I was raised Red in a Blue state where people didn’t question each other’s patriotism, knew that the Dems were more hawkish than the Republicans, and that outside the navel of the city there was a marvelous world that both beckoned and often rained on you. Those scars still linger.
I confess to being an idealistic paleocon/libertarian who loves the country of the majestic purple mountains and fruited plains that stretches between two shining seas. The best way to protect that country is to remember that we will be happier if we rely on ourselves and each other rather than government. Unfortunately, this requires eternal suspicion about the use of government, insistence on transparency and accountability, and vigilance to safeguard all checks and balances, in the hopes of minimizing both governmental power and the opportunity of insiders to misuse it and to broker benefits to powerful special interests.
Caveat: I suppose I am rather beyond the pale (though a nice pale ale would do fine, thank you) because I don’t believe that the best initial reaction to environmental issues is to curse “enviros” as being “misanthropes” who hate mankind and are itching for most of us to die. Rather, I share their concern for the health of our home and note that there are real and critical issues relating to the lack of clear and enforceable property rights to any number of important resources - including the atmosphere and oceans. While I prefer where possible to strengthen property rights and tort law protections against pollution, rather than trying to have federal regulation for everything, I also realize that for certain cases our shared tool of government may serve productive or even essential purposes.
PS: I live and work in Tokyo as a lawyer. PPS: Those of you who have not yet joined The Austrian Network cannot see my email posted to the left, so please note that I can be reached at my Gmail account under the username "TokyoTomSr".