I am a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts since 1975. I moved here after completing my undergraduate studies at Brown University. In my youth, I was heavily involved in various left-wing causes (e.g., Mobililzation for Survival, Clamshell Alliance, Cambridge Food Cooperative).

As an adult, married and raising a son, I severed my connections with these groups and assumed that they would just fade into the ash-heap of history. I continued to vote for Democrats, but not enthusiastically.

On September 11th, 2001, I received a LOUD wake-up call. I took note of the Stars and Stripes proudly flying from fire stations and front yards, and I began to appreciate, for the first time in my life, what the flag really stands for. I began devouring the classic works of conservatism (e.g., the Federalist Papers, Edmund Burke, Toqueville) along with more recent thinkers (Russell Kirk, Whittaker Chambers, Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Ronald Radosh, and David Horowitz).

Most importantly, I began to question the so-called "conventional wisdom" of Cambridge intellectuals. I discovered that Cambridge is, unfortunately, one of the least-free cities in the United States. There is a frightening degree of herd mentality, and of ideological lock-step, which closes out dissenting voices before the debate even has a chance to begin. What passes for "thinking" among much of the intelligencia is really based on emotion and phantasy.

I joined the Free Republic in large part to exchange ideas with people who are not afraid of genuine freedom. I especially welcome correspondence from other residents of the so-called Peoples Republik of Cambridge. I hope and pray that someday there will be so many freedom-loving residents in this historic town that it will no longer be a novelty to be "A Conservative in Cambridge."