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| Affiliation | Libertarian |
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| Name | Mark W. Stroberg |
| Address |
, California , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
September 27, 1957
(67 years)
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| Contributor | Barack O-blame-a |
| Last Modifed | Barack O-blame-a
Nov 29, 2004 06:33pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Software Engineer
I was born and raised in Concord, CA. I have many fond memories of my childhood, especially my life with my mother, father, and sisters Susan and Judy. My father had an indomitable spirit, and never gave up on anything he set out to do. My mother taught me that you reap what you sow, and the importance of the golden rule. My sisters grew up to be very beautiful, loving, women, who always seemed to be able to see the bright side of anything that happened in life.
After I graduated from high school, I went off to college at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena with hopes of becoming a physicist. I never graduated. During my second leave of absence from school, while I was working as a software engineer for APh Technological Consulting, I became ill and had to quit work and drop out of school. For the next 14 years, I lived with my parents and did not work. I ultimately went back to school and graduated from California State University, Hayward, with a degree in Mathematics. After my parents died, I got a full-time job as a software engineer at Presenting Solutions, Inc. in Oakland, CA. In May of 2001, I started my current job at HSQ Technology in Hayward, CA.
My Political and Ideological History
The first time I was old enough to vote, I registered to vote as a Republican and voted for Ronald Reagan in the California presidential primary in 1976. I had libertarian instincts even back then and even though I considered myself to be a conservative, I was very uncomfortable with many of Reagan's positions, particularly on foreign policy. But I supported him because "he had a chance to be elected." When he got to the convention that summer, Reagan pulled a stunt that permanently disillusioned me with major party politics. He chose Richard Schweiker, one of the most liberal people in Congress, as his running mate. How could he do that? Didn't Reagan stand for anything? Apparently not.
After the Reagan/Schweiker debacle, I was left with an ideological void to fill. A friend's brother was a member of the fledgling Libertarian Party, and he convinced me to make a break with the two-party system and try out the LP. I quickly became comfortable with the LP's positions on virtually every issue, as they were all derived from the same non-agression principle which now seems to me to be not only right from a moral standpoint, but also very practical. It is practical because, as my mother taught me, you reap what you sow. Violence begets violence, compassion begets compassion, mercy begets mercy, and tolerance begets tolerance. Therefore, no matter how noble your social or political cause, if you use government violence to achieve your ends, your efforts will ultimately backfire.
Then came September 11, 2001. These acts of terrorism were not only tragic in their immediate effects, but have had a devastating impact on political discourse in this country. Those of us who are critical of the War on Terrorism and its effects on civil liberties are often branded as "unpatriotic traitors," and, most insulting of all, "radical leftists." It was these terrorist acts and the ensuing war hysteria that ultimately made me run for Congress. My own political party, although opposing the infringements on civil liberties that have been proposed and passed, and opposing an open-ended "War on Terrorism," did ultimately support limited strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. This is one major issue on which I disagree with the official Libertarian Party position. I intend to use this campaign as a platform to promote liberty and peace at a time when the issues of liberty and peace are in popular disfavor. Only time will tell how successful I will be.
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