Hi from a Centre-Right Libertarian ( Minarchist )
Hi I'm 32 ( nearly ) & a Centre-Right Libertarian from Worcester.
I got into Politics from a very young age & by the time I was 16, I knew I was a Libertarian. While studying A Level Philosophy & Politics at 16, I began to read a lot of books by Robert Anton Wilson, Ayn Rand & Robert Nozick. It was Wilsons books that first got me interested in Libertarianism & then I got into the less deep but more dry books by Freidman & Hayek.
I voted for Conservatives when old enough to vote, despite disliking their Authoritarian approach to Civil Liberties.
In 2001 I read Libertarian book ' Saturns Children' by Alan Duncan MP & when Portillo stood as candidate for Leader I joined The Conservative Party. Shortly after IDS became Leader I realised that the Party wasn't Libertarian enough or Eurosceptic enough for me.
In 2004 I voted UKIP for the 1st time & got more interested in their policies but got put off by Kilroy. I eventually joined the party & stood in Worcester City Council elections.
After meeting lots of UKIP members who I found to be Thatcherite Authoritarian Social Conservative, I started to doubt if it was the party for me. Their was a small Minarchist element in the party but they were out numbered by the Thatcherites.
In October I went to the Libdem conference in Brighton to support Nigel Farage who was debating with Chris Davies MEP. I managed to speak to David Laws MP & despite reading ' The Orange Book ', I hadn't realised how close to being a Libertarian he really was. Libdems had dropped their 50% top rate of income Tax, pledged to hold a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU & were campaigning hard against ID cards. I had a lot more in common with them than I realised. A few weeks later Nick Clegg was on news saying he would rather go to prison that have an ID card & then said he was standing for Leader of the Party. With Nick Clegg being a Centre-Right Liberal & David Laws a right wing Liberal, I joined the Party.
Shortly after joining the Libdems however, I read of the launch of the new Libertarian Party of the United Kingdom in January. I will be actively involved in this Party but it may take some time to get candidates in place. During this time I will support a Party that has Nick Clegg as its Leader & David Laws as Shadow Chancellor.
Following Robert Anton Wilsons influence years ago, I got into NLP. I now work as a NLP Practioner & Ericksonian Hypnotherapist.
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