Political Compass

[Joe]

Where are you on this thing?

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Me:
Economic Left/Right -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -6.97

Fear me, I'm the anti-republican, I'm going to bring back communism.

[Cheapo]

Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.21

hmm.... i don't know what i am....

[LJustus]

I am:

Economic Left/Right 5.50 (fiscally conservative)
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -3.28 (socially "liberal")

So yeah, I could have told you that without taking the quiz.

[Kass]

Last time I took it, I was almost bang on in the middle. I guess I am the definition of middle of the road. LOL

[Pretentious]

Economic Left/Right: -5.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.13

Meh.

[Wysen]

Economic Left/Right: -3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritatian: -2.46

Pretty much where I figured I'd be.

[Monkey]

Economic Left/Right: -2.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.33

Yup no surprises there. Pretty much middle of the road, but with a lot of civil freedoms.

I don't believe in the extreme free market nor in the very controlled market, when you get down to it I'm more in favor of the free market however, as the results show.

I believe that we should have more civil rights than we do right now, too many things are still considered "wrong" by society (which is usually heavily influenced by religion).

[Joe]

Economic Left/Right: -2.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.33

Yup no surprises there. Pretty much middle of the road, but with a lot of civil freedoms.

I don't believe in the extreme free market nor in the very controlled market, when you get down to it I'm more in favor of the free market however, as the results show.

I believe that we should have more civil rights than we do right now, too many things are still considered "wrong" by society (which is usually heavily influenced by religion).


That's not the middle of the road, thats liberal. There are two graphs, one just showing what it's about, the second, your graph is in the middle, are you sure you got the right one?

[Monkey]

Uh, I said pretty much middle, but with a lot of freedom...

It's pretty much impossible to be the exact middle of the road, but I'm quite close, just tending to think slightly more liberal though.

You are only seeing the numbers here of course, if you looked at the graph you'd find me just to the left and below the centre. That is why I said I'm close to middle of the road.

[sharpie]

Economic left- -6.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian- -3.64

I'm bad when it comes to politics, can someone explain?

[Kustom]

Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.36


Where I thought I'd be... Everybody seems to have negative numbers. Where are the fascists?

[Kass]

I took it again for giggles. I am not at all surprised that I am getting more libertarian. I'm increasingly disgusted with the government as a whole. I'm pretty sure the left marker didn't shift much at all.

Economic Left/Right: -1.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.62

[setrict]

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: 1.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.23

[Joe]

Uh, I said pretty much middle, but with a lot of freedom...

It's pretty much impossible to be the exact middle of the road, but I'm quite close, just tending to think slightly more liberal though.

You are only seeing the numbers here of course, if you looked at the graph you'd find me just to the left and below the centre. That is why I said I'm close to middle of the road.

Ah, my bad then.

[Kustom]

Where are you on this thing?

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Me:
Economic Left/Right -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -6.97

Fear me, I'm the anti-republican, I'm going to bring back communism.

Just wondering, did you cheat on the test? You're pretty damn far on the anarchist left... I respect that. ;)

[kiev33]

Economic Left: -7.50
Social Libertarian: -4.10

Which is odd, because I would have thought I was much more right leaning on certain things like law and order, and the death penalty. I just don't believe the rest of us should give up personal freedoms for it.

[Kass]

The first time I took the test, I was Economic Left/Right: -1.00, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.00. Not all the questions are weighted equally and not all the questions affect both categories. In a few years, I've shifted only slightly in my economic views, but have changed dramatically in my governmental policy views.

Not all of it is a change in viewpoint, but just a slight change in how important it is, whether it is a slight or strong disagreement/agreement.

[Ev0]

Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.23

I'm a bit surprised, I thought I would have shifted a bit right and upwards after the last time I took the test a few months ago. I guess I still have faith in the human race...

[Joe]

Naw, didn't cheat. I'm just seriously anti-big-business, and pro-humanism.

I want equal access to doctors, regardless of money, and just cause you got money, doesn't mean you get to see treatment faster, you prick, get in line.

I want corporations like Vivendi, to crumble, even if I do enjoy the games one of their smaller companies produces (Ala blizzard)

I think bottled water is a joke, and people should be trying to keep the enviroment cleaner, not start boxing up the natural resources (ala bottled water).

We need to start pumping money into alternate energy sources, and space exploration/colonization! Dear lord... did you hear that Nasa is going back to CAPSULES!? CAPSULES!? WE'VE GONE BACKWARDS 40 YEARS IN SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEM!?!?

Ahhh! Grr... Grrr.... *happy place* *happy place* I made the Dalai Lama look like a conservative. Heh.

[ruaidhri]

Interesting. I haven’t changed much over my lifetime. While I’ve profited from America’s capitalistic economic system, I remain critical of the goose that laid my golden egg.

My numbers

Economic Left/Right: -6.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.74

I must say this puts me in company with some very fine people.

[echomancer]

Economic Left/Right: -8.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.36

It's odd how so many of us were left libertarians. And weird I'm the most economically left.

[Jiant Flying Panda]

Economic Left/Right: -1.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 4.15

Ummmmm. I'm most close to Stalin.... I think.

[Pete]

Economic Left/Right: -6.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.92

[Spaatz965]

Economic Left/Right: -2.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.26

Fairly middle. Some of the questions were a bit rough...had problems not neccessarily because of the subject, but the way the questions were asked...a bit too open interprettation and alternate opinion to fit neatly within the confines of a four option multiple choice.

[Kass]

For Americans, some of it is a bit off because it is a British site and uses the British political definitions of conservative and liberal.

[D-pad]

Economic Left/Right: -5.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.05

[stillbornsinger]

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -1.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.97

pretty center of the road... something that disturbs me though, is there really arn't any famous world leaders that are center and not so extreme... thats sad.

maybe this will work....

http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/images/internationalchart.gif

http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/images/cross.gif

[Pierrot le Fou]

Economic Left/Right: 4.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.00

I got nice rounded scores. Makes me happy. I have gone from -8/-8 or so, swapped over to +8/-8 for a while, and since that time, I have just been slowly drifting towards the center every year. So many of the questions drive me bonkers. For instance that globalization should help humanity rather than trans-national corporations -- don't trans-national corporations provide jobs, goods, and services making them one of the tools to better humanity? So which do I answer?

[hapacheese]

...globalization should help humanity rather than trans-national corporations...

I had the same problem with the same question.

I don't remember my exact scores, but I scored near Gandhi/Nelson Mandela, but closer to center.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Most people here are bloody liberal hippies. Socialism is bad, mmmkay?

[ruaidhri]

Stillbornsinger, I do believe you are confused. Your clarification of the figure is simply wrong.

Both Communism and Facism are authoritarian. They represent more government and less individual control.

Economic opinions on the far left are considered Socialist, which is not synonymous with Communist just as a Capitalist is not the same as a Facist.

Economic opinions on the far right are considered Conservative, not liberal in any sense of the word. George W. Bush is considered a Neo-Conservative, not a Neo-Liberal. As George W. Bush believes in stronger government control over individuals and less control over corporations he is properly identified in the upper right quadrant of the figure.

[hapacheese]

People always told me, "You'll start leaning more to the right/capitalist point of view when you start making money."

Strange thing is, I make more money than they do now, and I'm still left-leaning. Strange, that.

[The Divine Comedy]

Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.97

Right between Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. I am in good company. :)

[stillbornsinger]

Stillbornsinger, I do believe you are confused. Your clarification of the figure is simply wrong.

Both Communism and Facism are authoritarian. They represent more government and less individual control.

Economic opinions on the far left are considered Socialist, which is not synonymous with Communist just as a Capitalist is not the same as a Facist.

Economic opinions on the far right are considered Conservative, not liberal in any sense of the word. George W. Bush is considered a Neo-Conservative, not a Neo-Liberal. As George W. Bush believes in stronger government control over individuals and less control over corporations he is properly identified in the upper right quadrant of the figure.

I understand completely how to interpret the graph... I meant center as both in the horizontal and verticle planes... Anything in the upper portion of the graph represents more government.

[Pierrot le Fou]

People always told me, "You'll start leaning more to the right/capitalist point of view when you start making money."

Strange thing is, I make more money than they do now, and I'm still left-leaning. Strange, that.
You should take an economics course then ;)

There are certainly things that should not be controlled by the free market alone (things like healthcare, schooling, etc. are beneficial to all society and unfortunately, despite my wishes of a free market utopia, won't be provided for by the free market adequately most likely). However, being on the left side of that scale baffles me. People stating that fundamentally 'each according to their ability, each according to their need' is a good idea are just a tad bit baffled. Punish people for being skilled? Make them do more work? I don't know 'bout that...

I guess I'm just either ignorant or stupid, because I can't fathom how well-educated people could fall outside the quadrant of the graph I live in. Free markets are proven to be good for the world, good for developing countries, good for creating political freedoms, and I can't fathom why people would want less freedom and be above the bottom half on that quadrant...

Or I'm just utterly optimistic or deluded...

[hapacheese]

I agree that free markets are good, but take situations like you have in the US. You have "corporate welfare," to use the flavor-of-the-month wording. You have corporations able to get out of social responsibilities, like the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. I'm more for a balance of free market-within-certain-bounds (there's an oxymoron for ya).

I think that in a *utopian* world, the 'each according to their ability' theory works, but in practice, not so much. I'm actually very close to center on the left-right scale, but I guess I'm a little too altruistic in that sense. Probably a knee-jerk reaction to the way things are here in the States.

[Kustom]

I took plenty of economic classes, and all of the theories neo-classic economists strive on make absolutely no sense to me... How about some of those premises:
- Free instantaneous circulation of information
- Human actors are rational at all times
- Everything positive or negative is reflected in the price (meaning environmental or social costs are not externalities, which they are in the current system?)

Can you name countries that got out of crisis following the IMF economic advice? Remind me what happened to Argentina? And how come Malaysia didn't follow their advice and is doing so good?

Free markets are proven to maximise the total amount of production, and thus wealth. But don't jump to conclusions too fast: this wealth is not shared between many people, on the contrary; free markets are also proven to increase the gap between the poor and the rich within a country, meaning that quite often there will be loosers and winners. Now of course, the winners win more than the loosers loose, but if there are many more loosers than winners it might still not be right. At the country level, it's the same: some developping countries ended up being winners (like the Asian tigers), other loosers (Africa). Personally, I'm happy that the average Chinese lives better because of freer markets, but I'm not happy that the wealth and resources of the world are being leaked towards an authoritarian regime with imperialistic views.

I think free markets are good provided that:
1) They don't extend to public goods, which for me include not only the school or health system but also support to scientific and cultural activities
2) The price system actually internalises the social and environmental costs of production. This can only be achieved by governmental regulation, because the idea that consumers are rational and possess all the information before making their choice is pure wishful thinking. Polluters should be made to pay for all the damage they cause (plus a little extra, in order to discourage pollution), and companies that don't give the same social benefits to their workers that are mandatory in a given country should be fined as well. Otherwise, competition is biased towards polluting trans-nationals that employ low-wage workers with no social rights. Do we want developping countries to rise to our standards of social and environmental protection or do we want to lower ourselves to Chinese standards in order to compete? Cause that's what will happen if the environmental and social costs are ignored.

There is no need to rush towards "completely free markets everywhere" until those basic pre-conditions are taken into account. The ideology that free markets will turn wrongs into rights overnight if we all embrace it is just that, an ideology.

[chgu]

Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.13

I think I hit almost dead on with Gandhi.

[GTARob]

Econimic left/right: -3.88
Social libertarian/authoritarian: -3.18

Looks like I am somewhere around Ghandi. Crap. I'm a damn dirty hippie. Kill me.

[Psychochink]

Economic Left/Right: -1.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.21

About what I expected for a test of this sort, as I tend to vacillate wildly on both axes of the spectrum, depending on the specific issue under debate. One minute, people will peg me for a hippy, the next - a Facist.

[Jai]

This thread merely echo's most others on these boards... in its insane bias towards socialism :p When the -2 / -2 guys think they are in "the middle" you know youve found a liberal stronghold ;)

Economic Left/Right: 2.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 3.33

compared to most results so far im practically a neo-nazi :eek:

[spaik]

this should really be taken with a grain of salt. some of the questions were very much slanted in favor of a liberal agenda. even so...

Economic Left/Right: -5.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.69

there you have it.

im canadian, ive lived with socialism forever already. this isnt a surprise to me.

and i think actually, that even with the test scores coming out as they are, i really don't think that this forum is a liberal stronghold at all. in fact, i'd have to say that its probably more balanced than you expect. the test questions are almost designed to invoke guilt over choosing more authoritarian and conservative answers. i'd attribute the liberal leanings of the scores, particularly those who scored in the >2 point range from center to be from the bias in the questioning more than anything. they'd probably score almost dead neutral in a better test.

[stillbornsinger]

I decided to take the quiz for Jesus in his absense out of curiosity and he is...

Jesus' political compass
Economic Left/Right: -6.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 4.41

A communist bastard!

[Sock Full of Boiled Dimes]

I took this before remembering it told me I was a Centrist or something.

[spaik]

seriously, read over those questions as a conservative authoritarian would. i feel like im killing puppies (albiet, perhaps deserving puppies) every time i answer a question. thats the problem with the liberal agenda. they think they always have some sort of moral high ground, when they spin things just as much as the conservatives do, if not more.

[Trump]

Wow, talk about middle of the road....

Economic Left/Right: -1.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.31

[ZMarie]

Economic Left/Right: -5.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.10

[stillbornsinger]

seriously, read over those questions as a conservative authoritarian would. i feel like im killing puppies (albiet, perhaps deserving puppies) every time i answer a question. thats the problem with the liberal agenda. they think they always have some sort of moral high ground, when they spin things just as much as the conservatives do, if not more.

And try reading them from a liberals perspective... The test is by no means perfect but I'm hearing a whole lot of this liberal agenda this, liberal slant that...

Even as a moderate, which I believe myself to be, I found many of the questions difficult to answer and the wording of a few objectionable for a quiz.

[Kustom]

Anyway, even if there is a slight liberal bias, you can still compare your score to others who answered the same questionnaire... If -2,-2 is really the average, then just add 2 to your scores and you get the picture

[bloop]

Economic Left/Right: -7.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.64

I didn't really care about some of the topics they asked questions about. Some things I don't have a clear yes/no feeling on, and it sucks that there was no middle ground between agree and disagree.

[D-pad]

I scored right on nelson mandella......Go me!

[Y.T.]

Economic Left/Right: -6.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.28


Though it doesn't reflect my vision of the ideal state as a limited democracy, in which every citizen has to maintain an almost military level of fitness (or have a really good excuse, like missing legs), dumb people wouldn't be allowed to vote(just look who watches wrestling or 'american idol' ) and mental retards wouldn't be allowed to grow up(though preferably not born at all). Guess that puts me into good company....
Hey.. it's not like he didn't have any good ideas..

[Rear Admiral Grapefruit]

this is an old thread! i didn't realise till i was about to post, my scores were...

Economic Left/Right: -4.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.10

this is what my Graph looks like

http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-4.00&soc=0.10

I'm quite close to the middle it seems, i dunno if that would be considered good or bad. : /

[Dennis nist]

Economic Left/Right: -5.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.21


Hmm, a syndicatalist if I should understand this compass.
I guess it fits. I like the natural and healty look on humans and human society many anarchist have.

[Mastiker]

Economic Left/Right: -5.5
Social Libertarian/Authorian: -2.41

http://www.politicalcompass.org/images/cross.gif

[Jetsetlemming]

Grah, dead thread. :| No necroposting!

But I'll respond to the topic since we're already here. :D
Economic Left/Right: 4.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.13
>_>

[Plekto]

Rise! Rise you zombie minions!
;)

Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.97
Very close to Mandella and Ghandi - I'm conservative about some issues(stong libertarian), but mostly, I believe that the government should stay out of our personal lives. Way way too many rules these days that serve to do nothing more than replace connon sense and personal freedoms.

[RandomPasserby]

Economic Left/Right: -8.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.18

Yeah, Stalin is a right wing fascist when compared to me!

[Mechs]

Economic Left/Right: -0.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.31

Can someone explain to me how this works?

[delen]

Economic Left/Right: 4.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38

I pwn.

[Balain]

I am so in the middle of the road.

I actually new this from a political science course I took. I always thought I was conservative in all my thinking but than I met the other peopel in the clas. WOW they were so extreme to me I thought.

Economic Left/Right: 0.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.36

[Angelyne]

Economic Left/Right: -4.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.67 (http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-4.00&soc=-4.67)

[ZaichikArky]

-5.38
-4.21

I'm right about where Ghandi is.. that's good because I really like him. I really don't consider myself THAT liberal either... And I'm definitely NOT anarchist. But I guess others are more liberal than me here : ).

[Pierrot le Fou]

Economic Left/Right: 4.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.00

And 3 months later...:

Economic Left/Right: 2.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.05

Falling towards the center on the economic scale.

(whoever called the huge minuses on both axis 'anarchist' made me chuckle -- anarchy with socialized healthcare!)

[ellie]

Economic Left/Right: -3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.95

I'm also pretty close to Ghandi, just like you, Zai. I used to be WAAAY way more liberal a few years ago, in high school, but after being in college I've gotten more conservative (but still definitely on the liberal side.)

[Black fist]

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -1.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.51

http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-1.13&soc=-2.51

[Sock Full of Boiled Dimes]

Economic Left/Right: -3.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.38

Eh?

Okay, I'm a centrist with a slight slant to the left?

[ruaidhri]

For whatever its value and accuracy I completed the test. What it told me was I am:

Economic Left/Right -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -4.67

[jindojim]

Economic: -2.00
Social: -0.67

[Pierrot le Fou]

For whatever its value and accuracy I completed the test. What it told me was I am:

Economic Left/Right -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -4.67

This makes the first post by you in this thread (from September) quite ironic:
Interesting. I haven’t changed much over my lifetime. While I’ve profited from America’s capitalistic economic system, I remain critical of the goose that laid my golden egg.

My numbers

Economic Left/Right: -6.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.74

I must say this puts me in company with some very fine people.
Haven't changed much over your lifetime? Perhaps. But you got 1/3 more conservative in 3 months.

[RandomPasserby]

Oh forgot, I'm pretty close to Gandhi too!

[Karthak]

Economic Left/Right: -6.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.31

[Beowulf]

Economic Left/Right: -7.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.77

Right next to Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, and Ghandi. None too shabby...

[Canis Lupis]

Economic Left/Right: -1.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.26

[Anders]

Oh my, I seem to be more liberal than Ghandi!

-7.00
-6.46

I don't usually go for tests like this one, it's not very scientific and it's impossible to place you on the spectrum with any degree of accuracy. That would probably take hundreds of questions and probably 3 more choices per question. Plus I felt that some of the questions were slanted one way or another to get an extreme (strongly agree/disagree) answer.

[Kass]

Also, it is a British test and the definitions of Liberal and Conservative vary from American ones. The test is one of the better ones out there, but you are right that there are almost no moderate answers to any of the questions.

I ended up only one square off center when I last took it.

[delen]

Some of the questions there was no really good answer IMO.

[Neon Pink Shoehorn]

from the last time I took it, I've gone quite a bit left, which makes sense, since my primary social company has been around a Navy family.

[ruaidhri]

Pierrot,

I believe my change indicates how difficult it is to measure a persons true opinions. I believe a lot depends on your frame of mind at the time you take the survey.

What is the shade between agree or disagree and strongly agree or disagree. A lot depends on how you read the question. I hate questions that say "always" or "never". Also, some questions are just hard to answer. For example the big question:

"Those who are able to work, and refuse the opportunity, should not expect society's support."

Now when I first read that my answer is "Hell No! If they won't work, let them starve." But then, what about their family? Should they also starve? What if they're not physically capable of performing the job? There are just to many "what ifs" to answer that question. So, how should I answer a question where I'm just not sure of the answer? Certainly, I should avoid an absolute "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" so today I'd say a weak "disagree".

But, you're correct. Over time and with daily events we do change our opinions. Catch me on another day and I might be more liberal or maybe even more conservative. Mostly, I try to be more caring about people than things or institutions. Age and having to pay taxes and raise a family has tempered how far I'm willing to go. Contrary to what I wrote in my first post I agree I have become more conservative. I doubt I read the questions as closely as I did the second time around. And, today, I took the survey again and with no surprise had yet a different answer.

Economic Left/Right: -4.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.23

Still, I'm on the liberal side of the economic line and on the side of the individual over the institution.

[Soli]

I saw the fist question: "If economic globalisation is inevitable..." and gave up. :knockout:

I'm just going to vote for who my dad does, when I start getting into the whole political things. He's smart and we think the same way. :)

[Y.T.]

This place is crawling with stinkin' lefties ...

And I am one of them.. makes me wonder whether its true what Chomsky said.. that for 90%, both major political mafias (Republicons and Demurkats) are too right-wing.

[RandomPasserby]

I blame the liberal media!

[Trump]

I like to think about questions and then answer them when I have all the information. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I consider myself a moderate.