My name is Mike.  I live in a small, mountain, resort town in Montana. I moved here in 2005 and I love it here. I’ve wandered through a few other states on my journey to get here.  I was born in Milwaukee, grew up in New Jersey, and spent my early adulthood in Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) and Madison, Wisconsin.

I was raised in a politically mixed family.  My father has always been a Republican as far as I can tell.  My mother has never struck me as overtly political, but she definitely has liberal tendencies. My older sister is undoubtedly a liberal.  I’m not sure if she is a socialist, but she definitely is friends with several. (And I’m not throwing the term socialist around as an arbitrary insult, I’m talking about bonafide, self-identified socialists.)  Through my youth and early adulthood I sided with my father.  I was undeniably a young Republican.

As I got older and began to question everything, I continued to agree with Republicans on some issues and began to agree with Democrats on other issues. My time in Madison certainly contributed to that. You can’t help but be exposed to some liberal ideas in Madison, WI. I don’t recall when it was that I first understood what a libertarian is, but once I figured out that I am one, it was like turning on a light for me. There had always been some things about Republican policy that didn’t sit quite right with me. I knew I didn’t agree with Democrats, but something about being a Republican didn’t feel quite right. As the Religious Right gained more influence, the Republican party felt more and more uncomfortable to me.

I had always thought of politics along one axis and you were either right or left. The first time I ever heard the term libertarian, it was described to me as so far right that you’re partially left. It didn’t really make sense but I didn’t think much about it. When someone pointed out that it helps to think about the range of political beliefs along two axes: one regarding social issues and one regarding fiscal / economic issues, it again made things much easier to understand. It is possible to be liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues. It is called being libertarian. It is also possible to be conservative on social issues and liberal on economic issues where you basically believe that the government should have some level of control over every aspect of life. That’s stateism and I’d rather not talk about it.

I’ve been actively involved in local government since 2007 when I joined our city zoning commission. (If that isn’t proof that I am moderate in my libertarianism, I’m not sure what would be.) I was elected to City Council in 2010 and assumed office in 2011. All of our city and county positions are defined as non-partisan, so I wasn’t officially elected as a Libertarian. It’s a pretty small town though, so most people have a pretty good idea of how I think. I try to balance freedoms with responsibilities and I try to see things from multiple perspectives. I try to include the question “Does this increase or decrease the people’s freedoms?” in my considerations. I don’t always like my answer to that question, but life isn’t as simple as black and white.  I do my best to come to reasonable decisions.

I hope to help more people understand even just a little bit more about what it means to be a libertarian.  I hope that you will consider following along with me. I ask you to engage in the conversation with me.  Please share your reactions to my posts and your ideas for future posts. If you like my posts, I’d be honored if you would share my posts with others through your social media accounts.  Thanks.