Re: Believe it or not, I agree with much of this..

I have always felt that what unites us is greater than what divides us, and that there are many on the left who share the same goals as I (and many libertarians and even conservatives) do. In fact, even going beyond Western culture, I see that most people in the world have similar goals and desires. The differences are in how we believe we can best get there.

I tend to believe that Free Markets is the best method found to date, and I note that Free Marketeers have always believed in helping the less fortunate out, but merely favor private initiatives to government initiatives - and in fact, private initiatives have traditionally worked quite well. It is true that some people fall through the cracks, but that happens in every system. To judge a method's effectiveness, we must look at the broader trends, not at the rare exceptions.

You obviously have different beliefs on the most effective methods, but we can still work together in the many areas where we agree, and even occasionally learn from each other. I have, in fact, changed several of my ideas thanks to your input.

It is also noteworthy that two recent political movements in the United States, the Tea Party and the Occupy movement, both have their roots in anger at the bailout of the big banks. Both movements oppose cronyism and an unfair playing field. There are, unfortunately, groups within both movements that believe that the other movement is their opposition - and yet both have much in common. (I thought it humorous to find that many on the left strongly opposed the Oathkeepers until a few showed up at Occupy protests to make the point that the armed forces represented the people first and foremost - and suddenly these same critics hailed them as heroes.) I will willingly criticize what I see as the faults of both movements, but I recognize that both are my allies on the big issues.

And likewise, I keep in mind that you are my ally and my friend as well, and what we have in common is far more important than our differences.