It was in high school the first time I noticed my gut telling me in class that what I was hearing was wrong but could not say why. I was lost in the dark with just a feeling of nausea hanging over me most of the time. I found clarity and words for what I was feeling over the summer when my dad handed me Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I was fifteen. It took me a few weeks to read through, but I was glued to it. I had finally found a voice, a role model, an inspiration out there in the sea of darkness.
But after sticking my head out in class several times, I learned quickly that my opinions were not the norm nor were they very popular. I decided to stop chiming in as much and that only diminished further when I got to college—one of the most liberal bastions of thought on the planet. My poorly graded papers on Kant in my philosophy classes again showed me that if I was going to get my degree I had to remain silent.
I joined the workforce soon after as a receptionist in a law firm, where, of course, my job was to be accommodating and likable—not confrontational, so I stayed quiet for fear of losing my job.
I fell in love, moved, and ended up in my second library job since college. Here I was surrounded by more of the same ideologies and I knew better now to keep quiet.
I had written by then books, but none of them were picked up by the liberal publishing houses. I even had agents sympathetic to me tell me that anything that even slightly reeked of alternative ideas would never see the light of day.
So, like many of the YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcast, etcetera, channels I have watched grow for lack of a voice in the mainstream media, I have had to try whispering into the void—dipping my toes in to see if my head will be lopped off for my opinions.
I now work for myself as a freelancer and I have nothing to lose, really. I have no teachers or professors there to lower my grades, I have no boss to fire me, I am completely on my own now and able to sink or swim by my own design.
I wonder all the time who is “my audience”? Who is out there to hear me now shouting into the void? Who will respond with an echo? Will it be a young man who calls himself an Objectivist? Will it be a stay-at-home mother who wants to be reminded of how wonderful life can be? Will it be a business owner who needs some inspiration?
I hope to find my audience someday or at least some friends who share the same values that I have gained ever since I read Atlas Shrugged that glorious summer.
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Views Expressed Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the postings, strategies, or opinions of American Wordsmith, LLC. Please also know that while I consider myself an Objectivist and my work is inspired by Objectivism, it is not nor should it be considered Objectivist since I am not the creator of the philosophy. For more information about Ayn Rand’s philosophy visit: aynrand.org.