This was more than a vote for the Gay Community, it was deciding whether to support Libertarianism or not.
Even though I have spent lots of my life earlier on the more ‘unpopular’ end of the political spectrum, it was strangely usual for me taking a populist position on politics.
The ‘YES’ vote is a reference to the Australian Postal Vote on whether we will change the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry.
I had a lot of people ask me about my position on the issue, especially with many on the ‘fence’ using my own logic to build their own political thinking to make a well thought out decision on the issue.
Some also as well (more the people that don’t know me), also found it odd that I was a proponent of YES in that I am a Christian, Pro-Trump, an Active Australian Liberal and someone who is a fan of nationalism.
Even though I have always ‘emotionally’ been in the pro LGBT camp, I asked myself lots of the hard questions and rethought my position through before voting. Be it YES or NO, my position would be well thought out and it was my principles on Libertarianism that drove me to overwhelmingly support the YES side of arguments (and dismiss the weak NO arguments).
Libertarianism is an important term to understand in that it’s the basis of Western Civilisation and one of the key reasons we have outperformed all other civilisations that have existed. Like my Iranian Islamic father who came to Australia fleeing political persecution; he is a very cool guy and if you ask him in his own words why he came he will tell you it such exact words that it’s the “freedom, safety and choices” you have in Australia.
Like my wonderful Chinese Wife & Asian side of the family; they came out here for a better life and it’s no wonder that Australia is a nation of immigrants. Even my wonderful friends from Central & Eastern Europe love Australia from the point of view of higher wages, a quality of life and strong safety.
Libertarianism is a core part of this thinking and with thanks to Wikipedia, this means;
- “Libertarianism is a collection of political philosophies and movements that uphold liberty as a core principle. Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing freedom of choice, voluntary association, individual judgment, and self-ownership.”
If you then go to the Liberal Party of Australia website and visit ‘About’, key paragraphs say:
- “In the inalienable rights and freedoms of all peoples; and we work towards a lean government that minimises interference in our daily lives; and maximises individual and private sector initiative” &
- “In equal opportunity for all Australians; and the encouragement and facilitation of wealth so that all may enjoy the highest possible standards of living, health, education and social justice.”
As you work through these different definitions and understand what ‘Liberty’ means and the strength of Western Civilisation, it gets harder and harder to justify blocking gay marriage. What makes our society so free is the fact that people do have personal freedoms to marry who they want, not marry who they want and have freedom of thought, worship and political beliefs.
Think of the opposite to this for the moment! I would shriek at the thought in that I would have to belief something because if I don’t, I will get arrested, imprisoned, lose my job or worse?
Or let’s say I am not allowed to believe something because of religious dogma?
Perhaps just because someone was born a certain way they aren’t allowed to marry someone because they are immoral, horrible people?
That is where this discussion gets interesting in that when I have had debates with the ‘NO’ camp, I either get called names or they throw religious dogma at me. As for the ‘children’ argument, gays already look after children in Australia and it hasn’t started raining frogs or hellfire yet.
Basically, it comes down to this type of thinking; if you don’t support the YES argument you probably aren’t much of a Libertarian. That is great of course in that there are many different modes of thinking and lots of the world are not ‘Libertarian’s’ and don’t believe in personal freedom.
However, we do. Living under any form of oppression isn’t fun and there is a reason why Australia is one of the top countries in the world
Still, I think Gay Marriage is going to be a 50 / 50 game. Unfortunately, the YES camp has done a very poor job of arguing it position through it’s unfair acts against the NO camp. The SMS spamming from the YES camp, the political violence directed at Conservatives and the like is only undermining our position.
So YES or NO? Think it through and vote with your conscience. Just keep Libertarianism and Western Civilisation in the back of your mind as you do it.
Love your work, god bless everyone and to this one playing out!
No responses yet