American Heathen®

This is a little introduction about who I am and why I’m here…

I am David 2, a freelance writer in the greater Atlanta area.  I have been a freelance writer for many years, amongst all of the other fun things that I have done.

I started with a weekly online column originally called “From the Cage of the Beast“.  The first article was published on April 1st, 1996.  The column eventually became known as “Brutally Honest“, and I am still writing for that column today, albeit through a different host.

Not long after that, I was contacted by an online radio host who had been reading my columns on his show and wanted to see if I would be willing to do a weekly broadcast on his station.  This was the start of the Talk Liberty Network and the premiere show for that network back in 1999 was called “Brutally Honest – LIVE”.  (I even created the lead-in clip for the network.) Sadly, that network did not last.

For several years, I continued on my own with special audio rants, along with my weekly column, but they weren’t the same as doing an actual radio show.

After listening to various radio shows, including Freethought Radio, I came across RJ’s program called “American Heathen®”.  Eventually I joined in, first as a caller, and then as a regular contributor, and then in 2008, “Brutally Honest” was resurrected on ShockNet Radio.

It’s not all that I’m doing, of course.  For more about the various projects I work on, check out my omnibus production website Get Brutal Productions.

So that’s how I got here… now let’s get to the meat of the matter…

I am a libertarian.  That means I appreciate INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM.  I am NOT an anarchist.  An anarchist believes in the complete absence of government.  I believe that there IS a role and a place for government, but that it is LIMITED.

There IS  a difference between being a libertarian and being an anarchist, just as there is a difference between being a conservative and being a fascist, and just as there is a difference between being a liberal and being a communist.  If you cannot see those differences, then your mind could very well be warped by too much political extremism.

I support individuals, not corporations.  For me, freedom is an INDIVIDUAL concept.  Corporations are NOT people, no matter how much money they throw about in campaigns, and no matter how many candidates they buy like hookers.   Worshiping Mammon is just as dangerous as any other religious belief, only they don’t want coverts; they just want all of your money.

I am not an atheist.  I do believe in something greater, but my beliefs are my own.  Maybe what I believe in is really just an intellectual teddy bear.  Maybe it’s just me trying to explain the lousy cosmic hand that I was dealt with.  That’s up to me to figure out.  I don’t pretend to have all the answers, and my beliefs do not compel me to make anyone else believe the same way that I do, nor do my beliefs depend on having everyone else think like I do in order for those beliefs to be validated.  That is what separates myself from many others, what makes my beliefs unique, and it is also at the very HEART of what religious freedom is all about.

I take issue with organized religion.  I understand that not everyone believes like I do.  I understand that not everyone can be secure enough to develop their own beliefs.  But when the people behind that organized religion decide that they should be the sole authority and sole perspective for EVERYTHING in this universe, then they have a problem on their hands.

I take issue with an over-reliance on polls.  Yes, I’ll post polls here (and already have done so), but I also wouldn’t try to spin the idea that the results of that poll are anywhere near an accurate representation of society in general.  Trust me, if Internet polls were an accurate reflection of America, then the current President of the United States would be Dr. Ron Paul!  I also take issue with those who think that polls should override individual freedom.  Individual freedom is the framework to ANY kind of truly free society, not the momentary whims of a majority. (By the way, you’ll find many of America’s key founding fathers agree with me on this.)

If you want to know what a democracy is, then picture two wolves and one lamb voting on what to have for dinner… which only works if you’re not the lamb!  Looks like it’s gyro sandwiches again.

One more thing… sometimes the things I post may seem to be too simplistic.  Sometimes being an intellectual makes us our own worst enemy.  As someone who has been involved with computers since the days of the TRS-80, I have seen a great divide between those that know and those that do not, and unfortunately being a “tech-head” has sometimes drove the great unwashed into believing that they must be “techno-illiterate” and relish in it.  This push towards ignorance can be just as bad as any organized religion.

As an online commentator for over 15 years now, I can tell you from experience that sometimes you have to convey things in a way that MOST people will understand.   Maybe not accept, but certainly understand.