A Year's Impact

I am confident that my view of the world has evolved into a more complex analysis. While I may have entered the classroom a liberal and am definitely leaving a liberal, the justification of my ideas has changed. I believe that I once studied issues as they presented themselves individually, and would seek answers that provided a simplified and reassuring quick-fix.

Well, I have tried very hard to distance myself from that type of thinking. I now analyse an issue according to philosophy and history, while creating points-of-view that can hold up against an intellectual dissection. While I learned philosophical theories in another class, it is the application to an argument that I developed in World Issues.

It certainly hasn't been easy. It becomes difficult to apply moral absolutes to certain scenarios, such as the humanitarian air-strikes in Libya. Here I was torn between the sin of killing and the duty of providing aid. I am still torn, but I don't mind saying that this is just one of many issues I simply am not ready to answer yet.

In terms of history, it becomes helped most with long-standing conflicts. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict remains the best example. Through an understanding of history, I was able to strengthen my ideas through the testimonies and ideas of the past. I was able to talk of the conflicts origin with Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael, and the events since. Very helpful were also history books I read for leisure, such as one detailing Clinton's presidency and his attempts at structuring peace.

The last point is perhaps the most important. The course was interesting to the point that the arguments I formed left me curious enough to research it on my own. I've read many books this year on the topics we have discussed, and have benefited from them greatly. While political books have always been an interest of mine, I just finished a book on economics, a subject that interested me less, because I had several unanswered questions left from our class discussions. As I suspected, liberalism is the more intellectual and ethical theory, but it is getting there that provides the best debate. The class provided an inspiration environment that enabled be to learn beyond the requirement, and this has prepared me well for university.