The Path of This Young Conservative

My journey to conservatism began as a child. A love for country was instilled in me by my parents at a young age, though they did not sway me Left or Right politically. Rather they stressed right, wrong and common sense. The young love for country turned quickly into a passion for American history. I remember wide-eyed fascination as a child as we learned about Columbus, Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, religious freedom, colonists, tyrannical Kings, taxation without representation and the sacrifice of our founding fathers. George Washington was then, and still is now, of Superman stature in my mind. I know of the indoctrination in schools now. I've read excerpts of revisionist history from textbooks across the country. It is disgusting. I was lucky to have escaped that curriculum, as I was taught that our forebears were the heroic geniuses that they truly were.

This continued into middle school and high school, at least when it came to history teachers. I remember being shown Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" in a Government/Economics summer school course that was meant for those that struggle with such a subject, but I simply took to eliminate from my senior year schedule. My classmates in that class were largely convinced, as they were what Lenin would call, useful idiots. I, being raised an outdoors-man and avid hunter, already valued my 2nd Amendment right too much to fall for Moore's propagandumentary in a time where I was still discovering my own political leanings.

By the time the 2004 election came along, I was a senior in high school. I supported the troops, the efforts overseas in both Iraq and Afghanistan, took 9/11 personally (still do), and found myself supporting Bush over Kerry (much to my father's delight) in an election I was devastated to be too young to vote in (I didn't turn 18 until March, 2005). This led to a conversation with my father about the history of our country, the history of our family in this country, what conservatism is, who Ronald Reagan really was and what I believe in for this country. My father, the wise man that he is, let me do most of the talking (as he still does), only interjecting where my logic was lacking. I would challenge him. He would explain. I would learn, and more times than not find myself agreeing with him.

Then came graduation. Oh yes, a conservative, who had been a conservative all along, but had just really gone through a bit of self-discovery and revelation not 12 months prior, was to begin the walk through the liberal gauntlet known as college. I received C's on anti-immigration papers when I'd received A's on everything else in an English class. I was told by a professor in a "Social Change" course that class was to be cancelled and that we were to go watch Obama's campaign speech on campus "not to sway us politically, but just to see what he has to say." I slept in instead. I was lucky enough to fall into the enclave of the business school, which was set apart from the rest of the zany libtard antics that took place on the rest of campus. Thus  I graduated, a principled conservative, a tea party supporter, news junky, Beck loyalist, knowledge seeker and maybe most poignantly, job seeker.

Yes, I was one of the lucky college grads to enter the Bush/Obama job market. As the job search wore on, the country and its economy was "progressively" getting worse as the Obama administration delivered blow after Marxist blow. Seeing this, I entrenched myself in two things: 1. Trying to find a job. 2. Becoming a voice to defend America. The more vocal I became for the conservative cause, the more I questioned my experience to speak to such a thing. I was a lifelong student. I had never held anything more than a part-time job. How was I to be taken seriously as a conservative by fellow conservatives? How could I expel book learning and talking points without any life/job experience to back it up? I haven't let these questions stop me, only push me harder.

I have now obtained a full time job that I begin tomorrow. I shall embark on a new life experience and hope to grow as a man and a conservative through it. I have now begun this blog with no ideas of what I will fill it with in the future or how often. I can only promise this to myself and any readers: I expect the coming months to be a self-rediscovery. I shall find myself once again as I learn much more about myself in this new chapter of life. Meanwhile, I will continue vigilance, research, the fight to win our country back and restore its honor and its dignity. This new chapter begins tomorrow and I am honored to share it with you.

- Streep