Why We Left the Left: Personal Stories by Leftists/Liberals Who Evolved to Embrace Libertarianism is now available (retailing for $3.99 in ebook format). The book examines a political question that intrigues almost everyone who studies, participates, or is interested in politics: “Why do people identify with a certain ideology and/or political party?” Numerous scholarly and popular books examine political ideology/party identification and why certain ideologies attract certain individuals. This book examines that question in two separate, yet joined phases. Why do people initially identify with the Left/liberalism and why do these same individuals abandon that ideology to evolve into libertarians? This inquiry is unique in its focus on 23 former liberals/leftists who become libertarians.

One popular conception of libertarians is that they are, for the most part, disgruntled old white guys. While that group is represented, more than 25 percent of the stories are from women and more than two-thirds are by people younger than 50. This gender and generational diversity extends to occupations—contributors include college students, law students, an attorney, a professional artist, public school teachers, a chemist, writers, a filmmaker, a law professor, a stay-at-home mom, a firefighter, the CEO of a $40 million company, a TV reporter, an editor, the CEO of a free market think tank, and a research engineer.

Estores in which Why We Left the Left will be offered for sale ($3.99) include:
Amazon Kindle; iBookstore; Barnes & Noble; Sony; Kobo; Copia; Gardners; Baker & Taylor; and eBookPie. (Currently offered for sale at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the others will follow.)

I urge you to purchase the book and write a review from wherever it was purchased. A free Kindle app to read ebooks for several types of electronic devices (PCs, Macs, iPhone, iPad, and others) is found at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771.

Address all inquiries to Tom Garrison at: whywelefttheleft@yahoo.com. Consider visiting the Why We Left the Left Facebook page. Your comments are welcome.