In today's society, people can identify as being one of four type of people, most of whom are moderates. Why have people become divided so greatly on social and economic issues, while politicians remain steadfast to their party's belief? Wouldn't government be better if they had the beliefs of most people, and stood firm to their decisions? Political participation depends on this, and due to it, many believe that the ideal love of politics has declined.
In government today, two political parties dominate the White House and politics in general. Those parties are the Republicans and the Democrats. Republicans are noted as being very conservative on issues regarding the economy and social conduct. Republicans tend to believe that the taxes should be lowered and that abortion should be illegal. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there lie the Democrats who are more liberal on the economical and social issues. Thus they believe that abortion should be legal and that the rich should be taxed heavily. Members of each party tend to take up a political stance of being either pure Liberal or pure Conservative (depending on Democrat or Republican respectively) or being a Libertarian or Populist. Seeing how not all of the American citizens are affiliated with either of the parties, and that most vote based on the man not the party, two new branches of Political Ideology, the Libertarian and Populist group, have emerged, containing both Democratic and Republican politicians, but politicians with different beliefs. As opposed to pure politicians, the Populist politicians tend to accept Democratic views on the Economy, while accepting Republican views on social issues. On the other side, Libertarians tend to be accepting of Republican views dealing with the Economy, while adopting Democratic views on social conduct issues. A large majority of people, particularly young men and women, feel that they are not in agreeing terms with each party’s belief on social issues and the economy. These people are noted as being Moderates. Moderates are citizens who hold an “intermediate position” with regard to the Republican and Democratic Party; thus they are neither affiliated with Democrats or Republicans, and tend to hold an independent status.
When dealing with my personal political stance, I considered myself to be a Libertarian because they tend to promote our country’s main theme: freedoms. I also feel I am a Libertarian because I agree completely with low taxes and the lack of regulation in business. I feel a government with Libertarians will work well because they don’t induce business regulations, similar to Hong Kong, a city that has prospered in China with a free market. In addition, I consider myself part of the Libertarian group because they allow people to truly be free, and to do what they want to do, without the censorship of many sources of information, such as the internet. Personally, I feel people who go surfing and find material that should be censored are at fault, as opposed to the writers of that information. Yet, when it comes down to the issues themselves, I find myself to be relatively even on my political compass, seeing how I favor the legality of abortion (a strict Democratic belief) while I also believe taxes should be lowered (a Republican belief).
I agree completely with my group’s involvement with the economy. Libertarians are very conservative on issues regarding the economy. Thus, they tend to be very similar to Republicans in their views of certain issues such as business regulations. The Libertarian group is in favor of low taxes. Although this lowers the income of a government, it in turn removes a country such as ours from participation in useless wars. Also, it limits the amount of wasted tax dollars. In turn, a more stable, effective and efficient government will be formed, resulting in a richer society and more efficient government. Furthermore, the money not spent on taxes can be invested into businesses such as Home Depot, for the “handyman” or even into clothes stores for the mom. The lowering of taxation will allow people to invest money that they save into businesses; just as rich people do, evidently boosting the economy drastically. Libertarians are also very conservative on issues such as a lack of regulation in business. Such a situation also occurs in parts of China where business is and has been booming in the past few years. They want the market to have control, and I believe that is correct, and it works because it has happened in China. A free market will allow many to pursuit their business desires and make money, in turn helping the government and society in general, seeing how the costs of expensive items, such as TV’s and computers, may decrease with added competition. With the unemployment rates today, I think it is beneficial to allow the opening of small markets that sell materials such as those sold in bigger markets for higher prices. Regarding welfare programs, Libertarians and Republicans in general will not agree with it. Personally, I believe that only a small percentage of people who actually can’t work or have a disability preventing them from working, should be receiving welfare. In today’s society, people who are capable of working, and are very healthy are resorting to welfare, only because it is simple. Thus, I feel that welfare should be abolished and only given to those who can’t work, because people who can walk to a Welfare office and pick up a check are very able to work in a factory, industry or even a research facility.
When it comes to Libertarian beliefs regarding Personal Conduct, I agree on some issues, but disagree on others. For example, Libertarians believe that abortion should be allowed. Personally, I agree with the Libertarians on this issue because abortion should be allowed for women who don’t want a child yet or who are at risk of developing illnesses or even dying during birth. Furthermore, I don’t agree with abortion in certain time intervals. For example, the longer a woman waits, the greater the chance of illnesses, diseases or even death occurring directly from the abortion. Based on that, a late term abortion can be noted as basically being a death sentence or suicide, and thus should not be allowed.
According to the political compass test, I am more closely related to pure liberals than to conservatives. Yet, I lie in the 4x4 box close to the center of the graph, making me a moderate. Although this is very different from my beliefs based on a party’s stance, I feel that it is correct because I feel very strongly based on liberal issues such as the legality of abortion and the freedom of speech, while I also agree with conservative issues such as low taxes and criminal punishment, and even in some cases, I stand in the neutral territory. I am not quite a libertarian according to the Political Compass test mainly because I feel really strongly that freedoms, such as speech, religion, and press, should be enforced, while the government remains big and strong. I believe the government’s job is to be involved with society, seeing how the voters and public opinion arise from society.
Now that you know my opinion, what is your political stance? Don't you think the ideal government would be one with a higher voter participation of 48%?
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