American political beliefs

Americans reach conclusions on political beliefs from various outlets of influence. Whether it’s political pundits, a rhetoric-laden speech, persuasive newspaper article or Hollywood rant, political ideology should match one’s belief system.

We must choose wisely how we are influenced politically. Pundits have their own, biased agendas. Hollywood plays a role to entertain, NOT to influence or dictate our political beliefs. When they condescend to the public and try to educate our political belief, it’s laughable and should be enough to dissuade Americans.

Americans must determine their political beliefs from an educated perspective. An educated perspective encompasses history, issue research, a consideration of what’s best for America and one’s belief system. One cannot afford to be persuaded to what feels good at the time. When it comes to political issues, one must be constantly informed not merely on a set agenda. Knowledge of the issue and making an educated assumption is critical. It’s easy to react the way we are persuaded by the media or politicians, but we must remember these individuals are following a biased agenda.

Americans must make an effort to vote according to what they believe rather than what they feel at the time. When electing our officials it must be because we feel they are the most qualified for the position. Candidates will tell the public what they want to hear and make superfluous campaign promises, that they do not intend to keep. The true character of the candidate and how they view this country should be the most important qualifications. We cannot afford to take these decisions lightly because ultimately the people we elect make the decisions that affect our lives. We cannot fall into a trap because of a whim of feelings, media popularity tactics or other variety of excuses.

The political spectrum is far too broad for our political beliefs to boil down to party line decision-making ability. It’s far too easy and convenient to choose a political party to make our decisions for us. It’s no doubt that the core values we maintain might align ourselves toward the left, center or right but we cannot afford to become subjective. Our political motivations must match our motivations of this country’s direction and also our belief system. There also must be some form of mutual respect between our political beliefs and those of informed individuals holding contrasting ideologies. Just because someone holds a political view contrary to ours doesn’t mean they are wrong or ignorant.

This country’s Constitution protects the freedom to hold individual political beliefs and free and fair elections. We cannot take this for granted. As Americans we must vote in our elections and be educated on the issues and the candidates. Our political ideology is a reflection of how we view our country and a culmination of our belief system. Americans cannot afford to sell out our political beliefs for idealistic or uninformed reasons.

Posted by Ben Elliot on Mar 10 2011. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.