The Centrist

Growing up, I did not care much for politics. India always had a multi-party system and incumbency and people's fickle mindedness always made sure that all the parties got their share of power. Besides, due to the divisive nature of mandate in most cases, smaller parties could benefit from floor trading and ultimately decide which party governs the country. During my adolscent age, BJP and Congress were the 2 big parties. I did not like BJP for some of their extreme right wing views and their association with VHP, Hindutva etc. On the other hand, the Congress was always pandering to Gandhi family, and seemed bereft of a powerful leadership. I was under the opinion that given BJP's alliance and strong leadership, they would drift towards the centre while the Congress laden with communist parties would shift far left. Hence I started supporting the BJP primarily because I sided with some of their fiscally conservative initiatives.

Coming to US, I got the real taste of a bi-party left-right politics. I never favored the current republican party from the outset, given their hegemonic attitude towards other nations and raking votes basis people's fear of terror. The current president might be a great politician but I never thought of him as a charismatic ruler, in the lines of his predecessor. Capitalism was taken to new heights with hefty tax cuts for corporations and approval to major mergers. Lobbying plays a major part in this country, but I think some of the antics of this party even jumps the realms of what is acceptable.

Living in California, one is exposed to a very liberal mindset. The rules are progressive - the government thinks greener and taxes your fuel heavily, the emission norms are stricter, worker benefits are higher etc. Then their rules which fund stem cell research, green initiatives, higher minimum wage etc. I got a taste for the liberal nature, when I entered a grocery store for the first time and found a whole aisle for alcohol. This was definitely a huge change from Pennsylvania where in most places you can't buy beer after 9:00 and some places you can't even buy more than a 12 pack at a time !! I found a lot of people to be more outgoing, more aware of world outside and in general very progressive in their thought process.

I always thought of myself as a centrist till I moved to Texas. I finally realised that in this country, currently atleast, the right is so far out right, that even a centrist view like mine seems a leftist view. Infact if you hold a purely leftist view you might almost be considered a communist!! In a city run by oil companies, its no wonder that people dont give a damn about the current oil crisis or environmental concerns. . When it comes to religious beliefs, I am more of an agnostic or in most cases a very light thiest - someone who doesnt care much about religion. But in Texas, church plays an important part of everyone's life. This is good, but I get scared when I hear or see the fanatic side of the religion. Given its pro-gun stance and avid detest for gay & abortion rights, places in South definitely seemed to be very different in comparison with cities like New York, Los Angeles & San Francisco.

Most cities in the country are liberal, but I might have to say this might not be true for some of the cities in the south. One thing which always surprised me is that although most of the cities are liberal, the rural areas are always conservative. Similarly both the east coast and west coast in many ways is liberal, whereas the central portion of the country is pretty conservative. Also student towns i.e. people of that demographic are typically liberal in their mindset. Political views are generally not influenced by education or occupation, then why is there such a clear demarcation ?