Political Views

Clark May II
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
October 9 2018

Political Views

I believe that level of education, as well as the actual school you go to has a very large effect on people's political views. Obviously, our school is a more left-leaning school, so I think a lot of people's ideas are shaped from it. On the chart, we saw how the more educated people believed that the government shouldn't have a role in providing jobs which makes sense. They most likely believe that the government shouldn't give them jobs because "they haven't worked as hard as them". They went through ten-twenty years of school to get an opportunity to work for someone, and they most likely don't want someone who didn't even finish high school to get a job as easily as them.

Income is one of the largest factors in determining people's political views because they  typically effect them the most. In the chart, as you could see, they said that the government should provide them jobs more often then not, because it would benefit them. But something that surprised me was the fact that they said that abortion should be limited or made illegal. I would think that they would oppose that because then if they have an accidental pregnancy, they could deal with it. Very few poor families can deal with a baby financially so I was very surprised by that.

While it may not sound like it, the region in which you were born has a very large impact on your beliefs. In the Northeast, a large majority of people are liberal while in the "Deep South" many people are conservative. You're influenced by the people you're around so if you are around liberals most of your life, you'll most likely be liberal and the same goes for being around conservatives. So if you grow up in the North around other liberals, you'll most likely lean towards their beliefs. I've noticed that many large cities are more liberal. If you look at the 4 largest cities in the United States, New York City, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles, they are mostly liberal. I don't know why this is, but it is something I noticed.

Race determines people's political views as well, but I don't think it is as large of a factor as other things. Many minorities that believe that they are underprivileged, or treated unfairly, will most likely support things that would give them an upper edge, or assist them. You can see this on the chart as true due to the overwhelming majority voting in favor of the government providing jobs for them.

Religion is very important to many people and it sways many people's opinion's, especially when it comes to abortion. Although I do not have a very strong idea of Christian beliefs, I know that many of them see abortion as a morally wrong thing to do, therefore they don't support it. Other than abortion though, I don't know any other effect ones religion would have on their beliefs.

Gender also has a role in determining someone's beliefs but like race, I don't believe it's as large of a factor as Income, or education. I think that women that believe that they are oppressed, or underprivileged would make them in favor of things that help them such as the government providing them jobs. Before I saw the chart I believed that most women would be in favor of abortion because it would give them more power to do what they want with their body but I was shocked to see that it was very divided. Only 50.5% of women were in favor of not limiting abortion which surprised me but I don't know what other beliefs gender would have a role in determining.