With the election of Angela Merkel in Germany and the rising star of David Cameron in England, I am once again beginning to have hope in the world. For the first time in a long time I feel like there is some possibility of a resurgence in Conservatism here (in America) and abroad.

I am so lost politically...

I have all of these ideas being thrown at me right now and it is very hard to keep my own views straight.

On the one hand, I am conservative economically.
On the other, I am not conservative socially.

I think that the government has no reason for telling people that they shouldn't do drugs that harm only themselves. The case is different if they have children or anyone who they have agreed to provide for, but other than that, I can find no logical way of forcing them to abstain from doing drugs. I personally hate drugs. My father recently committed "suicide" while under the effects of Methamphetamine, Valium, Xanex, and Loratabs, so I have a personal vendetta against drugs as they have significantly affected my life, but I still find no reason to keep those that have no obligations to others from doing these drugs that are obviously "self-defeating."

I do know that abortion is wrong. It just is. The fetus is an unborn human with the same rights to life that we all have. And by "right to life," I don't meant the "right not to be killed," but rather the right to an existence. We all have that right. Unborn children also have that right. Simply by consenting to sex, the persons involved take on the risks (as well as the consequences of those risks) that are evident. They assume the responsibility for the risks they take, knowing the consequences of their actions. Even if they use protection. Rape is a different case, but the mother still has no right to end the life of the child. Just because someone violates your rights, that does not give you the right to violate theirs. This holds true for raped women who become pregnant. They do not, however, have to raise the child as they have not consented to that specific obligation, they simply do not have the liberty to destroy the child's life (or existence).

I'm very confused, but I am working through it. I have been having a lot of homework in philosophy and of course it is all liberal reading material. It starts to get to you after a while.

Lately I have been thinking more and more about the state of society as a whole, as well as the government (in American, as well as elsewhere). The more I think about it, the more I feel like I am trapped there. I don't like the direction our government is taking in any of its endeavours, but more than that I realize that the changes they make will more than likely never be reverted. It seems to me that every entitlement that they hand out, which WE (the taxpayer) pay for, will never be successfully defeated. It will remain there, sucking up taxpayer money that should be spent somewhere else. Anyone who wants to remove these entitlements will not be able to accomplish this goal because of the votes of those receiving those entitlements. Their votes will keep their benefits while others bear the pain of the payment. I don't really blame those voters though. They are just looking out for their own self-interest. They have no reason to vote for someone who vows to take away their benefits.

Also, the more benefits, or entitlements, that are bestowed upon a certain group of voters, the more likely it is to vote those into office who originally bestowed those entitlements upon them. This generally leads to a further progression to the direction of those bestowing the entitlements, making it that much more difficult to combat these benefits and those who enact them. It seems to me to be an endless cycle that seems impossible to stop.

This cycle creates something similar to what Ayn Rand calls the "Aristocracy of Pull." It differs in one specific way: it is not those in positions of power that hold the cards, but those who can promise the most to the voters (in other words, who can create the most "pull" by making promises), even though they should not rightly be able to do so. This is what my High School Social Studies teacher called "poverty pimping." He always said that by offering benefits to a portion of the population would make that portion loyal voters, and that is what I see in today's politics. America has great health care (the expenses may not be so great, but then again what do you pay for the best in the world?), and I have seen polls that state that as much as 85% of Americans are satisfied with their healthcare; this, for me, brings Obama's intent into question. Is he "poverty pimping?" Regardless of his intentions, it will be almost impossible to undue what he does manage to do with the current healthcare situation (in which I see government intervention as the problem, not the solution). This will create an entitlement for Americans that will basically destroy Republican's chances of undoing his changes.

I feel very trapped with the current Political situation, but I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions?