Fiscally nuts. Socially insane.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

A Little About Myself

I feel I owe my readers a little background on who, exactly, I am.

Many blogs are run by high level professors and scholars at major universities. They all claim to be little men fighting this enormous media powerhouse. They are. But I'm littler. 

I am a seventeen year old high school senior from Connecticut. As far as credentials go, I have about as many as a seventeen year old really can. For your own personal reference, I scored a 1990 on the SAT (converts to a 1370 on the old system). I have established myself well as a journalist in Connecticut, writing for the Fairfield Minuteman and Register Citizen newspapers (soon to be working with the Bridgeport Banner as well). I also work in the district office of Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT), the last standing Republican Congressman in New England.

For those interested, I am currently swimming in the never-ending river that is the college application process. As of now, I am applying to (in no order whatsoever) Fordham, Loyola of Maryland, Providence, Marist, Quinnipiac, University of Connecticut, Catholic University, University of New Hampshire and University of Scranton.

Politically, I have gone through phases. I used to be a hard-nosed, black and white conservative when I was young(er than I am now) and stupid. More recently, I saw myself as a libertarian. I realized the impossibility of that world and well, the dissatisfaction a world like that would bring. Now I consider myself a moderate conservative. I believe in the free market and upward mobility. I believe in the privatization of most systems. I see the War in Iraq as a necessary mistake, and now I believe we need a slow phased withdraw. I believe that for democracy (in any form) and capitalism to succeed, an educated population is absolutely necessary. Therefore, the primary use of tax money should be education, and a strong, socialist education base is absolutely essential. On social issues, I'm a little more liberal than the average conservative. I have no problem with gay marriage; in fact, I fail to see the need for any legal documentation of marriage, although that is a thought process I have yet to think all the way through, so don't hold me to that. Regarding gun laws, I personally think, as oxymoronic as it sounds, that the fewer restrictions we have, the safer we are. If a criminal plans on committing a violent crime, he'll be able to get his hands on a gun, either legally or illegally. The only people gun restrictions really deter are people who plan on using the weapon legally. This includes hunters and hikers, and those people who want a weapon for self defense. Limiting the use of weapons for those interested in self-defense is automatically giving criminals the upper hand. I am also strongly pro-life. My reasons and explanations are written out at length here.

As to why I blog, it gives me a sense of being able to change something. I write for newspapers, but I am fairly censored there. I know I am not widely read (yet), but hopefully, my posts and blurbs can change someone's mindset, even in the smallest way. I also like the ability to merge my own youthful thoughts with the scholarly thoughts of the likes of Dr. Helen, Glenn Reynolds, and Ann Althouse (three of my biggest inspirations). 

Stay loyal, check me out every once in a while, and you'll learn more...

A few of my articles:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"the lacrosse image of a pot smoking, larger-than-life, entitled bratty white kid is very, very true."

Maybe at Prep. But not not on the Grand Masters team. We might drink, and our bellies are larger than youth, but most of us are accomplished men of pallor, not entitled.