OK, here's a game based on a line of Ralph's from over in the Iraq thread:
Quote from: ValamirFor the record, my personal political platform is about 1/3 Right, 1/3 Left, and 1/3 Libertarian.
Summarize your politics as succinctly as possible, not to exceed one sentence. The fractional thing seems good so I'll follow suit. (And don't get all "my political stance is way too complex to summarize like that" cuz yeah, yeah, yeah, we know!)
I'm 1/2 radical socialist and 1/2 anarcho capitalist -- don't give me any shit about them being incompatible, I only had one line.
Hmm... I'm 3/4 ethnocentric tribal relativist and 1/4 bed-wetting liberal (quoting Dave Eggers quoting someone else).
I'm a lazy Socialist wearing the skin of a Capitalist. But let me emphasize 'Lazy'.
I'm a socially liberal, fiscally conservative type, with a little socialism for flavor.
Basically Anarcho-Syndicalist or Libertarian Socialist with some caveats regarding some socialists issues and individualism.
I'm a damn dirty hippie.
-Vincent
Socially liberal fiscally conservative capitalist.
-Dan Vince
Anarchofascist.
According to the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/), my economic score is -6.62, and my authoritarian score is -7.64.
A sig line I've used in the past.
"I'm a pro-choice, anti-government spending, pro-corporate regulation, gun-ownin' liberal. Please, please me."
It's how I would represent myself to a political candidate, at least.
Fiscally I'm moving farther from libertarian and closer to socialist the older I get.
(It's odd, the more money I have the more I think I should share it with the less fortunate. When I was less fortunate, I thought everyone should fend for them-damn-selves.)
As for social issues, I'm very far left.
I've considered protesting in Boston during the Democratic Convention, by carrying a banner that reads: "We demand rights, reason, and moderation" -- but 't'would be a marching mob of one, alas.
- Walt
I'm a politically naive yaller dawg democrat.
-Lisa
5 parts irony, 3 parts contingency, 2 parts solidarity. I keep trying to up the solidarity, but I can't figure out where to get it from.
hmm, maybe that's more a philosophy answer than a politics answer (thank you, Richard Rorty). But maybe what I want politically is a proper philosophical approach . . . in American politics.
Man, I am so screwed.
Gordon
I'm a free-information-loving, free-choice-seeking, lover of the Constitution and patriot that thinks Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were the best political thinkers we've had.
I think that ascribing to a particular political philosophy is allowing a relatively simplistic set of principles to guide your decision-making. I have values, but no political bent.
Mike
I'm a traditional liberal who supports very strong environmental policy in the name of long-term sustainability and a socialist economy of basic goods in the name of producing citizens who are able to meaningfully exercise the right to self-determination implicit in liberal political philosophy.
Quote from: Matt WilsonAccording to the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/), my economic score is -6.62, and my authoritarian score is -7.64.
While mine is: Economic Left/Right: -7.12, Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.95.
I tend to favor free-information & freedom-of-expression; I think the government should stay out of people's personal lives; I think taxes are the price you pay for living in a society--if you want things like a military to defend you, police to protect you, firefighters to rescue you, & roads to be repaired, then you pay taxes; I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege, & it should be free to all citizens; I think privatized utilities are stupid if there's no choice of utilities; I believe a good education is a right, not a privilege, & should be free to all citizens; I think all adult taxpayers should be extended the same rights--if two men want to get married, & both are consenting adults, then it's nobody's business if they do.
Economic Left/Right: -9.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41
Heh. It is SOOOO not surprising to see numbers that far in the negative from you guys. It would not surprise you at all to know that both of my numbers were positive. But only slightly. I'm almost in the middle of that chart.
Which is why alot of you seem like wacko extremists to me ;-)
Quote from: ValamirHeh. It is SOOOO not surprising to see numbers that far in the negative from you guys. It would not surprise you at all to know that both of my numbers were positive. But only slightly. I'm almost in the middle of that chart.
Which is why alot of you seem like wacko extremists to me ;-)
Dude, I often seem like a wacko extremist to myself.
Anti-authoritarian, pro-choice (in all parts of life, not just abortion) supporter of the voluntary human extinction movement.
I've said it twice already in this forum in the past few days but here it is again: Nationalism is the most evil religion ever invented.
That sums up my political views.
Do you see any difference between nationalism and patriotism? Not that I'm a big fan of either.
Quote from: LxndrDo you see any difference between nationalism and patriotism? Not that I'm a big fan of either.
In theory, yes.
Quote from: ValamirHeh. It is SOOOO not surprising to see numbers that far in the negative from you guys. It would not surprise you at all to know that both of my numbers were positive. But only slightly. I'm almost in the middle of that chart.
Which is why alot of you seem like wacko extremists to me ;-)
Wheras mine are slightly negative (well, a full -4.middling on the social).
But for the record, I like wacko extremists. Those who are even further out in my general direction help me look like the "real" center, and those way out in the other direction make for WONDERFUL targets . . .
Gordon
-3.25, -6.56; which is weird, considering that I disagreed with almost every statement (I'm very specific about what I believe in). I think the stuff about Sex and Homosexuality pushed me into the Left though.
According to the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/), my economic score is -2.62 and social libertarian/authoritarian is -3.33
Economic Left/Right: 7.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.74
In one sentence: I consider myself an individualist, occasionally anarchist, libertarian.
Some of the questions didn't apply to me, though. "Is it more important to punish criminals or to rehabilitate them?" My response is neither. It's more important that they pay restitution to their victims.
Edit: On corporatism: I'm opposed to the idea of corporations as an arm of the state. Yet I'm in favor of a free market. There were a couple of questions that were either/or type that I couldn't answer accurately because there are other options.
I went and took the little test.
Economic Left/Right: -4.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.74
Looks like that puts me snuggled inbetween Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama (opposite corner from Dubbya). That's pretty good company.
Quote from: Chris GoodwinSome of the questions didn't apply to me, though. "Is it more important to punish criminals or to rehabilitate them?" My response is neither. It's more important that they pay restitution to their victims.
That's punish. In the 'punitive fine' sense of the word.
I have submitted myself for categorization, with the following results:
-5.25 econ left/right, and
-3.13 social lib/auth,
if you trust their numbers.
Rich
/1 sentence
I've got something like -2.5/-2.5 (I took the test thrice already and can't be bothered now) which – fortunately- brings me rather close to the centre by German standards.
Heh, you know, unless I miscount there are 9 others besides myself who took that quiz. There are 2 numbers the quiz reports. Of the 18 numbers reported...only ONE solitary number came up positive.
Looks like I'm the lone voice of political reason in these forums...;-)
The only one that really surprised me was Matt Wilson. I never would have guessed numbers that extreme for you, Matt. You hide your commie pinko sentiments well :-)
If the rumors are right, that compass is purposefully biased due to some bizarre political agenda, in an attempt to convince people to join negative-leaning parties.
I'm not well-enough informed - deliberately - to have well-formed political ideas.
Quote from: LxndrIf the rumors are right, that compass is purposefully biased due to some bizarre political agenda, in an attempt to convince people to join negative-leaning parties.
They're probably right. I mean, I'm not convinced my own score on the thing is particularly accurate. It'd probably have been more accurate for me to just say, give a genuine one sentence summary. I mean, I'm left-leaning in some ways, sure. But beyond that, well, like Mike pointed out a while back, the categories aren't necessarily a very useful way to express your world-view. Of course, now I'm bucking the rules of the thread--
Quote from: Christopher Weeks(And don't get all "my political stance is way too complex to summarize like that" cuz yeah, yeah, yeah, we know!)
Oops.
Ok. My real answer:
Lean to the left.
Rich
I'm Economic Left/Right: -9.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.69
I'm honestly surprised I wasn't in the positive numbers for Authoritarianism, but not terribly so.
I'm a communist to my core, which I readily admit, so that fits dead on; and socially I cross the line on various issues of the liberal and conservative platforms, so my near middle-ground there isn't too surprising either.
[Edit: removed political views persuant to the thread rules. Yes, I'm still breaking the rules. Sigh. I don't know how to describe my views in one sentence, sorry.]
Basically, I'm all for enlightened, empathic, communal governance -- requiring a choice to be governed and to be a part of a society, thus acceptance of its laws and regulations and behavior that supports the functioning of that society. This benefits self and the society that supports self and others which support society. More simply, I believe a society (government) owes its people everything, and thus the people owe their society (government) everything.
I'm obviously one of those commie pinko bastards Ralph is referring to. Bring it on, you hoary conservative goat! (Heh.)
Honestly, though, I'm Economically extreme, but Socially quite moderate.
Gam-Sim with Illusionism-by-Contract, eventual Nar Drift.
er.
Libertarian-socialist-anarcho-mutualist-geolibertarian-reformist moderate. With tendency to rock out.
That test asks all the wrong questions.
Economic -3.12
Social -3.28
Basically, I'm an idealist with a violent streak who rarely listens closely to anyone wearing a suit.
-Chris
I'm basically Milton Fukkin' Friedman... and your little test agrees (and, please note, for some reason, that is the ONLY person they could come up with for that entire quadrant of the damn chart).
However, I think the score may have been skewed, as some of the questions made no fukkin' sense to me AT ALL!
That "What is good for the mega-corp is good for all" question... ummm... how about, "one is about a society, and the other is about a business entity... so they have no fukkin' relation AT ALL!"
Seriously, they need a "this question is fundamentally so complex and your answers so fucktarded simplistic that I cannot even begin to feel that clicking my dot-maker over one of your stupid choices makes any sense" response. Also, I have a feeling that there was some question on there about "different people should generally keep to their own"... I have a feeling that was meant to be a racial question. I answered as if it were asking along ideological lines...
But, as the points breakdown:
Economic: 5.4 (or something)
Social: -2.41
Dav
I am an Environmentalist Libertine Socialist Conversative.
In that order.
In other words, I believe that the following things are important:
1) Environmental Preservation
2) Personal Rights
3) Preservation of Functional Society and Social Order
4) Not changing for the sake of change
Which probably puts me in the "damn dirty hippy" category :-)
yrs--
--Ben
[edit] P.S. Oops! Insert "Egalitarian" above "socialist" and below "libertine." :-P
I really heart that political compass, but it's quite skewed liberal; it's most useful probably for contests amongst friends to see who's most anti-authoritarian.
Not that I've ever done that. </shame>
Its specifically skewed Libertarian, as it is produced by the Libertarian Party IIRC. I challenge the axes they nominate in the first place; I am certainly extremely skeptical about where they place people. Gandhi never took this test, this is just where they think he SHOULD be according to their views.
I'm a Trotskyist, you know revolution, dictatorship of the proletariat, seizure of the means of production, etc etc.
According the normal paradigm of Libertarians, Communism is (quite falsely) depicted as a monolithic state entity, so I should end up with one positive score and one negative, but in fact I turn up with two strong negatives.
Quote from: contracycleIts specifically skewed Libertarian, as it is produced by the Libertarian Party IIRC. I challenge the axes they nominate in the first place; I am certainly extremely skeptical about where they place people. Gandhi never took this test, this is just where they think he SHOULD be according to their views.
I don't think that's true. It seems skewed to the lower left quadrant. The Libertarian party in the US would be the lower right. The statements that would put you in that category are far too inflammatory ('What's best for the largest corporations is best for us all.') for me to believe this is skewd towards the lower right. Being from the UK, IIRC, are you speaking of a UK party by the same name, yet politically different?
(The US Libertarian party has its own version of a similar quiz at http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html.)
Economic Left/Right: -7.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.85
Eat the rich.
Quote from: contracycleIts specifically skewed Libertarian, as it is produced by the Libertarian Party IIRC. I challenge the axes they nominate in the first place; I am certainly extremely skeptical about where they place people. Gandhi never took this test, this is just where they think he SHOULD be according to their views.
The world's smallest political quiz is a touch libertarian skewed, true; I meant that the more ornate quiz at politicalcompass.org (the one I think most folks are quoting) is of the liberal slant I suggested.
I'm an American knee-jerk Liberal, somewhere around the Dalai Lama on the
political compass, with one exception: I'm pro-gun.
I'm a 2.50 (Authoritarian) and 1.9 (Economic) on the political compass.
I figure I'm a pretty average conservative.
well according to our... i'm ashamed to say... prime minister John Howard... I'm a traitor to my country..
apparently marching against a war that was drummed up (in this country at least.. please don't flame me if this doesn't apply to your country) out of nothing makes me a traitor.. luckily we don't do hangings here anymore...
Lefty, Vego humanitarian...
Economic Left/Right: -8.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.26
Quote from: ValamirHeh, you know, unless I miscount there are 9 others besides myself who took that quiz. There are 2 numbers the quiz reports. Of the 18 numbers reported...only ONE solitary number came up positive.
Looks like I'm the lone voice of political reason in these forums...;-)
The only one that really surprised me was Matt Wilson. I never would have guessed numbers that extreme for you, Matt. You hide your commie pinko sentiments well :-)
Heh. Remember Ralph, it's only because of people like Josh and me that you seem moderate. So for that you owe us. Like probably free copies of R&R or something.
Seriously, though, like Alan said elsewhere. I'm pragmatic about it. I may totally dig Dennis K, but I don't want anyone elected that half the country absolutely despises. Some conservatives may grumble a bit if Kerry's elected, but they probably won't rise up in rebellion.