Introduction

Who am I?

Hello future senators, SCOTUS justices, and presidents; my name is Christian. I am a high school senior from Seattle, Washington.

Today, I’ll be writing about my personal political views and opinions, opposing political opinions, and how I believe my political views were shaped.

What are my beliefs?

Based on my results from a political typology survey by the Pew Research Center, I am a Disaffected Democrat. I wasn't surprised, as Disaffected Democrats are mostly minorities who lean towards the Democratic party, with 56% of them being non-white.

    The political typology group Core Conservatives is what I will be comparing my own group to. 

Disaffected Democrats hold many strong liberal beliefs. For example, they believe that business corporations make too much profit. This is a liberal view, as liberals believe that there should be restrictions put on business corporations, in order to prevent businesses from becoming too powerful. On the other hand, another political typology group, Core Conservatives are considered "business-friendly" (Investopedia). Core Conservatives support limited regulation of businesses, allowing businesses to maximize their profits. An example of this is former U.S. Senator John McCain. He was a firm supporter of free trade, backing agreements such as the NAFTA and GATT, which both aimed to promote trade by eliminating tariffs and quotas.

Disaffected Democrats also believe that immigrants are essential to our country. The condemnation of immigration is often seen as a Core Conservative characteristic. According to a graph from the Pew Research Center, 84% of Democrats believe that immigrants help the country more than they burden it, while only 42% of Republicans believe the same. Another example is Donald Trump, a Republican, who implemented Executive Order 13769, blocking immigrants from 7 different African countries from entering the United States.

Another belief held by Disaffected Democrats is that our country still needs to act upon giving black people equal rights with white people. According to the political typology profile of Disaffected Democrats from the Pew Research Center, 92% of Disaffected Democrats believe our country needs to continue making changes to make blacks have equal rights with whites. On the other hand, the political typology profile of Core Conservatives shows 81% of them believe black and whites and already equal. Furthermore, presidential candidates from the Republican party, whom Core Conservatives almost exclusively support, have labelled the "Black Lives Matter" movement as "anti-police". Former U.S. President Obama, a Democrat, on the other hand, has continually voiced his support for the movement.

What shaped my beliefs?

I believe that my political views were influenced by the city I live in and social media.

Living in a majority liberal city such as Seattle, I have been surrounded by liberal values throughout my entire life. However, if I lived in Eastern Washington, where people are more conservative, I would most likely have conservative beliefs and values.

Moreover, I use social media almost every day of my life. Apps such as Snapchat and Instagram are often used as platforms to share political beliefs, and these platforms have helped me connect with others who share the same beliefs. There is also an overwhelming amount of people who hold liberal beliefs on both apps, who verbally attack those with conservative beliefs.