Conservative or Liberal?

**Atras** · 05-01-2011 03:50 AM

Are you conservative or liberal?

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 03:59 AM

In what sense? As they were originally used, or as they are used today? As they're used in the U.S., U.K., or other countries?

**Atras** · 05-01-2011 04:06 AM

as used in the us, if you wanna explain further you can comment on it

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 04:08 AM

If we're defining them as how they're used in the U.S., then I'll answer with "neither."

**Seroquel** · 05-01-2011 04:28 AM

neither

**dajo** · 05-01-2011 04:28 AM

neither

**Maria92** · 05-01-2011 04:32 AM

more of a left-leaning libertarian

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 04:34 AM

Originally Posted by Mario92

more of a left-leaning libertarian

A Swedish Roderick Long. Whodathunk.

**cygnus** · 05-01-2011 04:39 AM

The Political Compass

The test on this site is pretty good if you're familiar with the '4 quadrant' kind of classification.

...I'm in the bottom left corner

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 04:49 AM

Originally Posted by cygnus

The Political Compass

The test on this site is pretty good if you're familiar with the '4 quadrant' kind of classification.

...I'm in the bottom left corner

I see people throwing this test around as if it's reliable. The questions are awful; depending on your answer to each, you get moved in a certain direction. The problem here is that you may be answering a question in a way that doesn't warrant being moved toward a certain direction. You may answer a question on a libertarian basis, yet the test would end up moving you toward the left economically.

The questions are never as cut and dry as they're presented. That's the major flaw. After the test is said and done, you end up in a place that may not represent where you should be.

For shits and giggles, here are my results from the last test I took:

Problem is, this isn't the last test I took. The social and economic scores are composites of two previous tests. I took the most radical ones and put them together to create a better representation. I was closer to the center of the bottom-right quadrant in both of them. I think I was near the freaking dividing line between the bottom-right and bottom-left quadrant on one test.

**Maria92** · 05-01-2011 04:52 AM

Ayup. Some of those questions were a bit odd, though. Modern art? Really?

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 04:57 AM

Another reason to be skeptical of the political compass test:

The usual understanding of anarchism as a left wing ideology does not take into account the neo-liberal "anarchism" championed by the likes of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and America's Libertarian Party...

Rand, Friedman, and the LP advocate[d] anarchism? Where the fuck did these people get their information?

**cygnus** · 05-01-2011 04:58 AM

Aw come on - it's fun! I wasn't going to use it for a thesis paper or anything.

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 04:59 AM

Originally Posted by cygnus

Aw come on - it's fun! I wasn't going to use it for a thesis paper or anything.

About as fun as reading your horoscope and having it be wrong.

**Seroquel** · 05-01-2011 05:02 AM

Originally Posted by BLUELINE976

About as fun as reading your horoscope and having it be wrong.

lul

**cygnus** · 05-01-2011 05:06 AM

Ok, you're right. But the chart itself is still useful on its own, isn't it? But then you'll tell me it isn't 3d

**Atras** · 05-01-2011 05:09 AM

i got bottom left when i took it, and thats where I consider myself to be. Seems pretty accurate to me.

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 05:10 AM

Originally Posted by cygnus

Ok, you're right. But the chart itself is still useful on its own, isn't it? But then you'll tell me it isn't 3d

Useful on its own for what?

**cygnus** · 05-01-2011 05:12 AM

As a political spectrum.

**Descensus** · 05-01-2011 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by cygnus

As a political spectrum.

I've just explained why its not a reliable political spectrum. So if it's useful as a political spectrum, then so is a brick wall.

**dajo** · 05-01-2011 05:42 AM

Originally Posted by cygnus

The Political Compass

It still displays an oversimplification of the complexity of dynamic modern politics and of political opinion. Placing oneself inside these limited categories will make it virtually impossible to grasp the full (or at least a more comprehensive) scope. But I guess these are used for descriptive purposes. I would, nevertheless, like to see those kind of models thrown over board in exchange for a generally more reflective and individual approach. This of course is many times more true for the op.

Something about the questionnaire - what does this one for example really have to do with a political opinion?

Abstract art that doesn't represent anything shouldn't be considered art at all.

It rather seems to me that "it has been found that a majority of people in political group a felt differently about art then in political group b" so it is therefore used to categorize and generalize further. In fact most of the questions in the questionnaire seem to just reflect the popular opinions held by politicians that are displayed by the American media.

An emphasize here lies on American, which also became very obvious while taking it. We are living in a globalized world, so I think political consideration should shift accordingly. In a European questionnaire you would have never found a question like:

It is important that my child's school instills religious values.

And of course this:

Page 6 of 6

Finally, a look at sex.

A hole page about sex. In a political survey.

OK, I apologize for all the rambling and criticizing of that model. A model by definition is the oversimplification of reality, I know. But the point I ultimately want to make is that if someone asks you

"What is your political orientation"
the appropriate answer should be
"In regards to what event?"
(Mainstream) Politics needs more depth.

**Puffin** · 05-01-2011 05:57 AM

Conservatives don't want same-sex marriage to be legal. Also, they spent way too much time and money on the military last year, and not enough on our own country (so to speak). I'm more of a Liberal, although Ignatieff is kind of creepy and doesn't seem to identify well with the average Canadian citizen.

Edit: lulz at the poll results... No conservatives?

**Atras** · 05-01-2011 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by Puffin

Also, they spent way too much time and money on the military last year, and not enough on our own country (so to speak).

LOL theyve been spending too much money on the military and not enough on the country since the cold war.

**bust113** · 05-01-2011 06:46 AM

I say screw the government. I know they are important, because it would be chaos with one, but all western governments have become so corrupted and hungry for power. We just need a government that fulfills its purpose.

Here in Canada our income tax is 30%! Like what the heck? Why does the government need one third of our money? They just blow the majority of it on things we don't need or don't even affect us. The senate makes an extreme amount of money when they do literally nothing but go on very expensive vacations.

But on the topic of this discussion, I am stuck between Conservative and Liberal for both Canada and US.