nurture: many factors influence an individual"s development. On the side of nature, there are our genes. These determine our physical appearance, and perhaps, our physical abilities and talents. We might even be "hardwired" to some extent as far as our intellectual and emotional development is concerned. Yet "nurture" exerts its own powerful pull on the development of an individual. As human beings, each of us is a member of a multitude of different social groups. We are daughters and wives; Texans and Americans; Baptists and Buddhists. We may belong to many groups at the same time. We may be members of a given group for a long period of time or perhaps only for a few months, days, or even hours. These social groups mold our identities. They make us who we are in terms of which ideas are important to us, and what things we value. They even condition who we admire or revile. Indeed, certain facets of individual identity are wholly the result of "nurture," of the process of socialization. We learn our political views from those around us, and from the experiences that befall us. No one is born a Republican. Nor is anyone predestined to be a Clinton supporter simply because she is born blue-eyed. The political views of each man, woman, and child, are reflections of the environment in which he or she was raised, and in which he or she continues to live, work, and study. I am the product of my own environment, and my politics reflect that environment. .

             I am a Democrat and an opponent of the Iraq War. I also oppose much that is advocated by the contemporary Republican Party, both in Texas and in Washington. There are many reasons I feel the way I do, many of them based upon my own background as an individual; on my ethnicity, religion, and family history. Though I was born in Houston, my family was not from this country. Both of my parents were born and raised in Vietnam.