Political Parties And You

I do not really strongly identify with any political party, as growing up politics were not a staple in my family life, and as an adult I find that trying to fit myself in the existing political parties are an unsavory option. However, I tend to be more conservative in my choices and political ideology, influenced by my choice of religion and past experiences.  As for opposing certain political party platforms, from the more conservative political parties (for example, the Republican Party) I tend to disagree with the issue of unions. I feel that unions have a special place in the workplace and that they protect the working man’s interest. Though it can become a great nuisance to businesses and even hinder their production, it is better to make sure that a worker is safe and happy, and the corporation is bound to reflect that.

I think that America does not need political parties so much as people naturally gravitate towards them. Everyone shall have opposing or similar views, and it is only natural that people will create a coalition of people with similar views to create a large and loud voice that can sway people’s opinions. I think that in today’s society that America cannot live without political parties. As said before, people are naturally and instinctively drawn to create groups to protect and promote their interests, and that it would go against a person’s instinct. Without the political parties, people would not feel as though their interests and opinions  and needs are not being heard or recognized.

One political party that I found interesting  and slightly attracted to was the Citizen’s Party of the United States. The political party has a mixture of all sorts of views, from liberal to conservative, but is mostly moderate in it’s platforms. The Citizen’s Party seems to represent a more middle class stance instead of trying to benefit and cater to more of the minor classes in America- that is, the wealthy and the outright poor.  To me, this party has potential, with many clear platforms, and has so many different views that it could draw in many moderates that are currently unaffiliated with any political party. However, its downside is that it is obviously not very well known, and that the opposing vies may work against it, as people who tend to be more politically invested tend to have strong views that can become polarized, and they may attack it as being wishy wahsy or trying to please people in only certain regions.

I commented on Jessica Tucker, Gabrielle Miller, and Albert Munoz’s blogs.

The Best I Can Do After Spring Break

The interest group American Federation of Teachers represents, obviously, the hard-working (and not so hard-working) teachers that we all know and love (or positively hate.) Their issues are the numerous complaints that we all hear about the current condition of many of the schools in America- the students aren’t learning anything, bad teachers are kept because they have tenure, and that are schools are becoming increasingly unsafe, even from its own students. Some of their chief beliefs are to create better methods for evaluating teachers, expanding and improving student’s curriculum, and improving schools in general to make it a better workplace for teachers and to give students a better learning environment, as well as a far more enjoyable school experience. There are far more beliefs and goals that they have in mind, and they have been fighting and striving for years to make them come true. I support many of their issues, like the ones mentioned above, as I know that our public schools are not in the best condition in every sense of the word, and I believe that our teachers need to be re-evaluated and a better curriculum system be put in place.

One interest group that I can identify with is the Accuracy in Media. Their mission is to play the role of the watchdog over the media, making sure that they do not get out of hand with their reporting and that the media reports contain no bias and that the stories are the complete and total truth, as well as exposing media outlets that lie in their reports. I think that this type of interest group is very needed, especially in a time where many of the news outlets have a political bias or twist the truth to fit their needs. Since the media wants so desperately to provide the public with grandiose stories of government corruption and scandal, there should also be a group to make sure that the media does not get out of hand.

I believe that every interest group has varying amounts of influence and power in the political system, and with most interest groups, I believe that they have enough power. I suppose the line that must be drawn as to how much power the interest groups have is when they are able to easily “influence” the government decisions in the areas that the interest groups are advocacies of.

I commented on Albert Munoz, Melissa Ray, and Time Tunkel.

Mass Media and Politics

Objectivity does still exist in the media’s coverage of politics, but seems to be few and far between. While many of the big name news media are used mainly as outlets for political party’s views and arguments, there are still plenty of other mass media outlets such as newspapers, online blogs, and even some news stations that strive to simply find the truth in political issues. It is hard to not be biased, as it is our bias that usually drives us in the decisions and our perceptions of reality, but if there are people that are being objective journalists out in the field gathering information, then they would be less inclined to put a certain biased twist on the information. Of the major news networks that many Americans are familiar with today, the most biased ones would be FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC are all pretty bias, with Fox News leaning considerably towards the right and MSNBC being the most liberal, and CNN and NBC definitely also possessing a left-leaning bias. NPR, however, has been rated as the least bias network, at least in the past, but is now facing allegations that NPR is also a more liberal network.

I do not actually listen to radio talk, so I can effectively say that it does not affect any of my political views.

Media objectivity is very important, as it tries to encompass the facts and truth of events all the while being indifferent. In doing so, this can let people analyze and critically think about the facts that have been presented to them, and will hopefully see the plain truth instead of a distorted one that is usually presented by biased mass media. However, people will also interpret those facts how they see fit, even if their rationalization isn’t even close to being the actual truth. But you cannot really stop that, because even if someone gave a biased report on an event and why they think it happened, people will still be more likely to try to draw their own conclusions.

I commented on Gabrielle Miller, Jessica Armes, and Melissa Ray’s blogs.

Which Side to Take?

1.       The American news media does like to rely on polls for political and social issues or to rate politicians’ performances. Since you cannot get out and interview every single American about their opinions of today’s happenings in the world of politics or social issues, polls have become a very convenient way to figure out a rough idea of what the public thinks and feel. However, convenience may lead to sloppy numbers that are not always particularly representative of the majority of the population. Besides, certain news media can be biased in their political mind set and, when creating polls, word them cleverly enough to help people pick the choices that the news media will want them to choose to provide cold hard “data” to back up their statements and beliefs. As well, these polls are completely voluntary, and it is usually people who have very strong opinions on the topic at hand are more likely to vote on the polls, and the polls are sometimes based on a small survey group. If you take notice at CNN’s recent polls, one of them is polling the percentage of the mixed views of Obama’s inauguration, but the poll was made up based on 408 adult Americans. That is not near enough people to take the poll completely seriously, especially with a margin of error at 5%.  It even states on the bottom of the website that the polls were taken using “CNN approved polling methodology” and then goes on to say that there are some polls that are put up that do not meet their criteria, which are then marked with an asterisk. That in and of itself makes it seem as though the polls can be twisted by the news media for a more favorable outcome. Now, not all polls are like this, and some can be very reliable, and in fact predict the outcomes of certain issues, such as the presidential election of 2012. The polls ended up favoring Obama near the end, and it was indeed Obama who won. People must simply be more careful about what these news media polls say, however, and should look for more unbiased polls, if possible.

2.       Political identification for me is not very important at all, and mostly due to the fact that describing yourself with your political ideology can create impressions for people who do not even really know you, leading them to either see you in a favorable or very unfavorable light. It’s a ridiculous way to judge someone before you even get to know them. Besides, should I really even care about those ridiculous political sides? Not particularly. Politics is important, but I don’t believe in playing into a certain side’s wants and needs and supporting their ventures just because I see myself as a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, or whatever else I choose to be, and think that supporting them is what I’m suppose to do. It’s all a very “us versus them” mindset at the moment in American politics. If they choose to support something, then by God, we’ll oppose it! And so goes on a constant power struggle in American politics. However, everyone else around me seems to like playing sides. My parents and grandparents tend to be more on the conservative side, while my friends like to parade around with the sign “Democrat” blinking around their heads in neon lights. It’s all very tiring. Perhaps they find playing sides helps them to easier define themselves to other people, or maybe they really do believe in that political mind set, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

3.       I feel that it is influenced by both economic and social issues, as both directly impact my life, and that sometimes they go hand-in-hand, but if I were to pick one of the two, then I would be more influenced by social issues . Obviously, I want to be stable economically myself, and to make sure that happens, I’m going to vote for laws and policies that I believe would promote growth in our economy. However, if such policies were to tread on a social issue, like making labor unions illegal (as they are in China), then I’d be against them, as I feel that infringing on people’s rights is an obvious wrong that should be avoided, and that their rights should always come first, because a wealthy but unhappy society is worthless.

I wrote on Gabrielle Miller, Jessica Tucker, and Elise Black's blogs.