and logical, and one very imaginative and creative.

I am a conservative because I believe that we've had a lot right for a long time in this country. We've made a country that's way above the world poverty line, and where most everyone gets a say. We did a good job, this time. I want to keep it a good job. I'm a woman and that has never been anything but an advantage for me. I am sad at the plight of men in the millennial generation, and I fear for the ones in my own.

But there aren't only two sides to the political spectrum. If you think of it like the left and right of a horizontal line, then add a vertical line through the middle. At the top, imagine the word Libertarian. At the bottom, add the word Authoritarian.

Libertarians believe that no matter what side of the horizontal line you personally fall on, you shouldn't use the government to impose those beliefs on your fellow countrymen. Anyone can be a libertarian, whether they believe in ancient wisdom or modern progress, as long as their beliefs aren't something they try to make others conform to.

Authoritarians are people who want to use the government to prohibit or force certain types of behavior on others. Forcing people to buy certain things (like health insurance) or prohibiting certain things (like the consumption of certain substances) is authoritarian.

I am a Libertarian because I believe that people have certain rights, and as long as they're not impinging upon anyone elses rights, they should be able to act in any way they see fit.

This sounds great to people until you take it to its extremes, which I do. I do not believe that it's okay for the government to have a say in what anyone can do on their own property – unless they are taking away someone's rights. I don't support any laws against controlled substances, alcohol, etc.

So to sum it up, a Conservative Libertarian is someone who, basically, believes in traditional values like honesty and integrity and personal responsibility and uses those in their life, but who also does not want to use the government to restrict anyone's life. Someone who wants the freedom to be as Conservative as they are without fear, and wants others to have the freedom to be as Progressive as they are without fear.

Sounds kinda nice? Yeah?

My enlightenment – or what it's been so far – started a few years after I got married. Things weren't working out and ultimately wouldn't, but I remember an afternoon when I got home from work and Philip DeFranco was on one of our Facebook feeds. I liked his news because he was an OG YouTuber and seemed to want to keep things pretty unbiased, most of the time. I respected him too because he was young but had already made such a huge name for himself.

Anyway, I think the video I saw was just one of the snapshots of a larger video, like those sixty second preview type things he does. It was talking about a book deal gone south, and I remember being fascinated because he showed the author's face and it looked so intelligent. I think I was 19. I heard that the publisher had backed out of the contract because they had decided the contents of the book were too controversial and they didn't want to appear to promote the ideas.

If you've been keeping up with things the past few years, especially the state of things in Europe, then you'll know I'm talking about Milo Yiannopolous and the book he wrote, “Dangerous,” which allegedly contained many controversial, “dangerous” topics.

At the time, I didn't have any more information than that, but I was really curious and conflicted; on one hand, of course the publishing company would be hesitant to publish anything that, in the view of the people, was repulsive or controversial. But on the other hand, it's not okay to break contract because of political views. Right?

That was the day I started to get curious. In the past, the term “White Supremacist” was never really used around me, because there weren't any where I lived, for the most part. There was no need to talk about them in school. So to hear people call this man a white supremacist was so surprising.

Initially, I only Googled him because I assumed it was true, and I wanted to know what actual reasons a white supremacist thought he had to believe the way he did. Kind of like Googling the flat earth society and reading and laughing and crying a little.

That one search started a whole new self-discovery for me.

***Disclaimer

Over the course of this blog I plan to reference, quote, and speak highly of plenty of people for various reasons and to various goals. This won't always mean I endorse their beliefs or support their aims. Usually, the people I reference will have been useful tools for me in broadening the scope of opinions I've heard, and not in shaping my actual opinions. For example, although my discovery of Milo and his interactions with members of the millennial generation was a huge eye-opener and led to my eventual intellectual independence, there are plenty of things he has said that I do not necessarily agree with.

Hello! I'm a conservative libertarian and a Gen Z, hence the title. I've been thinking for a while about getting my perspective out into the world via an anonymous blog, since these days being conservative can get you in trouble, especially in certain fields of work and – well, I'd like to keep my job.

A little bit about me – I'm 22, female, born smack in the middle of 1996 (in June) so basically I had my pick about which generation I was going to call myself. It was obvious early on, though, that I certainly wasn't a millennial.

I grew up and still live in very liberal-leaning state, but in a township that (at least these days) might be considered more moderate, so you'll still get a few people who lean left.

I'm pretty sure I've always believed the things I believe right now, but since the public school system in my state is so liberal-leaning, I didn't even know that the word “conservative” existed, let alone that it describes me. Same with the word “libertarian.”

After I was out of high school and married, I started to realize that there were other perspectives I hadn't heard before, and hearing them helped me break my bubble and grow intellectually.

The reason I'd like to write about my experiences over the last four years or so are twofold; I have always loved to write and needed something I was passionate about to fuel that dream, and I believe that through writing them, my opinions might become more honed.

If you're the way I used to be, and think that politics/ethics are a waste of time, then that's alright – I understand completely. In fact, for a lot of people, they certainly are.

But if you're the way I used to be, where the kids in school didn't make much sense to you, and you didn't understand why the country was moving so far away from it's founding principles, but you never said anything because every time you tried everyone looked at you like you were weird or not with the times, then maybe I can help clarify some stuff for you.

And if you're the way I am now, and you've realized that the school system didn't let us in on a lot of truths we really needed, and you're looking for an outlet or someone to listen to, you can keep reading, or find the chapter on my inspirations, men and women who are much, much smarter than I am.

Thanks for reading!

The ConZervative