A little bit about myself.

First, an introduction. I'm a 34 year old geek, working as a computer consultant. I have been married to my soulmate, a wonderful woman named Wendy, for 13 years. We have a 1 year old son, Trevor, who is our world, and we would give anything for him. I never knew being a father would be so rewarding, and while I'm glad we waited until we'd lived our lives as a couple first, I'm also glad we did decide to have children. Hopefully we'll give Trevor a sibling within the next couple of years.

I like to read fantasy books (Lord of the Rings series by Tolkien, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, etc). About 6 years ago, my wife bought me a copy of Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind (part of the Sword of Truth series). I liked it enough that I decided to go back to the beginning of the series (the first book is Wizard's First Rule) and read the whole thing.

After I finished that series about a year ago, I was curious about the philosophy and political viewpoint that was obvious in the books. I looked on the Terry Goodkind Forums and found that is actually based on Objectivism which I'd never heard of. I was intrigued, and found that Ayn Rand is regarded as the founder of this philosophy and I immediately went to buy some of her books. I started with Anthem, then read the Fountainhead, and I just finished "Atlas Shrugged" a few months ago.

After reading these books, my view of the world was clarified--not changed, because I have always held an individualistic viewpoint (I've been called selfish by my parents since I was a baby)--I wasn't swayed over to this newfound philosophy, I simply realized that it articulates the way I've always viewed the world. It helped me to firm up my own views of what is good and bad in society. My favorite book from the Sword of Truth series was Faith of the Fallen, which was the one that really made everything "click" for me.

When I was 18, I registered as a democrat, because my parents are liberal democrats, and I really didn't know anything about politics. All I "knew" was that democrats=good, republicans=evil. Funny thing is that in 1992, my favorite candidate was Ross Perot, because I liked the way he talked about fixing the broken system. I think deep down I must have been starting to realize I had a libertarian at my core. But I didn't vote because I was young and somewhat apathetic about politics.

Later, in 2000 was the first time I actually cared enough to vote. At this point I was married, working as a computer sysadmin making a middle class salary after working hard for the past 8 years. So, I looked into the candidates positions, thinking I'd go with Clinton (I was registered Dem after all). Well, after I really looked at the platforms, I realized I didn't agree with the democrats at all on most issues! I changed my registration to republican, and voted that way because I had more in common with the conservatives.

Since then I've gotten more interested in politics and current events because I realized how much it does affect me. My parents wonder where they went wrong with me because I hold such different viewpoints than they do. They've always called me selfish, and it used to hurt. I've always been willing to help people who really need it, and have donated to charities that I believe do good work. After reading Fountainhead and Atlas, I finally realized that to be called selfish is not an insult. My mother called me that again recently, and I said "yes, I am selfish but that's not a bad thing."

All my life, I've been labeled as heartless, selfish, uncaring, etc, because I've always taken an analytical view of the world instead of an emotional one. I have recently come to finally realize and accept that this is the only proper way to live, and that anyone who "thinks" with their heart instead of their using their mind is doing themselves and society a great disservice. I'm not selfish when it comes to actually helping people who truly need, but I don't base my determination of need on an emotional response to a plea. It's up to each of us to decide where our help is actually needed and whether we feel the person we're asked to help deserves it.

I'm no longer going to accept that living for my own happiness is a character flaw. I'm now proud to assert that I have a right to my own life, my property, and my ideas; and that everyone else has a right to their own, but not to any part of mine unless I give it freely.

As Richard (the main character from The Sword of Truth series) said:
"Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it!"