I’ve assumed a variety of political stances since seventh grade, the time I first paid any attention to the news. Those views have ranged from heinously liberal to staunchly archconservative. Three years ago, it would have been fair to call me a libertarian. Today I think of myself as a conservative. I am a member of the Republican party.

I am proud, however, to be what could be called an establishment Republican. The more radical members of my party might call me a RINO — a Republican In Name Only.

We live in a country whose economy is highly regulated and, whether we like it or not, changing even small pieces of that system could have unforeseen, damaging consequences. Repealing economic regulation should be carefully considered and never understood as a program that is always right.

Where social legislation is concerned, we should take the same approach to instituting new regulations on such issues as abortion and marriage. It is my opinion that such restrictions on private activity, insulated from the outside world, are too morally important to leave to law. Righteousness cannot be compelled. Outward compliance may be achieved, but unless the hearts and minds of people — rather than their fears — are behind their actions they will not be moral.

Since I’ve become a moderate, I’ve felt more liberated than ever before as far as politics goes. Don’t misunderstand me; I do not mean that I rejoice in flip-flopping or exult in some kind of liberation from principle.

Being a moderate is different from commitment to an ideology in a very special way. Moderates can be more at ease with their situational surroundings. They can adjust themselves to the demands of their environments without worrying about compromising their integrity. Instead of being tied to compliance with a set of presuppositions about how the world works, integrity is tied to mastery of the situation with which one is confronted.

A successful moderate is one who creates order out of chaos — one who finds a working solution for a problem. His or her achievements work. A successful ideologue, whether Democrat or Republican, upholds his or her party’s platform. Upholding that platform may or may not lead to a working solution. But unlike the success of moderates, that of ideologues is one step removed from working solutions.

Instead of believing in ideas, I believe in people. I believe in the ability of people to alter the courses of their lives. Destiny may exist, but until it is revealed, we do what we can. I do not doubt that the American people can enact — and will enact — solutions to their problems if they pay more attention to the realities of their surroundings instead of the ideas in their own heads.

Saying that a situation is trending irrevocably toward an outcome is to be complacent. It is to doubt one’s own power to change a situation. It means being ruled by fear rather than ruling it. I won’t accept that. Nor should any other American.