Political VIews

      With the six categories given, we can have a basic understanding of how our situation and environment has an effect on our political views. The public was asked two questions, one representing freedom versus order, the other showing freedom versus equality. The questions were, “Should government limit abortions?”, and, “Should government provide jobs?”. Depending on a person's position in each category, we can assume where their political views most likely lie.
      Level of education is one of the main factors when it comes to political views. I am currently in high school, planning on attending college, and I value education. People with a higher level of education valued freedom more than order when it came to abortions and government-provided jobs. On the other hand, less educated people valued order more than freedom. This might be because education not only opens people’s perspective but allows for a more diverse community which can have a huge impact on a person's view.
      Another factor is family income. My family is in the middle class so we value freedom over order and freedom over equality. Families that are on the low side of the spectrum of income have a tendency to lean more towards order and equality. This might be because they feel that they would benefit from more government aid and control. On the other side of the spectrum, we have families in the upper class who most likely have a good education but might have differing views that would help them make more and keep their money.
      Ever since I was young, I always grew up with the knowledge that up north was liberal and down south was very conservative. Thinking about the way people live, you can see how people with similar views grouped together and prefer to keep it that way. Even though I live in a very southern state, I live in a progressive city and next to the U.S.- Mexican border which both contributes to my liberal views.
      Each racial group has their own background, culture, beliefs, and values. Racial groups that have a history of being oppressed look for more equality in the government. I grew up in a diverse environment so I saw both sides to it and I think a lot of it has to do with how you were raised and what your environment was like.
      When it comes to religion, there are a lot of things that can limit or influence a person’s views. An example would be how the Bible describes abortion as something that should not be done. While religion doesn’t necessarily control all of someone’s opinions, it still has an effect on them, especially if they were introduced to it at a young age. My family and I are not religious and we make our political decisions based on other factors such as our values and what information we find and educate ourselves with.
      I think gender matters when people are not raised to think of each gender equal to each other. Once one gender has the belief that they are superior the other others, their political views could be in support of their gender only. Also, each gender is more likely to support something that would benefit themselves and give them personal freedom. For example, limiting abortion is an unpopular view amongst women because that would feel as if our personal freedom is being taken away. The chart shows us that women favor equality over freedom and this might be because for so long, women have rarely been treated equally to men so now they seek equality.
      Overall, there are a lot of factors that play into the development of a person’s political views. Even if people grow up in the same family and same community, they could have different experiences that can really have an effect on their views. It all depends on a wide variety of things that I believe are close to impossible to measure.