Margaret Romao Toigo
Friday, January 21, 2005
I want to share my Political Compass so that there is no confusion about where I stand (I am not easily classified as generally liberal or conservative) and to encourage others to take the test at politicalcompass.org so that they may learn more about politics and themselves — that is if they answer all of the test questions honestly.
Defining our political leanings along a single, one-dimensional left-to-right line is ineffective because of the widely diverse social and economic interests and needs that determine our individual political positions. Political Compass has added a second line to the equation to cover the social dimension of politics, while the traditional right-left line concerns economics. The second dimension provides a more accurate definition of political positions because it takes into account the various economic and social issues which determine not only whether we are economically liberal or conservative, but also whether we are socially authoritarian or libertarian.
Economic Left/Right: 1.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.03
By learning where we all fit into the grid, we might just be able to break out of the current state of being a divided nation of "reds" and "blues" through the realization that there are more than just two sides. Of course with the way things have been going lately, we might just end up being a quartered nation of liberal authoritarians, conservative authoritarians, liberal libertarians and conservative libertarians — well at least it would be a little more difficult to make up nasty names for one another.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Olsen
I'm a Lutheran, baby
2 - Dave Nalle
Wow, I was hoping someone had programmed this for the web. The questions aren't quite as clear-cut as the original 'World's Smallest Political Quiz', but they seem to work.
Glad to see I'm still to the left of Friedman and the Right of Ghandi and more anarchistic than either.
Dave
3 - DrPat
Mine was:
Economic Left/Right: 8.38 (right)
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.90 (libertarian)
(which probably doesn't surprise anyone here...)
4 - Dave Nalle
BTW, Eric. I forgot to mention that our numbers were virtually identical on the quiz. Clearly great minds think alike.
Dave
5 - Eric Berlin
I'm a little bit south of Ghandi.
Was anyone else completely apathetic (directly between Agree and Disagree) on a bunch of questions?
Fun exercise / good post. Thanks.
6 - alienboy
Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.54
7 - alienboy
what fun! totally assumption loaded of course.
Personally, I think the scales need adjusting so that my score becomes the new central point of the axes of the graph!
8 - jadester
i've done this once before, but that was a coupla years ago and apart from having changed since then, i don't remember my score.
Now, i am apparently:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.03
According to the graphs, that's close to Gandhi's position(!) so i'm not sure how accurate it is...
9 - Barry
Economic Left/Right: 3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.62
Unsurprising. Looks about right.
10 - Steve S
Economics: -7.0
Social: -5.83
I'm farther to the Left than Ghandi on both aspects.
I thought I would be farther to the Left on social issues.
In terms of economics, I've always been to the Left, but I I've slid waaaaay to the Left only within the last few months, and I have to say it's probably solely due to reading the ideology of the conservatives and libertarians here at BlogCritics.
Having known what they want, I still fall to the Left. But now knowing why they want what they want, slams me against the far wall on the Left.
11 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Steve S wrote: "I thought I would be farther to the Left on social issues."
Actually, that would be closer to the bottom of the y axis, which is representative of how libertarian/authoritarian your views with regard to social issues are.
Now, I realize that this may be perceived as pedantry, but it is actually intended to serve as a counter to the political sterotypes which have plagued the national conversation for quite some time now.
The words, "liberal" and "conservative" (and their accompanying diminutive variations) have been thrown about so much lately that they've lost their true meanings.
This is akin to the dilution of the meanings of the words "awesome" and "excellent" that occurred back in the early 1980s after they were co-opted by young trendoids who used them to describe just about anything and everything they appreciated or enjoyed -- but I sort of digress.
The point is that these oversimplified left-or-right political sterotypes into which some try to pigeonhole all Americans do not really serve anyone but the extremists on the fringes (why do they keep getting all the attention?), because they suggest that we are all one form or another of demagogue -- which behooves neither social nor economic progress.
The idea is to promote thinking in the quadrants rather than along the single traditional straight line.
Consider this: I am a card-carrying member of both the NRA and the ACLU (yes, really, I am), does that make me a liberal, a conservative or just plain wishy-washy?
12 - Eric Berlin
Margaret: you're to be applauded for bringing the very concept of the axis into Blog Critics. There's a tendency here (and many other places, as in "real life" as well) to paint in black and white, and it simply doesn't fit the reality of most regular people.
The fact that most circles of thought lack the vocabulary to even define a clearer (if more complex) representation only exacerbates the problem.
This topic is especially timely in the US as moderate voices are getting drowned out in the tumult between far-"left" and, more often, far-"right" voices.
Eric Berlin
Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash
13 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Thank you. [humble curtsey]
...as moderate voices are getting drowned out in the tumult between far-"left" and, more often, far-"right" voices.
I often wonder what proportion of this effect is attributable between our mass media, political leaders and the general citizenry.
When the subject of media bias comes up and some pundit accuses news programs and personalities of having a left or right leaning biases, I usually observe that whichever media people/organizations are accused of a leftward or rightward slant actually appear to me to be biased toward their own bottom lines rather than any certain political bent. And this is almost invariably because of the large amount of attention I have seen them give to ratings-shares-winning extremists, fanatics and freaks of every political stripe.
But really, what can you do about that when you believe so strongly in the principles of free enterprise and a free press?
Well, you could start organizations like Blogcritics and hope that the revolutionary idea of a people's collective media (I know it sounds sort of socialist but our First Amendment makes the concept of it democratic and capitalist) catches on sufficiently to cause the mass media to begin losing some of its audience.
I joined Blogexplosion at the behest of an article that was posted here earlier in the week and just surfing the various blogs of other Blogexplosion members has demostrated to me that there are far more than a mere two viewpoints out there.
14 - spiderleaf
I took this test 2 years ago... a cookie for anyone who can guess where I ended up.
15 - spiderleaf
btw - the test has changed quite considerably from 2 years ago, so my score has changed as well, but not that much.
16 - DrPat
My system rejects cookies, spiderleaf, so I will decline. But I bet it's up and way left of mine...
17 - spiderleaf
You are partially correct my dear doctor... It most definitely is much further to the left... but much further down as well.
Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.28
18 - spiderleaf
I humbly accept the title of resident far lefty.
[applause, applause] [boo, hiss]
19 - Dave Nalle
How is it even possible to get that rating from the questions without holding views which are literally insane?
Dave
20 - spiderleaf
Ah Dave, such a pleasure as always.
While your comment should not even warrant a reply, I feel quite comfortable with my views, so I'll share what some of them are.
I was raised to be deeply distrustful of anyone in a position of authority seeking to impose their will on others... it doesn't mean I won't listen to their views and perhaps agree with them, but I always look at motivations and potential conflicts of interest.
I am in favor of a free market, but have seen too much of history and the business world in general to have any faith in the motivations of those who hold that power of the purse.
I believe strongly that we are all citizens of the planet and as such have an obligation to protect those who are less fortunate and the environment.
I believe that the media serves those in power and as such can be used as a tool to shape opinions (usually not in the best interests of the masses).
I believe peace is powerful and war is a last resort. I have studied history extensively and see history repeating itself throughout the ages, with advances in the human condition and thought process coming slowly.
I believe religion can be beautiful, but not when it is imposed on others. I don't think anyone has the right to tell me what to do in my own home or with my own body as long as I am not hurting anyone else.
In other words, I know how to think for myself and do research.
21 - Dave Nalle
Well thanks for the response, spidey - or is that leafy?
I still don't see how your beliefs as you describe them could get a rating even more negative than mine on the Social Libertarian/Authoritarian axis, especially with these positions:
>>I am in favor of a free market, but have seen too much of history and the business world in general to have any faith in the motivations of those who hold that power of the purse.
I believe strongly that we are all citizens of the planet and as such have an obligation to protect those who are less fortunate and the environment<<
Which seem fundamentailly opposed to individual liberty. These goals as you describe them can only be achieved through statism, so if yoiu actually answered the questions in the way needed to get your -7.28 then your question answers and your statements above don't match.
Dave
22 - spiderleaf
Not necessarily. I answered each question truthfully. I never said I don't believe in government, I just don't believe in corporate control and power. I have no problem with high taxes if they support social equality vs. corporatism or excessive military.
But I do believe that individuals have the freedom of choice and should not be subjected to the tyranny of the majority if they aren't harming anyone (i.e. I abhor guns, but the right to bear arms is part of the Consititution so I support those who wish to own them as long as they are not used to harm anyone else).
And btw - 2 years ago the 'bottom' was phrased as anarchist, not libertarian.
23 - spiderleaf
And in terms of why I scored lower than you on that axis... only you can answer that one... perhaps you aren't as 'libertarian' as you believe you are. From your comments on BC you seem to be much more in the authoritarian column to me.
24 - Dave Nalle
The low point on the axis still says 'anarchist' on the current version if you go to the source page. I'm anarchist enough, I think at -6.88. I don't see how you can score lower than that and support government at all.
LOL at your comment that I might be an authoritarian. You must not have been reading my posts, or else you don't know what authoritarian means.
But I guess my original point is that it seems improbable that you'd be so negative on the 'left' scale if you support things like property rights or basic civil liberties.
Dave
25 - Katharine Donelson
>>Was anyone else completely apathetic (directly between Agree and Disagree) on a bunch of questions?<<
Yes, there were many questions about which I was completely apathetic. Although, I suppose it would be hard to score anything like this if the test taker has no opinion on a bunch of the questions.