Martha’s Vineyard, MA
While working as a summer dishwasher, I began to think about and investigate why FICA took so much of my $2.35 hourly wage, shaping my newfound anti-government, anti-tax viewpoint; I became attracted to Ronald Reagan’s economic message and became strongly anti-Jimmy Carter. William F. Buckley’s ‘Firing Line’ became a favorite show and National Review was my magazine of choice.
At the same time, I was developing the inherent understanding and appreciation for the fact the Grateful Dead had nothing to do with politics — it was all about the music in the moment. I had not yet begun to think through the seeming incongruities between being pro-Reagan and into Jerry Garcia simultaneously.