Liberalism
Liberalism: the word has a number of meanings. According to the dictionary, these include "favorable to progress and reform, as in religious or political affairs"; "favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties"; "open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc."; and "characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts". [Random House Dictionary of the English Language]. The views I hold are left of center, and I consider myself a liberal and I encourage government action to change things to increase personal freedom and tolerance. I believe in social and economic equality and that the importance of freedom and equality rise above the conflict of order. To demonstrate this, I will provide my stance on some major issues that are of importance to me.I identify myself with the Democratic Party due to its liberal ideology. I believe in helping individuals take more control over their own lives. This requires (a) providing an environment that does not remove choice; (b) making sure that failures of judgment are not disastrous, removing choice;
My liberal approach to controversial issues is to recognize that there are usually conflicting ideals involved, neither of which always dominates. It is necessary to discover the conflict, and then to find the best tradeoff in any given situation. For example, I am in favor of abortion rights. Although a fetus is a pre-human, and should be given as many rights as possible, the quality of life of existing human beings can outweigh the potential life of the baby. It is, however, a difficult question that involves tradeoffs among very important conflicting goals, and it depends on circumstances, as each situation is individually different from the next. (c) offering information so that choices can be understood and made intelligently; and (d) giving people responsibility and encouraging self-reliance. I see the role of government as providing a place where individuals can develop their lives and contribute to society. Regulation of private industry is needed to ensure integrity and safety. I strongly feel that equal opportunity should be a goal, which should involve a level of urgency to rid the effects of poverty and discrimination. Health care and education should be easily available to all, since without either, individual choice is limited. I do not want the government to protect people from themselves, except to prevent actions that cause harm. As far as minority, gay, and women's rights, I believe that every human being is entitled both to equality before the law and equal opportunity in society. Discrimination causes unequal opportunity by removing choice. It is true that legislating beliefs cannot work; but legislating that actions cannot discriminate unfairly treats the symptom while a cure is sought. The danger is that the underlying problem is then ignored; this is why education plays such a vital role in my mind. Another important issue, the conflict of gun control, in my view, involves distrust of government, individual responsibility, and attitudes towards violence within society. I believe that giving everyone a mechanism to hurt other people quickly, easily, and at a distance is dangerous; people are more likely to do it. On the other hand, I believe that people should be trusted, and that large organizations should not. One approach t
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1536
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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