There are many places I could have started when it comes to determining my core principles. To give a little background into why Respects Human Life is my ultimate, number one principle; I think it is important to start with a little background about myself.
First and foremost, I am a huge, and I mean HUGE, empath. For anyone who might be unfamiliar with the term, an empath is someone with a strong ability to comprehend or imagine the feelings of others and then to literally feel what that person is feeling. For example, when I am around someone who is suffering, I can feel that suffering as if it were my own. This has taught me many things.
First, it has taught me to see everyone as an individual. Every individual has their own struggles, their own triumphs. They are someone’s daughter, son, father, mother, aunt, sibling, best friend, etc. Their life has meaning and purpose, and they deserve the opportunity to live it and explore it to the fullest. And second, it has opened my eyes to the preciousness of life, the simplistic yet complex nature of being. It is truly something worth celebrating and preserving. Thus landing it as number 1 amongst my top principles.
The easiest place to start when assessing this principle is to look at the current perpetual state of undeclared war, we as American’s, find ourselves in. War and respect for life are total polar opposites. Don’t get me wrong, war at times is necessary. The number one obligation a government has to its people is to keep them safe. War, at times, is a consequence of doing this. It appears however, our political leaders and system has become quite fond of war for reasons other than national security. War is a lucrative and booming business. Weapons manufactures and big banks often profit from all sides of war.
I am sure you have heard the term Military Industrial Complex a time or two. If not, in short, it is the complex yet informal alliance between a nation’s military and the defense industry that supplies it. In his farewell speech, Dwight Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the unchecked influence of the Military Industrial Complex on our democracy. He foresaw the encroaching web of contractors and businesses specializing in military equipment and materiel, the beginning of a “permanent armaments industry”, one with vast influence over our political system. Today, we spend more money on national defense than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, United Kingdom and Japan combined. War is big business for many people, and those who are brave enough to speak out against it, often do so against their own best interest.
In the 2012 general election I was awoken to the influence of the armaments industry on our political system Eisenhower had warned about. Being only the second election I was eligible to vote in, I came into the process wanting to learn as much as possible. I took a real interest in getting to know as many of the candidates as I could, all while trying to keep an open mind and remain objective throughout the whole process.
The candidate that stood out the most to me was Dr. Ron Paul. He was the only one willing to say what others wouldn’t. To speak out against unconstitutional wars and to seek a foreign policy that didn’t thrive on interventionism or “policing the world”. A good amount of people bought into what he was saying and he was able to build a pretty impressive grassroots movement. Dr. Paul was clearly not in the pockets of Eisenhower’s military industrial complex and because if this, he was shunned and written off and often not even mentioned in news and media reporting.
Even John Stewart, one of the greatest political commentators ever, felt the need to point out the bias and did a great segment on the media completely ignoring Dr. Paul as a candidate. The connection and obvious collusion between politics, the media, and the military industrial complex became evident to me for the first time. This would also begin my journey toward becoming 100% independent from any political affiliations.
Fast forward to today and we have another outspoken, anti-war candidate in Tulsi Gabbard. The media tends to ignore her unless it is to roast her for traveling to Syria and meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for possible peace negotiations. Also consider Omar Ilhan, criticized by both political parties and the media for speaking out against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. And when Donald Trump said he was going to pull troops from Syria (a promise he later redacted), politicians from both sides and the media lost their minds. Eisenhower was right when he warned us of the dangers of an unchecked Military Industrial Complex. One who’s influence he believed had already reached every office of the federal government and had the “potential for a disastrous rise of misplaced power”.
There is little place for the respect for life amongst the military industrial complex. The bottom line for the armament industries is profit, not protecting American interest and security. This is why it is important to me to analysis and evaluate every politician, every story, every situation based on the influence of the Military Industrial Complex and the ensuing respect, or lack thereof, to life.
Of course, a principle pertaining to the respect for human life has more elements than just being anti-war. I try to approach all situations with the same standard. Including abortion, the death penalty, civil rights violations, healthcare, or any policy that directly or indirectly pertains to the respect for human life. It is the most important aspect of not just my political viewpoints, but of how I approach all things, including this blog. I look forward to divulging more into those topics in later posts.
I am grateful for the opportunity to share these thoughts with the world. Should you find yourself here, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions as part of an open and respectful dialogue aimed at gaining a better understanding of ourselves and of one another.
Principles over Party 