Where does your political compass land?

[DFLer4edu]

Check this out.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/

I ended up;
Economic Left/Right: -7.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.28

On edit:
I think the site is right that knowing to much about the test changes you results, I think the first time I took this awhile ago I ended up something like -4.5 for both. SO just take the test right away without reading about it.

[indigobusiness]

1. Mine is beginning to spin...

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edit--


me:

Economic Left/Right: -6.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.03



...in good company!

[DFLer4edu]

2. haha, but seriously check it out

it is an interesting idea.

[DireStrike]

3. I've moved down and left since shrub came into office

Was a -7/-3, now I'm a -8/-5.

[DFLer4edu]

4. That could also make sense

[DireStrike]

11. It makes perfect sense, I'm scared of these bastards.

And discourse with sympathetic dems has allowed me to redefine my views in a clearer, more solid light.

[serryjw]

5. I've taken the test several times and it always comes out the same.....

I'm LEFT of Gandhi!


Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.74
As of 10/3/04

[SaintAnne]

6. Gandhi

economic left/right: -6.12
Social Libertarian/ Authoritarian: -4.77
I'm like right there around mr. Gandhi's area! maybe a bit more liberal, but cool

[Gyre]

7. Fun stuff!

Economic Left/Right: -4.30
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.28

Gyre

[Turn CO Blue]

8. Interesting post and link

I did figure out from taking the test, that I need to do more reading about economic topics, especially international trade, etc.

I know very strongly where I am on social issues, but I am less confident about the merits and benefits of economic issues and positions.

I'd better study; I don't want to be like a freeper (you know, a mindless automaton.)

Here's my score

Economic Left/Right: -3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.56

[ogradda]

9. o.k.

economic left/right -3.88

social libertarian/authoritain -4.51

but i'm not sure what that means:shrug:

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. I'm in the same quandrant as Gandhi

Economic Left/Right: -3.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.82

[fnottr]

12. Great site

Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.72

[Massacure]

13. Econimic Left/Right: -6.50, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.74

I've gone Down and Left since last time I took it. I'm suprise. I'm usually pretty tight with money.

[signmike]

14. -7.62 -2.05

I took this test a year or so ago -- I've probably moved down and left since Bush. This is the first time I ever voted, ever was concerned with politics. I'm learning.
I'm left of Gandhi and Mandella.

Notice where Bush is? To the right of everybody -- including WAAAY over from Hitler!

[mcscajun]

15. I've taken this periodically for the last few years...always the same...

...within a few basis points here or there. I always come out a Left-Libertarian to the left and south of Gandhi and the Dali Lama.

Yet I always think of myself as more centrist...go figure.

[Poor Richard Lex]

41. me too mcscajun

I think Im a centrist, but on that graft I make the dali lama look like barry goldwater hehe.

[Laelth]

16. This is fun, and it makes me feel better.

I'm -6.25 Economic Left/Right and -6.21 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian.

Does it bother anyone else that John Kerry is in the upper-right quadrant? I wonder what data was used to make that call.

-Laelth

[TahitiNut]

20. Kerry, Edwards, et. al. are Eisenhower Republicans

That's just one indication of how enormous the lurch and stagger to the right has been in the U.S. As a "child of the 50s," I'm continually amazed that Canada is now to the LEFT of the U.S. I'm old enough to remember their Blue Laws.

[fujiyama]

30. It slightly bothers me

but it bothers me A LOT more knowing that Bush is right under Mugabe into terms of his authoritarian nature.

[Laelth]

36. Agreed.

But that was no surprise. We knew * was a totalitarian dictator. I'm just astounded at how far to the right the Democratic party has moved if Kerry's up in that corner. No wonder I like the green platform. I don't vote for greens, of course, out of fear of handing an election to the Dark Side, but I also feel justified in demanding that the Democratic party move back to the left.

-Laelth

[SlackJawedYokel]

17. Yep... same as it ever was.

Economic Left/Right: -9.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.51

I just have to say that love being this far left.

Reminds me of a test I took in high school to determine my "future" from an employment perspective.
Apparently, the concept of making a career off of your creativity never occured to the designers of that test.

There was absolutely no "career" anywhere near where I landed on the chart.
It was funny.

Cletus

[welshTerrier2]

18. - 8.00, -8.00

Economic Left/Right: -8.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.00

the site had this great quote from John Kenneth Galbraith:

Under capitalism, man exploits man.
Under communism, it's just the opposite.

[TahitiNut]

19. South-southwest of Kucinich & Sharpton ...

[XemaSab]

21. This is appalling!!!!!

Edwards is SO close to Bush!!!!!

Badnarik is about as far south as the green dude (Cobb), Nader, Kucinich, and Sharpton!

What really kills me isn't so much their economic beliefs....I think the role of a free market is something about which reasonable people can disagree (but I'm also very in favor of labor unions.... workers should also have a "consumer choice")(moreover, the market should truly be free, which it never is, because there's usually some giant multinational corporation with a captive labor force, getting subsidies, incorporated in the Bahamas, controlling the shipping or distribution, or some similar predatory crap....it's always something with those snakes....).

What really kills me is the authoritarian bent here.

I'm down at (-6.12, -6.15), and I'm all stoked being in the corner with Mandela and the Dalai Lama for sure. They didn't put Jesus, MLK, or Buddha on here, but I have a warm and fuzzy feeling that's where they'd be too. It's all about being on the right side of history, is what it's about (congratulating self for scoring well on test).

But yeah, what's this fascist garbage? Edwards, Graham, Lieberman, and Gephardt are WAY too far north here.... they're within spitting distance of The Shrub Who Knows Not the Bill of Rights. The man known to some as The Chimp Whose Cage is Lined With the Shreds of the Geneva Convention.

Interesting that we're all south of the Authoritarian line, which is a common criticism of dems.... that we're all about the big goverment controlling people's lives.

Looks like our so-called politicians aren't on the same page as we are, however. No wonder they're all falling over each other in an effort not to offend the Great Dictator... someday they hope to take his place.

[mountebank]

23. Yes! And I think Dean is misplaced on that graph.

While I supported DK in the primaries, certainly one of Dean's appeals ("You have the power") was that he strayed ever-so slightly below the line on the authoritatian/libertarian axis. Obviously why he had to be taken down: Dems and Repugs could both join together in agreement on that one.

The truly revolutionary difference is on the y-axis on that graph, imo.

Once a human is truly in control of his own life - educated, healthy, safe - I have full confidence he or she will "go left" on the x-axis because this is where cooperation lies (infinitely more productive than competition), while to the right is competition and suspicion. Call it a matter of faith in my fellow human beings.....

[welshTerrier2]

31. "big government controlling people's lives"

it's not about big government controlling PEOPLE; it's about the people's government controlling CORPORATIONS ...

it's important to remember, no matter what they would have us believe, that CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE ...

in a democracy, we as citizens have a right to our values ... if corporations, who's only purpose is to create profits, wants to exploit our air and water, wants to exploit our workers and wants to exploit our electoral process, we have a duty to stop them ...

[catbert836]

22. I'm a communist at Economic -12 and Social -8

[mountebank]

24. Economic Left/Right: -8.88, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.44

I think I moved more towards the middle, but slightly, over the last year. I didn't answer "strongly" to as many questions.

There were only two questions where I felt I "crossed over" to the dreaded Other Side.....

[NewHampshireDem]

25. Pretty liberal myself

Economic Left/Right: -8.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.49

[American Tragedy]

26. Economic Left/Right: -5.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.51

I suspect most people on this site would similarly find themselves at the lower left quadrant.

I find it extremely disturbing how many contemporary politicians are on the social authoritarian side. Do you think they may be out of step with their constituents?

[Selatius]

27. Being closer to authoritarian than libertarian is NOT ALL BAD

John Edwards, John Kerry, et al. are all north of the line except Sharpton and Kucinich. Does that make all the guys north of the line jack-booted thugs? Hardly. It just means that they advocate the idea that the state is probably the best vessel to accomplish one's goals. They are statist in that respect. Stalin and Hitler were the same way. The BIG DIFFERENCE is to WHAT DEGREE, people.

For instance, the more authoritarian approach to universal health care would be to have the federal government involved. The more libertarian approach would be to have people themselves deal with it or have the individual states deal with it. It's more libertarian by degrees.

For example, the more statist approach would be to work for universal health care in the US regardless if any particular state's population is against it or overwhelmingly against it. If 11 states favor it, and 9 states are against it, it's going to become a reality regardless of what the 9 states think. The more libertarian approach would say the best approach is to allow the 11 states to organize a health care system that services the citizens in those states only and leave the rest out. An even more libertarian approach would be to allow individual citizens to opt in or out of the system as far as taxation for such a system goes.

I'm a libertarian socialist on that compass. I'm right in the proximity of Gandhi. I think something such as universal health care is a great idea, but instead of working through the federal government, why not go to the "blue states" and have them collaborate together to bring about regional health care systems instead?

If we live in a "show me" country, then wouldn't it make sense to set up a health care system in states that are more apt to support it (California, Massachusetts, etc.) so that we could demonstrate to the rest of the country the inherent strength of the idea? Would that not make more sense than to try and impose it through the federal government with resistance from corporatist interests and those who are simply more conservative on the issue (especially in the "red states")?

Do I speak sense? I'd love to hear your opinions.

[American Tragedy]

29. You are referring to authoritarianism in economic policy

What disturbs me, and I'm certain I am not alone in this, is social authoritarianism. To me personally, civil liberties are of highest importance. I will never take them for granted and I will fight any attempt to abridge them with my life.

[Selatius]

38. Any excessively authoritarian approach is one to worry about

As far as economic policy is concerned, I'm an anarcho-syndicalist (or anarcho-socialist or libertarian socialist). Socialism should come about in a democratic manner where the people choose it. It cannot be imposed from above like Stalin tried to do. His way was too authoritarian, not to mention brutal. You can either do it through the central government like what France or Germany has chosen to do, or you can go about it in a more decentralized, more grassroots oriented approach.

Basically, I believe in voluntary socialism. If people want to pool their resources together and follow a cooperative model instead of a competitive model, I don't see a reason to oppose them. It is their choice. If the workers want to establish a company where they all have an equal stake in the company where everyone has an equal voice in determining how that company is operated from how much to produce to which managers to elect, I say let them.

I think democracy in the workplace is a good idea. I'd prefer it over a model where the owner dictates to everyone else what to do or what not to do, but that's just my own preference. I will not seek to impose it upon others without letting them have the choice. I would simply seek to spread the idea around and let them make the decision on their own.

As far as things such as civil liberties, I am a firm supporter of it. If I am an anarcho-socialist, then by logical extension I would have to be a supporter of individual rights. It's base is supposed to be freedom of choice. This is why I advocate protecting the civil liberties of everybody including homosexuals. Everyone should be treated equally, and I think people's choices with respect to their personal lives should be respected. I'm libertarian here. I don't think the government should be in the business of approving whom one can and cannot marry or regulating one's behaviors in one's own home. It's simply far too authoritarian, in my opinion, but you can agree or disagree.

It's your choice, and that's what should count.

[Kellanved]

43. Germany and central Government?

Hardly.

Germany is a Federal Republic, in most aspects far more decentral than the US - despite being far smaller. The German Federalism is actually the major innovation blocker in Germany; especially the German state's refusal to hand over education and security the the Federation.

The German states ("Länder") constitute the upper house of Parliament, a leftover from the 2nd Reich.

[Kill Radicalism Now]

33. It makes sense to me, and I'll also add...

The questionaire doesn't ask you how much you think the government should be involved in these issues either. I think that's a huge aspect that should be considered when asking about healthcare ideas. I think your idea, Selatius, is an excellent one. If it ever comes to pass, I'm moving to a blue state! Ha! :)

[sugar magnolia]

28. Wow, I'm almost as far to the bottom left corner as you can get

Economic: -8.50
Social: -8.41

[Kill Radicalism Now]

32. Mine is...

Economic Left/Right: -6.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

I took the test right away without reading it.

[Ithuilwen]

34. Economic Left/Right: -7.00, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41. nt

[Frumious B]

37. Pretty much what I expected

I sometimes describe myself as a "small government liberal", liberal on social issues, just left of center on economic policy. It's kind of strange to me that nobody else seems to be in my neighborhood, though.

Economic Left/Right: -1.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.77

[MrSlayer]

35. Economic LR -7.00 Libertarian/Authoritarian -3.33

I'm to the left of Ghandi.

[yorkiemommie1]

39. -6.5,-6.4

in very good company, indeed!

[rexcat]

40. OK!

Economic Left/Right: -7.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.23

These results don't surprise me. I am just finishing up George Lakoff's book "Moral Politics" and I can certainly say I am very comfortable with my liberal view of life.

[leftofthedial]

42. I'm becoming more conservative with age.

Economic Left/Right: -9.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.21

[m berst]

44. my score scares even me

Economic Left/Right: -10.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -9.23