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Personal Ideology

On the Pew Research Center’s Political Ideology Quiz, I was classified as a solid liberal. I was a bit surprised by the result at first because I had considered myself more of an independent in that while on many issues I am liberal, on a number of issues I am quite conservative. Indeed, at first glance, I thought I would come out as a “next generation left” because of their tendency towards moderation. However, after comparing my lifestyle choices to the explanations of the other classification as well as the background for how the Pew Research Center created their political typology, I think that the result is accurate. Accordingly, I think that I am solidly liberal but open to more conservative policies and decisions if there is a good reason for it.
On the “Orange County Register’s” Freedom IQ Test, I answered “c” to fewer than 10 questions which, according to the authors, makes me “in need of a born-again experience but not irredeemable.” The test question were, in my opinion, less specific as the Pew Research Center’s quiz question, which made it seem that the authors were looking for a person who either supports their freedom-loving libertarian ideology or is a government-loving authoritarian bent on crushing the independence of the people. I landed in the middle which I think is right. In some aspects of society such as gun control, education, zoning, and climate control, I think that the government must take the lead. In other aspects of society, such as foreign tensions that have not yet devolved into war, immigration, religion and marriage, the government should play no or a limited role. For everything else, I think it depends. I also think my results in the Freedom IQ Test, compliment the “solid liberal” classification I received in the Pew Research Center’s quiz in that the majority of my answers express a liberal attitude but I am open to change. Moreover, the answers show that I am quite politically engaged.
I think one of the benefits of our system of government is exactly that everybody has different beliefs and that to make decisions on policy goals whether it is raising taxes or illegal immigration, all sides must be allowed to voice their opinions, and persuade others. To be sure, most decisions are achieved through compromise which in theory should produce a result that the majority of people will feel comfortable with. The process of coming to a decision can be slow but it does facilitate competition and most importantly democracy.

I agree with Post 1 author’s comments that the Freedom IQ Test’s questions were a little confusing. But as I mentioned, it did not seem as if they were trying to find a test takers political typology but rather whether their readers were as libertarian as the test’s authors. I also agree with the author’s point about the importance of compromise in the process of making decisions. As the author says, it seems that most people are not extremely right-wing or left-wing but rather somewhere in the middle. Accordingly, decisions tend to reflect these circumstances. This is so even for immigration is more information is available to help the public understand the issues.