It is hard to stick to my principles, when in my personal life I am utterly alone. That is overstating the problem somewhat, but not much. None of my friends care about the encroaching police-state. Some of them even see it as a career opportunity. My family, even when they agree, think it is better to just keep their mouths shut. I was actually told "We agree with a lot of your ideas, but for us, it is easier to just deal with things." OK, just don't sacrifice me to the wolves. My girlfriend has suggested that I can keep my same opinions, but not tell anyone anymore. So, really, except for the few people I get letters or comments from online, it seems I am a lone crackpot.
After recent events where my online presence has been used against me, it makes me wonder what value there is in expressing myself. Am I giving other libertarians confidence in expressing their opinions? Am I giving the little shove to get some fence-sitters to finally choose to come down on the side of individual liberty? Or am I simply giving ammunition to those who hate liberty and love the US police-state and need nut-cases like me to point to? It feels like I have been trying to stick to my principles, only to find myself impaled upon them.
