Dan, I know all about military socialism, having experienced it first hand. I can only imagine the effect of growing up in such circumstances. Six years in the Marine Corps Reserve helps explain the trajectory of my political views. When I joined I was a neocon subscriber to National Review, The American Spectator and Commentary. Half way through my time in the military, I voted for Ron Paul in 1988, and two years after getting out I was an intern at Liberty Magazine.

One of my first pieces for Liberty was about the totalitarian nature of the military and I wrote about the moral values of the Marine Corps at Antiwar.com six years ago.