I used to be the kind of guy who just went with the flow. I didn't have much of an opinion on anything, especially politics. Like most people, my emotions ruled my viewpoint, but they didn't inspire much conviction. I was a happy-go-lucky dude, without a care in the world. But that all changed a few years ago.
On the recommendation of my brother-in-law, I picked up a copy of Atlas Shrugged and ended up devoting a summer to its reading (I'm kind of a slow reader). It's effect on me was dramatic, and it launched a sort of "political awakening". I found, though, that as much sense as objectivism made, there were some points with which I didn't agree, so I started to study libertarianism and found it to be a much better fit. That led to studying Austrian economics, and from that point I have engaged in relentless self-education in the principles of liberty and free markets.