Where do you fall on the political compass?

This gets thrown around from time to time and recently I was in an argument with some people over Obama actually being a conservative rather than a liberal. I don't want to rehash the argument here but part of what I cited in my support was his 6.5, 6 rating on the political compass which puts him further to the right than Reagan and McCain and very near Mitt Romney.

Anyways afterwards we started comparing our own political compass scores which was an activity I hadn't done for a few years. The last time I did it was around 2008 at which point I scored about 0.5, 0.5. My recent score was -3.88, -3. I was rather surprised at just how far left I had moved in 6 years especially since I had supported things on the test like the death penalty, not rehabilitating some criminals, and free markets though the libertarian move was expected.

So I'm curious, how do people here actually score?
www.politicalcompass.org...

This is how they score you not how you self identify.

Is your score a surprise to you?

a reply to: Aazadan

There is not an "I Don't Care" choice. I can't even take the test.

Don't fall for that crap...

The last time those tests made the rounds, they were designed to fool idiots into thinking they are liberals.

No matter how you answered, some told you that you were aligned with Democrats!

originally posted by: lernmore
Don't fall for that crap...

The last time those tests made the rounds, they were designed to fool idiots into thinking they are liberals.

No matter how you answered, some told you that you were aligned with Democrats!

The questions are "Progressively" skewed and tainted.

Excellent tools for creating Cognitive Dissonance and Hegelian Dialectics.

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: Aazadan

There is not an "I Don't Care" choice. I can't even take the test.

Yeah, I found many of the questions wanting. However, it didn't do too shoddy of a job of pegging where I would be on a political spectrum. Just left of center and almost halfway to Libertarian. I've never been a Republican or a Democrat and have generally had a liberty emphasis historically with some nods towards understanding that sometimes, not all people are good.

Like James Madison once said, "If men were angels, we would need no government."

Probably should've added my result:

Economic Left/Right: -1.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.51

originally posted by: lernmore
Don't fall for that crap...

The last time those tests made the rounds, they were designed to fool idiots into thinking they are liberals.

No matter how you answered, some told you that you were aligned with Democrats!

Maybe it's designed to make people realize that, despite what they are told to think, they are truly in-line with values they weren't aware of.

a reply to: WhiteAlice

Maybe we should just dump the whole political spectrum thing and just start supporting what is smart and wise.

a reply to: Aazadan

I'm slightly more to the left than Ghandi. But that test made the taker choose an opinion even though some of the better choices were "I abstain" or "It doesn't really matter to me."

i'll bite again for the forth time

Economic Left/Right: -3.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.77

a reply to: Aazadan

Holy crap, I'm more of a libertarian lefty than Gandhi!

Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.82

originally posted by: lernmore
Don't fall for that crap...

The last time those tests made the rounds, they were designed to fool idiots into thinking they are liberals.

No matter how you answered, some told you that you were aligned with Democrats!

I think you might misunderstand what Liberalism actually is. It's a common enough mistake. Liberalism and the Democratic party are not always necessarily related. Libertarians can be both Democrat leaning and Republican leaning as the spectrum for it is actually like this:

Liberalism ------------------ Fascism

In this case, the compass uses Authoritarian but an extreme authoritarian environment is pretty much the same as Fascism.

Before the American Revolution, our government overseeing the colonies tended towards Authoritarianism through the lack of representation within parliament, the quartering of troops within private residences and the Crown's seizure of private properties. The natural response to such an environment was, in fact, Liberalism. Liber in latin means "free" and this drive towards independent freedom from authoritarian rule is precisely the catalyst for that American Revolution.

It also was the motivation for the creation of the Bill of Rights. Many of the amendments within the Bill of Rights are the hallmarks of Liberalism:

Civil liberties (I, II--inferred is the right to bear arms to protect self and country, V, VI, VII, VIII)
The right to private property (inferred in II, III, IV)
Freedom of the Press from governmental encroachment (I)
Freedom of Religion (I)
The right to free and fair election (inferred by the Constitution in various points ie Article 1 Section 2)

The only one that does not get directly referenced within the US Constitution is the Liberalism view on free trade. The view on free trade is that the government does not restrict imports and exports, providing unregulated access to markets.

That's liberalism. I think it's really interesting and kind of disturbing to see the term has been so maligned over the years. How people do not make the connection of the "liber" latin root of "free" is beyond me. It should be obvious.

Liberty.
Liberal.
Libertarianism.

Freedom.

a reply to: Cuervo

Maybe it's designed to make people realize that, despite what they are told to think, they are truly in-line with values they weren't aware of.

Or,

It's designed to make gullible people believe what they are "told to think" is true.

The general MSM is slanted and skived.

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: WhiteAlice

Maybe we should just dump the whole political spectrum thing and just start supporting what is smart and wise.

That's what I chose to do when I had the question of political party put upon me before I turned 18 by my grandfather. I thought long and hard about it and determined that loyalty to a party may not always be in the best interest of my country. I owe no party my loyalty. My loyalty is reserved for my country and my country alone.

This is like showing someone a grey square and then asking if it's black or white. The answer to most of these questions is not yes or no.

I dont mind these test. Everyone is all freaked out that its data collection. Well, yes it is. I dont see the harm in letting people in charge know where we stand as a people so they can act accordingly to not piss us off or not do things we dont like.

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: 1.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.44



I am always slightly right of center on these things though I think my personal compass is dead center between authoritarian and libertarian. I can go either way ever so slightly.

Economic Left/Right: -3.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.10

Just want to add that being left of center does not mean you are a democrat. I rarely identify with democrats.

a reply to: xuenchen

some of the questions are iffy and others I didn't understand, lol

originally posted by: tadaman
I dont mind these test. Everyone is all freaked out that its data collection. Well, yes it is. I dont see the harm in letting people in charge know where we stand as a people so they can act accordingly to not piss us off or not do things we dont like.

Not to mention that it also works to negate attacks where someone with an oppositional view may falsely plant another on the various political spectrums. I've had that happen a great deal where I've been pretty much called an extreme Democrat (never have been even a Democrat) and I'm 1 tick into the left.

I am always slightly right of center on these things though I think my personal compass is dead center between authoritarian and libertarian. I can go either way ever so slightly.

I think part of this is because we are all mostly liberals v. liberals in the US as most hold a pretty heavy disdain for authoritarianism and we're pretty fond of our Bill of Rights. In the matters of liberty, most of the arguments (not all) between the left and right are the interpretations of a liberty and the execution of its assurance. If you ask a European Conservative about American Conservatives, odds are they'll say that American Conservatives are liberals. My fiance, who is from Canada and viewed himself as Conservative, and I really went round and round on this til we actually realized that the US definition of Conservatism was radically different from most of the Western world. Though he throws in that Canadian conservatism is becoming more American style over the last 5 years.

originally posted by: Stormdancer777
a reply to: xuenchen

some of the questions are iffy and others I didn't understand, lol

Here's me with add-ins !!!