Politically Homeless - No To the Left And No To the Right

Real people, real letters, real problems, no solutions.

Politics these days have become so divided and divisive that it’s become the norm to view the other side of the aisle as “the enemy”. People are being told to “pick a side” and that there’s no room for middle ground. We here at Phetasy believe that there are a lot more people in the middle than politicians and the media would have us believe.

We’re collecting stories from the ever growing number of people who are finding themselves Politically Homeless and posting them here on Substack. If you have moved from conservative to liberal, or liberal to conservative, if you feel you’ve stayed in the same place and your party has swerved drastically away from you, if you had a moment that awakened you to the insanity and hypocrisy on both sides, if you keep your mouth shut anytime a political topic comes up because you’re afraid your opinion will cause you to lose friends or your job, you’re not as alone as you might think.

Our goal is to shine a light on people’s earnest, individual experiences and show them they’re not alone.

Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you’re politically homeless and would like to share your story, please email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.

Letter 49:

7/28/23

Hi all,

I’m 58 years old and I can honestly say I have yet to have a national party or candidate I can be proud to have voted for. I’ve at times voted third party (libertarian) but then third parties seemed to go more off the deep end than the usual options. Or I vote against people.  Lately I’ve been writing people in. 

From NJ originally, where there’s plenty of grift / graft / greed, but at least the Mob sees that things get done, whatever party is ‘in charge’. Or else.

 But 10 years in California (Bay Area!) have shown me the realities of a 1 party state at every level results in chocking government stagnation due to conflicting and oppressive regulations. Pick any issue - environment, housing, transit, education - and the endless regulatory hoops, infighting, meetings, inspections, mailings, overblown outrage and catastrophizung ensures nothing gets done. No pushback, dissent, options. Choice of liberal, more liberal, woke…Utopian Ideology but no work done. 

However, I’m old enough to remember the 1980s and 1990s, the Moral Majority, Satanic Panic over music, banning art exhibits, denying AIDS, the ‘War on Drugs’, Iran Contra…then the former wars of the Bush years and ‘’homeland security’ treating citizens as criminals. So, no to ‘the right’ as well. 

Authoritarian at every turn. 

A choice between Trump or Biden is like a choice between deranged or demented. Now we’ve had both. I feel like the country is a family trying to live without upsetting the dysfunctional parent. Americans will prevail the same as dysfunctional family members do, by waiting out the old fool and living life anyway. But it would be nice not to have to. 

So, homeless. 

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. 

Purple Owl

Purple because neither blue nor red, owl cause I’m a wiseass bird who doesn’t tweet. 

Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you'd like to share your story, email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.