I’m not sure if any of you have this same problem, but my parents don’t understand why I believe the things I believe. My mom doesn’t believe the same exact things that I do, but she understands where I come from when we discuss libertarian ideology. However, I can’t seem to get it through to my father.
I’ve tried to convince him forever about why the drug war doesn’t make sense, but he can’t seem to get the simple idea through his mind that ‘hard’ drugs are the exact same as alcohol, marijuana, and even junk food if you want to get down to it. Clearly he believes that alcohol should be legal, but he says it’s because alcohol “isn’t as bad” as the other stuff. Likewise, he says we should be happy to live in the United States because it’s “better here than anywhere else” because he’s comfortable with how much he’s taxed each year.
He isn’t convinced that the country is independent from the government, and he isn’t convinced that other people’s lives are independent from his own opinions (basically the entire ideology of voluntaryism).
Do you guys know how I should proceed from here? Are there some people you simply will never be able to convince, or am I going about this the wrong way?
You should proceed by letting it go. Your dad will come around when he is ready to. In the meantime, all you will do is create a wedge between you, and make it harder to find common ground later.
my mother is one of those people that doesnt care about economics… which is about 95% of the world’s population… but, seriously, she could care less if she lived in a capitalistic society, socialistic, communist etc. So i just dont bother bringing up economics or philosophy because she doesnt care…She freaks out, though, when i consider “Man Economy and State” my bible…
We can only outstretch our arms to hand over liberty. If we close our hands and throw our fists, we become tyrants. If we worry about changing the others, the idea of liberty drowns our minds in sorrow.
My parents didn’t graduate from high school, my father doesn’t speak English, and neither of them know who Karl Marx is, though they were born and lived in a communist country. In a sense, I envy you. Either way, explain to your father that the attempt to ban drugs yields outcomes (gang and cartel wars, very costly and large prison systems, and a very costly police force) which are worse than those that he’s worried about (people consuming drugs), while simultaneously failing to end, or even mitigate, drug consumption by any significant degree. Also, and this may appeal to him, legalizing and taxing drugs would dramatically increase federal and state revenue.
It may be the best place to live in the world–I don’t really know–but that doesn’t mean that it can’t get any better.
“It may be the best place to live in the world–I don’t really know–but that doesn’t mean that it can’t get any better.”
An otherwise rich farmer in trouble once used to tell concerned friends, “I am not making much progress, but I am well established.” One day, when his tractor got stuck in the mud, and he spent hours driving it back and forth to get out of it, several neighbours saw him, nodded, and said, “You’re not making much progress, but you are well established.”
The best thing you can do is show tolerance and understanding for their own ideas, even if they seem foolish to you. From my experience, this will be reciprocated.
For myself, it was the humble and friendly demeanor of Nielso (youtube) that made me consider voluntaryism, as well as another tolerant-minded friend who got me into libertarianism in the first place.