Political Science

After taking the survey at the Political Compass web site, the report states that I am left of center in my political orientation. However, I am inclined to disagree with the results of the survey. I have always regarded political orientation leaning more to the right of center. My political beliefs are shaped mainly by my religious beliefs which have provided me a moral anchor that keeps me on the proverbial straight and narrow. In addition, my exposure to various issues have somewhat made me disheartened to liberal ideas. When taken to the extremes, liberalism appears to bring chaos and anarchy and tends to frown upon any form of law and order since they tend to encroach individual rights.  For me, I do believe there is a need for law and order to regulate. It is unrealistically impossible for rights to be absolute.

This is tested or validated when I viewed a web site of one particular social-political issue that interests meaffirmative action.  While I do appreciate what it is doing to promote equal opportunity to people of different backgrounds, this is not absolutely applicable to every situation.

With regard to my personal stand on affirmative action, I do believe in meritocracy where one is judged by his or her ability, not by the color of ones skin or gender in trying to qualify or find his or her place in the sun, be it a slot in a university degree program or employment (Gutierrez-Jones, 1996).  This practice of affirmative action could possibly be abused by people who will invoke discrimination to get what they want even if they are not qualified for it. I feel this is not how affirmative action should be applied.

If there is one thing I have learned from this exercise, it is that it is impossible for one to sit on the extremes or subscribe to absolute ideas because the changing social political climate can cause ones way of thinking to change.