Having being born in the former Soviet Union in 1980, some of my earliest memories are of me being in front of my TV and proudly watching the Red Army tanks parading on Red Square, vowing to defeat the Americans. It was hard to imagine that only a few years later, I would find myself arriving in America and turning on the TV to find the Soviet flag being lowered for the last time over the Kremlin.

Having experienced the Soviet system firsthand, I don't believe that one can truly appreciate the relative freedom we have in the West unless you live through the kind of totalitarianism that was the hallmark of Communism. For all its faults, I still believe that America is the greatest country out there and is a source of good in the world. And I believe that the concept of liberty and personal freedom is at the core of America.

As long as I remember, I've always had a keen interest in current events and history. This interest intensified all the more during the presidential campaign of 2000. Being a college student at the time, most of my political philosophy was influenced by my professors and student activists on campus. And like most of my fellow students, the election of George W. Bush was a bitter pill to swallow. It was later that same year that I got a chance to supplement my studies by getting an internship in local government. While my job role was non political, it gave me a chance to get a better understanding of the workings of our government. Undoubtedly, this is what really sparked my interest and led me to want to learn more.

Having closely followed the political scene for several years now, I have generally come to regard the Republican Party as the lesser of two evils in our present political system. While my political opinion has evolved over the years as my knowledge of the area expanded, I have come to the conclusion that the Libertarian Party is the only movement that will keep America the great country that it has always been.

Vlad Averbukh