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A moderate with views not in line with any particular party, Terry attributes his conservative tendencies to his Catholic upbringing, which included nine years of parochial schooling; his more liberal perspectives, he believes, started to form after enrolling in an exclusive high school for artistically and academically gifted teens. At Philadelphia's High School for Creative and Performing Arts (also known as CAPA), Terry studied in a class with fewer than 100 students, where no one demographic maintained anything that even approached a majority; every race, culture, religion and socioeconomic class was represented. This was a big change from his one year studying at St. John Neumann High School, which was about 50% Irish and 90% Catholic, while being 100% male. Interacting with others whose beliefs were different than his own, Terry realized that he had a lot to learn and he spent much of his free time considering the differences between himself and those who surrounded him.
Terry's understanding that no two people can have the same experience allowed him to strengthen the skills needed in thinking and writing about the world in both an open-minded and sharply critical manner. Studying criminal justice at Temple University allowed Terry to see how "the system," as currently run, barely even addresses many of the tasks it is seemingly meant to accomplish.
Terry believes that too many US citizens have become disenfranchised from our most important political processes, but he understands why this is so. His college studies have allowed him to see that our courts are unable to effectively work with the necessary institutions in maintaining justice. After having spent years working for investment banks and insurance firms, Terry also recognizes the undeniable rift that exists between the haves and have nots, which is not only getting wider, but seemingly growing faster with each attempt to address it.
The one thing that Terry believes is the most dangerous impediment toward getting more people involved is the pitiful state of political discourse. All change must happen within the system that exists, unless the system itself is taken apart. Terry Jackson believes that the United States' political system, as outlined in the Constitution, is a good and strong one but that the powers that be (in any party and with any ideology) want to discourage participation. He believes this cannot stand, so the majority of his writings will try not only to point out the obvious, but to challenge beliefs and encourage others to make up their minds so they can speak up and act out on them.
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