Where are you on the political compass this election?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around participants sharing their results from the political compass test, reflecting on their political beliefs and identities. The scope includes personal reflections on political alignment, critiques of the test's validity, and informal exchanges about political ideologies.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express surprise at their results, indicating a self-identification as libertarian or leftist, while others question the fairness of the test for those on the political fringes.
  • A few participants critique the test's questions as biased or irrelevant, suggesting that they do not accurately reflect political positions.
  • Several participants note their proximity to historical figures like Gandhi and Mandela, using humor and personal anecdotes to engage with the results.
  • Some participants mention a shift in their political compass results over time, indicating a dynamic understanding of their political beliefs.
  • There are discussions about the implications of certain questions on the test, with some participants arguing that they are loaded or simplistic.
  • One participant raises a point about the potential for racism within various political ideologies, prompting further discussion on the nature of racism and ideology.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the validity of questionnaires in determining political beliefs, suggesting alternative quizzes or tests.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not reach a consensus on the validity of the political compass test, with multiple competing views on its fairness and relevance. There is also a mix of agreement on personal political identities, but no unified stance on the implications of the test results.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the subjective nature of self-reported political beliefs and the potential biases in the test questions, which may not account for the complexity of individual ideologies.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in political theory, self-assessment of political beliefs, and informal discussions about political identity may find this thread engaging.

What was your result of the test?

  • Total voters
    23
  • #91
micromass said:
I think that the fact that most people here score libertarian-left is a clear indication that the poll is biased to that side. I don't believe for a second that almost everybody on PF is libertarian and left.

I think that just means that most here don't like seeing government legislate taste. In that regard, we are all very libertarian. At the same time, they feel that government has a social-economic responsibility. Other members still agree that we shouldn't legislate taste; however, they feel the government should take a more minor role in social-economics (IE: on the right hand side).

I would imagine that the graph would look different if we put this in front of a less educated audience. For example, I'd be shocked if we didn't see plenty of authoritarians in the tea party. They echo other peoples arguments too much not to be authoritarian to some degree or another.
 
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  • #92
Russ has a good point, especially for the US, you should read the FAQ.

authoritarian/libertarian is social scale only. Anyone who commands an active military probably gets a big authoritarian score. US has the biggest military in the world, so all of its leaders have available to them an easy button that makes them instantly an authoritarian. Protect America and TSA, yup. Drone strikes... yup. Cost of being the biggest military power, your have to watch all your citizens a little closer to make sure one of them isn't a terrorist. Obama is only less authoritarian than Romney because his sometimes cautious lean towards civil rights (women's health rights, gay rights, other little populist appeals).

left/right is economic. Obama has done wonderful things for big business sectors. In the US big business and government is entwined with the financial sector at the expense of the individual.

Universal health care with tax penalty and no public option is both authoritarian and right. It forces the individual to pay the government or the market. Romney, on top of a similar health plan, was closing tax loop holes and doubling municipal fees, cutting funding from local municipals. All pretty statist actions, too. And of course, there's no contest for him about his extreme right values.
 
  • #93
russ_watters said:
... Isn't that the point of the test? ...

After reading the FAQ, I now have a better understanding of why it's written the way it is.
 
  • #94
http://www.politicalcompass.org/facebook/pcgraphpng.php?ec=-0.25&soc=-3.74
 
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  • #95
I got moderately liberal, slightly statist on Ryan's test. But that one let's you think, it's almost as if you're the president making decisions. It's not as much of an emotional test, so if you have an ideology that your behavior doesn't agree with, this test will mostly only measure your ideology.
 
  • #96
Here's my Nolan chart:
ScreenShot2012-11-03at121543AM.png
 
  • #97
Pythagorean said:
Russ has a good point, especially for the US, you should read the FAQ.

authoritarian/libertarian is social scale only. Anyone who commands an active military probably gets a big authoritarian score. US has the biggest military in the world, so all of its leaders have available to them an easy button that makes them instantly an authoritarian. Protect America and TSA, yup. Drone strikes... yup. Cost of being the biggest military power, your have to watch all your citizens a little closer to make sure one of them isn't a terrorist. Obama is only less authoritarian than Romney because his sometimes cautious lean towards civil rights (women's health rights, gay rights, other little populist appeals).

left/right is economic. Obama has done wonderful things for big business sectors. In the US big business and government is entwined with the financial sector at the expense of the individual.

Universal health care with tax penalty and no public option is both authoritarian and right. It forces the individual to pay the government or the market. Romney, on top of a similar health plan, was closing tax loop holes and doubling municipal fees, cutting funding from local municipals. All pretty statist actions, too. And of course, there's no contest for him about his extreme right values.

For people...
Authoritarian is a little more about religiously following authority. For example, gay marriage is wrong because my religious leader says its wrong. We need a big military because my party says so.. etc

Authoritarians generally follow their in-group as opposed to individual criticism of policy.

For Leaders..

Wanting to see only democrats or republicans rule would be an example. I'm sure Obama would love to see super-majorities of democrats in congress.
 
  • #98
russ_watters said:
We have no way of knowing how it rates any questions. Perhaps you saw a question as being a misrepresentation of a liberal position, but really the point was to test the response of conservatives to the caricature? Or just that conservatives would view the isssue differently, even not being a caricature of their view. Do you have any examples you can remember of such questions?
Caricature is the right word I feel. For example the hitting of children or absolute unquestioning of authority.
 
  • #99
Ryan_m_b said:
Caricature is the right word I feel. For example the hitting of children or absolute unquestioning of authority.

Maybe in Great Britain, hitting children is cartoonishly evil, but it's extremely common in America.
 
  • #100
Ryan_m_b said:
Caricature is the right word I feel. For example the hitting of children or absolute unquestioning of authority.
I'm not sure what you mean by the hitting of children thing, but the absolute, unquestioning authority one would be a test to see if the responder was an extreme authoritarian.
 
  • #101
Jack21222 said:
Maybe in Great Britain, hitting children is cartoonishly evil, but it's extremely common in America.

Especially in some states. In my state you call it punishment and lots of whack stuff can fly.
 
  • #102
http://www.politicalcompass.org/facebook/pcgraphpng.php?ec=1.00&soc=1.59

Isn't the pool somewhat unfair for elected politicians? I mean it's easier to declare great ideas when there is no mundane work to do. (It includes both unpleasant aspects of fighting terrorists or even grimmer aspects of balancing budget)

EDIT: A few years ago got in this pool something more right-libertarian corner... Now I'm moderate authoritarian... Becoming grown up is overrated ;)
 
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  • #103
Evo said:
OMG! I'm Gandhi!

Well, pretty close.

I think I'm closer to Gandhi.

om.2012.11.03.pcgraphpng.php.png


Though I did try as hard as I could to answer right wing and authoritarian. I think you'd have to be a puppy killer to score in the upper right hand quadrant.

Oh wait! Isn't Obama up there? Thank god I haven't voted yet... :devil:
 
  • #104
OmCheeto said:
I think I'm closer to Gandhi.

om.2012.11.03.pcgraphpng.php.png


Though I did try as hard as I could to answer right wing and authoritarian. I think you'd have to be a puppy killer to score in the upper right hand quadrant.

Oh wait! Isn't Obama up there? Thank god I haven't voted yet... :devil:
There's no way Obama could be up there, he's for gay and women's rights, for healthcare and Social Security. Just those topics alone prevent him from being up there as far as the quiz goes.

And yeah, you are much more Gandhi than me.
 
  • #105
Nationalized healthcare with tax penalty and no public option is kind of authoritarian, asks giving private insurance companies national job security is kid of rightish.

Also, read the FAQ!
 
  • #106
Evo said:
There's no way Obama could be up there, he's for gay and women's rights, for healthcare and Social Security. Just those topics alone prevent him from being up there as far as the quiz goes.

And yeah, you are much more Gandhi than me.

Nay my goddess.

Namaste my goddess.

Namaste.
 
  • #107
http://www.politicalcompass.org/facebook/pcgraphpng.php?ec=-2.25&soc=-4.92

I'm definitely not surprised to see most of the people on this forum sitting in the bottom left.
 
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  • #108
OmCheeto said:
...I think you'd have to be a puppy killer to score in the upper right hand quadrant.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/387789_435471506510393_53529190_n.jpg​



:eek:
 
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  • #109
OmCheeto said:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/387789_435471506510393_53529190_n.jpg​



:eek:

hahaha
 
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