Where are you on the political spectrum (test)?

[jtr1962]

Here (http://politicalcompass.org) is a nice little test to find out how far left or right as well as libertarian or authoritarian you are. My results were as follows:

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -3.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

I'm a somewhat left-leaning libertarian. This puts me closest to Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama. Interesting how most current leaders fall on the authoritarian side of plot. The libertarian part is no surprise but I'm really amazed I'm this far to the left as I've never thought of myself that way. I'll attribute that mostly to my propensity for environmental regulation.

[SteveC]

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: 5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.28

That's about where I thought I'd be.

[sechs]

Economic Left/Right: -6.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.21

I'm a lot less leftist and a lot more libertarian than I would generally portray myself. I'm pretty big on paternalistic socialist goverment.

[flagreen]

I didn't get past the first page. Too many questions are of the - "Do you still beat your wife?" - sort with only "Yes" or "No" being offered as possible answers.

[Mercutio]

Economic Left/Right: -8.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.13

[P5-133XL]

-4.5 Economic Left/Right
-2.62 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian

Now I see why I have yet to see a major decision made by George W. Bush that I agree with.

[time]

With respect, I think it's complete rubbish.

Apart from an expected slight libertarian bent (minus two to minus two and a half), my first effort came up with -5 economically.

Bullsh*t! I am not halfway to being any kind of idealogue. :x

Like Flagreen, I was frustrated with the quality of many of the questions (but then, I often am with this sort of nonsense). I rarely answered "strongly", preferring the non-existent middle ground or to remain non-committal. Apparently, this makes me a left-winger.

So I tried it again, with a more belligerent attitude in tow, and scored +8.8 (Genghis ain't got nothing on me in a bad mood).

I couldn't be bothered trying it again to see if I could hit the other 'extreme', but it didn't look hard.

[Mercutio]

I dunno. I'm kind of glad that he continues to wear pants.

[i]

I dunno. I'm kind of glad that he continues to wear pants.

Huh? As opposed to a sort of modern-day sans-culottes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-culottes)?

[Jake the Dog]

Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.03

[flagreen]

<rant>

When you have folks like this writing the questions;


The idea was developed by a political journalist with a university counselling background, assisted by a professor of social history.

You end up with questions like this;


If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations.

This question (given that one has only the choice of either agreeing or disagreeing with it) completely ignores the possibility that economic globalization can or will serve both the best interests of humanity and of trans-national corporations as I believe it will.

It seems to me to be a perfect example of the anti-big business bias prevelent in both the press and in our institutions of higher learning.

<End of Rant>

[blakerwry]

i agree that most of these questions are complete junk...

Economic Left/Right: -1.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.82

[sechs]

I think that you miss the point. Just because something *can* serve two interests does not mean that you can prioritize the interests equally.

Inevitably, you end up at least a little bit towards one side or the other, and, theoretically, you'll want to strive towards one goal.

[flagreen]

I think that you miss the point. Just because something *can* serve two interests does not mean that you can prioritize the interests equally.

Inevitably, you end up at least a little bit towards one side or the other, and, theoretically, you'll want to strive towards one goal.
Actually I believe that the two are inseperable because imo that which serves one - serves the other.

If you have to compromise or hedge on your beliefs to answer the questions then how accurate is the test result going to be?

[sechs]

Damn skippy that they're inseparable as, in reality, they tend to be at odds.

The questions don't change your beliefs (at least, that is, clearly, not their intention). You can say that the survey does not or cannot properly determine a person's beliefs; but to say that it causes them to compromise or hedge those beliefs is, to put it lightly, entirely ridiculous.

[flagreen]

Damn skippy that they're inseparable as, in reality, they tend to be at odds.
Note the word "I" in my statement sechs. I was only speaking for myself when I said they were inseparable.


The questions don't change your beliefs (at least, that is, clearly, not their intention). You can say that the survey does not or cannot properly determine a person's beliefs; but to say that it causes them to compromise or hedge those beliefs is, to put it lightly, entirely ridiculous.
I did not say that the questions forced one to "change" their beliefs. Nor do I think that the test contains a hidden agenda of some sort.

I used the words "compromise" and "hedge" because for me I would be doing exactly that if I were to answer the question. I cannot separate one from the other as you suggest I do and pick only one as I believe that they are dependent on each other. A half-truth is a whole lie. If that's ridiculous then so be it.

[jtr1962]

One problem I had with the test was that there was no "neutral" or "no opinion" choice. For example, if a question on abortion came up that would be my choice. Also, answering agree or strongly agree to certain questions can have dual meanings. For instance, most of my agree or strongly agree answers regarding regulating commerce have more to do with environmental than economic reasons. Caring about the environment doesn't necessarily make one leftist, even though more people from the left tend to have those views than from the right.

[time]

I agree with Flagreen and jtr1962.

[LiamC]

Hmm, I seem to broadly occupy the same positions as Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. :-? On the whole, I can't say I'm terribly disappointed by that. A flawed and somewhat US centric "test" IMO.

[LiamC]

Heh, I was just thinking on the way to work this morning, that I normally play chaotic good characters in D&D and RPG's (that's Role Playing Games m'Kay). If you accept the premise that my political spectrum is equivalent to chaotic good, then Bush, Blair & Howard are Lawful Evil. We know who the true Axis of Evil is then now, don't we...

:mrgrn:

[Mercutio]

Hm. I'm the least moderate person here. That's interesting. And probably not surprising.

Some of time's concerns are addressed in the FAQ (http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/faq.html).

Anyway, I'm familiar with LiamC's reference, but inasmuch as I would like to ascribe King Asshat with true, diabolic evil (in D&D terms "lawful evil" = the Faustian Devil, a cruel person who will follow a contract to the letter, and no more, nor less), I don't think it's possible to make the moral judgement of goodness based on your beliefs viz. government and economic control.

Personally, I believe my political beliefs are as close to morally good and right as possible; that's the reason I ascribe to them. But I'm sure that others, whom I would personally describe as completely, hopelessly wrong (according to the chart, that includes not only el Hefe but also the Pope), probably think that they are the ones with good and correct political beliefs.

Of course, this leads to a question of moral relativism, which might be a fun topic given the divergence of political viewpoints here.

Other interesting things on the compass site: The closest democrat in the primaries to my viewpoints is Al Sharpton. Almost ALL the presidential candidates live in the Authoritarian/Right quadrant of the compass. The closest world leader is Ghandi. The closest composer is Bela Bartok, with several of prominent Soviet composers near as well (I'm not aware of Bartok as a particularly political individual, but maybe there's something I don't know...)

Very unusual.

[The JoJo]

Hmmm....

Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.00

[ddrueding]

Economic Left/Right: 2
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3

As usual, the political boonies.

Make the road as wide as possible, but mark the edges well...and kill anyone who crosses them.

[The JoJo]

Interesting, my wife got the same result as I did (without decimals...)!
Not so surprising, but still....

[The JoJo]

Next up, the IQ tests....

Still haven't taken them.

(Better not show them to my wife, or she'll totally demolish my self-esteem, after getting a much better result....) ;)

[Howell]

Like everyone else I had issues with the questions. Like:

What's good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us.

I would have prefered the question to be writen:
What's ultimately good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us.

There were some others that I just know nothing about the topic and to answer would be uninformed guessing.

Economic Left/Right: 1.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.10

I'm don't think I like the result. I'm too far away from Bush.
http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/usprimaries.html