When examining my own ideology, I consider myself to be a moderate centrist. In general, my opinions on the economic policy, as it pertains to conservatives. However, I share my views with the liberals when it comes to their social policy. After looking at the political platform of both liberalism and conservatism and comparing my views on the issues, which are: lower taxes, welfare reform, free market, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia; I found out that I am a centrist.

I share my views with Jean Jacques Rousseau on the idea that “man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains”. Humans are living in a state of innocence with nature before being corrupt by society. He philosophizes that a human begins feeling self-confident and is a mentally healthy being, but once subjected to the expectations, condemnations, and influences of society the person is no longer healthy and begins to experience a loss of confidence. Society causes a person to become prideful and forge ahead for unrealistic goals. Thereby, losing one's own self and as a result loses freedom. The person has been chained by social corruption. In addition, Rousseau states that man became more and more corrupt and degenerate as he became a “social animal”. However, as Aristotle said “Man is by nature a social animal”. Therefore, as nature is corrupted by society, our government is also corrupt. In today’s society, cheating, lying, and scandal is all part of everyday life, so it is no surprise that these qualities are also present in the government. I believe that the government spends too much time and money looking for criminals and arresting them for white collar crimes, than preventing the temptation to commit these crimes. However, I believe that some measures are needed to prevent such things to reach its extreme. I also think that “Without governments, there would be war…of every man against every man”. With that being said, I am a centrist when concerning myself with vies and attitude towards the government and human nature.
When concerning ourselves with the economic views, I believe that the economy is best sustained under conservatism. This is because conservatism stands on the beliefs that the free market system, competitive capitalism, and private enterprise create the greatest opportunity and the highest standard of living for all. Free markets produce more economic growth, more jobs and higher standards of living than those systems burdened by excessive government regulation. The “invisible hand”, a metaphor used by Adam Smith, describes unintended social benefits resulting from individual actions. Considering this, I believe that the welfare state is bad for our society because this would prevent people from contributing to the society. It is far more compassionate and effective to encourage people to become self-reliant, rather than allowing them to remain dependent on the government for provisions. Lastly, there should be lower taxes and a smaller government with limited power. This will result in the improving the standard of living for all. I believe that lower taxes would create more incentive for people to work, save, invest and be economically stable. Whereas, high taxes discourage work and investment. This is due to the fact taxes create a wedge between what the employer pays and what the employee receives, which results in less employment opportunities as fewer jobs are created. Most economists now agree that a reduction in marginal tax rates will increase economic output to some degree. Money is best spent by those who earn it, not the government. All in all, I believe that privatization is the key to economic freedom and economic growth. Given the above mentioned points, I take a strong conservative, right wing stand on the economic policy. My political ideology on social issues is best supported under liberalism. Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality within the society. One of the social issues that the left side or liberals support is same-sex marriage. I believe that same sex marriage should be legalized because everyone or anyone should have the right to marry someone regardless of their sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage is an acknowledgement of equality. Prohibiting same-sex citizens from marrying denies people of their civil rights. Also same-sex marriages can bring financial gain to federal, state, and local governments and can help boost the economy. Another social issue that the liberals support is Euthanasia legalization. I believe it should be legalized because a person has a right to die with dignity, by his own choice. It is forcibly wrong and for the government to let someone suffer endless pain before eventual death. Making decisions for ourselves is the key element that makes us human and to deny one’s freedom of choice would in-humane. In addition, permitting euthanasia would reduce health care costs, which could further benefit others because there are many situations where the medical care is not available to some people. Lastly and most importantly, liberal support abortion.
A woman has the right to decide what happens with her body. A fetus is not a human life, so it does not have separate individual rights. The government should provide taxpayer funded abortions for women who cannot afford them. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding her own body and the government must protect this right. Women have the right to affordable, safe and legal abortions, including partial birth abortion.
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