As a millennial, it can be hard to understand what's going on in politics these days. Bernie was a great guy, but then he turned around and endorsed Hillary, which is sketchy. Younger Republicans like Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, and Tim Scott looked like they were going to make a difference, but they got run over by the Trump Train. It's hard to know where to fit in as a millennial in politics these days. My personal beliefs can be a toss-up between liberalism and conservatism, so I thought I'd make a couple articles on where I fall. This is part one.

5. Safe Spaces

You know what's depressing? This mess. That's college students actually signing away their rights to free speech. Why?

Cause they, uh, want to be nice? What?

The concept of 'safe spaces' is one that has always bothered me. Now, don't get me wrong--if someone outright says "Hey, please don't talk about that with me, because I have _____ problem with it," then that's fine. I'm all about respect.

Forcing people to stop talking about ideas is a problem.

That's what that is. It's not respect if you have no choice.

Besides, why go to college if you're never going to be confronted with alternative ideas? The whole thing is just useless then. I came to college to learn, not just have all of my ideas confirmed. I've already had to rethink some things since I got here, and I've only been here for half a semester or so.

That's not to say that people don't have the ability to set up voluntary 'safe spaces'. But, like many conservatives, I feel that this practice, if overdone, is damaging to the ability of people to engage in real discourse. People should be able to think through alternative positions without throwing a fit, and I think that those with real issues are a rare exception to that rule.

4. Gun Control

Here's a question. If you have to protect yourself against people who legitimately want to kill you, would you rather use pepper spray or a gun?

It's not a trick question.

I don't think many sane people would choose the pepper spray.

Now, look. I won't pretend like so-called constitutional carry, where anybody can carry any weapon at all without penalty, would work. Maybe it would in the country, but certainly not in the city. But I think there is a natural right to self-defense.

I think that, unless the no-fly list starts to include due process, there's no way I can support it being used as a way to restrict people using guns. Believe it or not, I used to promote the no-fly list as a way to block gun ownership, but then I looked into it, and you know what? There's not even a scent of due process anywhere. I generally find the FBI to be useful, but I don't think they get to take away rights arbitrarily.

You have a right to protect yourself by whatever means necessary. If you need a gun, I don't want you to be stuck with pepper spray. Make sense?

3. Supporting Veterans

Now, as I'll deal with in the next article, I'm pretty liberal on foreign policy, pretty liberal on borders, and pretty liberal on immigration. But one thing relating to security that I'm conservative on is supporting the troops.

Think about it for a second. Most people don't choose the military because they're just soooo into guns and shooting things. Most aren't even, when they go into the military, particularly soldierly. They just aren't. So the question is... why would they do it?

To serve, of course.

Call me crazy, but I tend to try to repay those who have served me--through tips for waiters, whatever--and whether you agree with the modern American M.O. for foreign policy or not, the people who signed up to serve their country deserve to, at least, be taken care of for it well.

To be fair, that's not a specifically Republican thing at all. Republicans have screwed veterans before. Multiple times, too. But it does seem to be a more conservative issue, so I'm calling this one in the conservative court if not the Republican one.

2. Economics

Let's make one thing very clear: Donald Trump is not an economic conservative. Economic conservatives are in favor of only whatever regulation is necessary domestically, free trade abroad, and promote both small business and big business alike. While I don't think enough is being done for small business right now (entrepreneurship is really hard) and cronyism is definitely a thing, I'm still committed to this system.

Because it works.

Look, for example, at President Obama. He's described himself as a socialist, but still calls capitalism "the greatest driver of prosperity and opportunity the world has ever known."

We have a right to property. In fact, in the original documents that led to the Declaration of independence, our rights were life, liberty, and property, not the pursuit of happiness. Capitalism recognizes that. It lets everyone win if they put in the effort.

Of all of the points on this list, this is the one I'm most set on. Capitalism really works. Only people with an agenda say otherwise. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. You deserve the opportunity to reach wealth, and so does everybody else. Bringing other people down to build yourself up is the opposite of noble.

1. Abortion

I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this one, I'm sure. What, a man dares to have an opinion on abortion that isn't just "Women can do whatever they want?"

Well, yeah, I do. Hear me out.

I'm a guy and therefore can't totally empathize with a woman who gets pregnant unexpectedly. I think that's a horrible situation to find yourself in, and as I'll explain in my article about the issues I'm liberal on, I want women to be able to avoid that at all costs.

However, I think kids have a right to life. I'm not about to condone someone going around and murdering children who've already been born and, frankly, what makes them different than an unborn baby who's still viable outside the womb? Nothing, really.

This issue makes me uncomfortable when I have to talk about it. Of all the hot-button issues, this might be the most dramatic. A lot of people vote on this issue alone, and there's a substantial divide between people on this problem.

You can see, of course, why this makes people mad. On the one hand, there's the overwhelming feeling like pro-life activists are the patriarchy rearing its ugly head to snatch women's rights away from them. On the other, there's the vehement pro-lifers who feel that any abortion for any reason is outright murder.

Well, I'm not an extremist, but I think that abortion for no reason other than, "I want to," is just morally repugnant. I'm sorry if that offends you, but that's how I feel. That's not going to change because you really want a career or whatever. I believe that, very early on, that fetus is a kid. I'm all for a lot of social liberties, but killing kids isn't one of them.

Other people are much better at explaining this than I am. This article by Lauren Galvan is a good read if you want some reasons I (generally) agree with.

I'm pretty moderate on this issue, as you'll see in the next article, but I hope you understand that I will always support life if at all possible.