Ashlee LeCheminant Government 1st Per. 1/28/2014 Am I Liberal or Conservative?

Many people might say that a perk to living in the United States is that we have the freedom to believe what we want and to voice our opinions. I am glad we have the advanced government system that we do, as I am sure many others are as well. This however doesnt mean that we always agree with the decisions the government makes or the ways that they view certain topics. We seemed to have broken the way we view things into two different sides, Liberal and Conservative. Based on the question Am I a Liberal or Conservative? I found that traditional values are important to me, my views on liberalism have been clarified, and I tend to side with a lot of the Green Partys policies. Conservatism is when you want to retain the traditional social ways. According to Poll A and Poll B it was clear that I am more conservative than liberal with my 60/40 overall results. I strongly believe in keeping traditional values and that some things shouldnt change, that they should be the way they were meant to be from the beginning. Families are so important so therefore I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. In Poll A I was 100% conservative on the topic of social issues. I believe that abortion should be illegal and that killing the baby is cruel and taking its life away. Free markets produce more economic growth, more jobs and higher standards of living than those systems burdened by excessive government regulation. (Conservative vs. liberal beliefs) The government should not control healthcare, problems should be addressed and solved within the free market healthcare system. I also believe that those

who enter the U.S. illegally should not have the same rights as those who obey the law and enter legally. Most of the issues we have today are debates over wanting to transgress traditional values. Conservatives tend to lean towards a limited government and emphasize personal responsibility and empowerment of the individual to solve problems. In terms of Fiscal Issues, in Poll A, I was 75% conservative but there are so many different directions this could branch out into. I think there is too much unnecessary spending happening in the government and is leading to our nations huge deficits. On the other hand, although I dont see change as a bad thing I just have never thought of myself as a Liberal person. Surprisingly I sided with the liberals points of views on certain topics and in Poll C I received a 77% Democrat result. Liberal policies are opposite than conservatives in the sense that they seem to emphasize the need for the government to solve problems. While I think the government should be involved in most issues, we cannot simply rely on just them to protect our human rights. Liberalism is the belief in the value of social and political change in order to achieve progress. (Merriam Webster Dictionary) Change is not a bad thing, however, I dont think that it is always necessary to achieve progress. Liberalism is often thought of as liberty or equality, and I like the fact of staying true to the freedoms that we have. However, change is what has helped us get to where we are today, as a nation and as individuals. If things would have just always stayed the same then discoveries wouldnt have been made and women might still not be able to vote. I realized that change is good, it has helped our nation advance to new levels but sometimes we take change to the extreme. According to the online Poll C I tend to side with the Green Party on most political issues. Some of you may be asking yourselves, Is there even such thing as a

Green Party? It is not talked about much and is very small, therefore having no representation. They are key on solving problems out form the bottom and have great views on economic, environmental, and education issues. I never really considered myself someone who was green for the environment but according to Poll C there are many other ways you can be green. Apparently you can have that mind set in issues such as domestic policies, science, and education. On the down side, they arent so strong in their healthcare or social issues, these being more so conservative views. However, I found it interesting that I scored only 56% Republicans in Poll C because I dont see my views as mainly democratic. The Green Party focuses not only on peace and the environment but also on areas such as equality, responsibility, and social justice. That being said, I can see why I side a lot with the policies of the Green Party. In conclusion, there are many different viewpoints, beliefs, and ways to interpret topics such as healthcare, education, and social issues. In these online polls we were able to learn a lot about not only ourselves but also the political parties and their takes. I found myself holding true to the values that I know and claiming mostly conservative. The idea of change in liberalism can be a good thing; I am all for improving, but certain things such as most traditional values dont need to be changed. The green party has many great policies and some that seemed to fit my beliefs but it didnt have the whole picture for me. In the end, there are benefits and disadvantages to all the parties out there and you may agree with a little of each but for the most part I found myself to be conservative.