My Political Philosophy

I found Mark Finkelstein's challenge to the class to write 2 paragraphs about our political philosophy to be extremely interesting, particularly since I am a politics and journalism double major. So, considering I've spent most of my time at IC taking politics classes, I should be able to do this, right? Wrong.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I am pretty set on my beliefs on the core issues, universal health care, abortion, gay and lesbian rights and marriage, etc. However, my time at Ithaca has made me question some of my political beliefs and how I view them. For example, when I graduated from high school, I thought that I was very, very liberal. I had a very conservative Republican U.S. Government teacher that I would constantly argue with. This made me assume that because I didn't agree with almost everything that he said, that I must be very liberal. Then I got to IC and realized that this wasn't the case.

I remember in my Ideas and Ideologies of Politics class, we had to take a political compass test and share the answers with the class. I was the most moderately placed person in the class. I still leaned to the left, but I discovered that I was more socially liberal and economically moderate.

Mr. Finkelstein's class today really got me thinking. I think that the way I define my political beliefs is by what I don't agree with. I objected to everything Mark said about health care reform. Both of my uncles are extremely conservative Republicans. I think more about my political beliefs after I talk to them than in almost any other situation. I need to think about this more in other situations so that eventually I'll be able to write my 2 paragraphs.