Jillian+Stallman

Political Tolerance

I'll admit, my level of political tolerance is very high because I tend to ignore the opinions that I feel are unfounded or just idiotic (the opinions, not the people). Because I value my individual rights, as a rational human being I must value the rights of others, whether or not I agree or disagree with what is being said. Should I attempt to ban chili from the cafeteria and restrict the lunch menu, just because I happen to think it's disgusting? Should I restrict the right of free speech of a pro-terrorism individual, simply because I disagree? Absolutely not. The atheists, the terrorists, the communists, the racists.. The people whose opinions I disagree with are what makes America **interesting.** If we all agreed, America would still be a British colony and there would be no such thing as the iPod (say it isn't so!). The diversity is what makes America what it is, and free speech is one of the central methods of declaring those differences. However, just because I think those individuals should be allowed to exercise their free speech doesn't mean I have to agree, or even listen. I don't have to attend the gathering, I don't have to watch the television on that channel. It's like my chili decision - I bring my own lunch nowadays, and let everyone else have meat breath on chili day.

Another admission - I think most people aren't exactly able to make the best decisions (the world's quite full of the more dim bulbs on the Christmas tree, to be euphemistic). So really, "most people" aren't worth paying attention to. And their political tolerances are rather low (we're not a very accepting society, are we). And mine is rather high. So surprise, surprise - in this case, I go against what "most people" would "presumably" say.

__**Political Trust**__

a) I have to say, I don't particularly trust Congress (bunch of stuck-up putzes, for quite a few of them), bureaucracies (unless the person at the top is highly qualified and respectable), political parties, or much of anyone. However, I do think President Obama is a very well-educated and intelligent man who I respect for trying things to make an impact. That's more than some other presidents ever did. So I guess I don't trust presidents in general. I do trust the courts, especially the Supreme Court, because of the difficult job it is to get appointed and the level of intelligence and rational thinking those justices have shown. I think, especially in the here and now, courts are coming around (although they still aren't yet fair to minorities, at least there's progress).

b) As far as "political actors," which is a fancy word for specific politicians, I can't say I have a lot of faith in the lot, either. Individuals just aren't trustworthy. But I do think Obama and Biden are making differences, Earl Pomeroy has been gunning for North Dakota from day 1 and is doing a dashing job of it, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan the same (although, really, how difficult is it to be a Congressman for North Dakota? When do we ever have excessive need?). In general, I trust politicians to do the thing that will get them reelected, and if it follows my agenda, wonderful. If not, no imaginary under-18 lack of vote for them!

c) My level of trust in politics is actually relatively high. I don't think people in general make good decisions. But get a lot of them together, and let them duke it out, and the result ends up being pretty close to what we need. It's pretty cool how it works out.

My attitudes probably stem from the relatively (okay, extremely) independent and confident attitudes of my parents and the rest of my family. Frankly, my family members all think they're awesome (it's a curse, I know), and we tend to have little trust in externalities but quite a bit of trust in the results of a bunch of people going at it for a good while.

__**Political Socialization**__

My first political memory is of the results of the Bush v. Gore election. I mean, really. My parents were not shocked in the least that George Dubbya was elected over Al Gore, but they were.. more than a little dismayed. I just knew that my parents had not voted for Bush, and that this result was somehow "not good."

I have been impacted by all the socialization factors, of course, but unsurprisingly my family has probably played the largest factor. My parents are more conservative economically and liberal socially, and guess what? That's what I am, too! Surprise surprise. Education probably hasn't played a huge part yet, but merely being in school has likely made me more receptive to different opinions. My race (of being five foot four, white, blond-haired and blue-eyed and, by the way, Scandinavian) would tend to make me more conservative, but the moral attitudes of my family tend to make me more liberal (with just a little bit of conservative thrown in there, because we do like other people not having our money). My religion doesn't particularly differentiate me, because I don't feel particularly strongly about it at the moment, and Lutherans are pretty "chill" anyway. My region (North Dakota) means I get to listen to a bunch of hardcore conservatives talking in the hallways **all the time**, which is just peachy, and my gender likely tends to make me more liberal (by the way, I'm a girl. Yippee.). It's an interesting psychological puzzle, to figure out what aspects make me lean more one way or another, and only by looking at the whole picture and all the separate parts can I figure out why I do what I do and how I think what I think.

__**Ideology**__

Oh boy. This is the fun one. I have since discovered that I am a pretty strong libertarian (independent in some sense). I am economically very conservative, but socially very liberal. Because I would rather see the social aspects come into play, if it was close I will likely vote liberal, because I can always make more money. I definitely disagree with high taxation, because I am an economist at heart. If the government taxes are very high, the people have less incentive to make money, there are less entrepreneurs, there are less jobs because there is less fun, inventive, technological "stuff" going on. But if taxes are relatively low, then the pie that is our economy is bigger. And the crazy little capitalists making money **want** the environment to be nice (so they can go to their lake places and on vacations), they **want** to outsource and provide jobs for foreign countries (not saying that those opportunities are fair or perfect, but have I also mentioned I'm a bit of an idealist?), they **want** to have fair practices, so that the average Joes can look at their company or their institution and say "Hey. Institution / Company. I like what you're doing. I'm going to support you and buy your products / go to your buildings / use your stuff / whatever." The people and the companies have to work together, of course, but I just don't think taxation works for America particularly well. Smaller countries willing to pay? Sure, sure, tax 'em good, and look at the quality of their lives rise. America? We argue too much. Taxing and inefficiencies in government taxation and just the cleverness with which we could do this make me economically conservative, but my pro-choice views on abortion (my advocacy for individual freedom stems to just what one should be forced to keep in her body) with an encouragement on, of course, keeping the thing. My support for equal opportunity (in schooling. In jobs, let the position go to the best and most qualified), the dislike I have for excessive military endeavors, and my general willingness to let people do as they please so long as they don't kill or wound/maim anyone, make me socially liberal. Overall, the term can be defined as "libertarian."

As I said before, my issue preferences stem a lot from those factors of socialization. Actually, they probably solely stem from those factors. Need I say more?

**__Political Efficacy__**

I would have to say that my internal political efficacy is rather high (because I sometimes think I'm awesome), because I think I make good decisions. My external political efficacy is currently rather low (I can't vote, for one, and for another, I'm from North Dakota. For another nail in the coffin, I'm in high school), but I think it will pick up in the next couple years as I go to college and go somewhere where I can make an impact, whether directly in politics or indirectly in something perhaps more appealing to me.