Thanks to R. Thelonious for sending this to me. The Times Online had an article recently highlighting a test created by the website Political Compass. One can find out where one is on the political scale. The political scale consists, however of a larger context that is not commonly accepted in the American mainstream. For greater context this is what Political Compass says about the tool and the U.S. Primaries:
Please keep in mind that The Political Compass is a universal tool, reflecting the full spectrum of political thought, and applicable to all democracies. US politics are generally fought within a more confined space. While in mainstream America, Clinton, for example, may be seen as left leaning, in the overall political landscape, she is a moderate conservative. Someone like Kucinich, while seen by his severest opponents as an extreme left winger, would qualify as a typical social democrat in a European context.
I took the test and end up somewhere southwest of Kucinich and Gravel. This probably puts me way outside the mainstream here. It would be interesting, however to see where FDR places. I would bet money it is right where Kucinich finds himself. That is how far to the right the democrats and the Rethuglicans have moved. And actually look further down on the Political Compass article and it links to this article on the Kucinich homepage that shows us that Americans are progressive, but our politicians are not.
I personally do not think Kucinich is a good candidate. He doesn't appeal to a broad base of people. He has the right ideas and is a GREAT Congressman, but he is more like a pit bull than a leader of a nation. I like him where he is.
Anyway take the test. Here also is an explanation of the test.
6 comments:
i ended up sw of sw, by gandhi on the graph that results from your test. wow!! everyone should take the test. shocking to see their results on the chart.
I think I was southwest of Ghandi! Yeah, Barack too...which surprises me. And that Hillary is a moderate conservative...I have been saying that about Bill Clinton for a decade and a half now.
Where is Bernie Sanders, that is what I want to know?
Take the quiz with a grain of salt. For example, one of the statements to opine is "The freer the market, the freer the people." The question is problematic because two persons may define free market and free person differently. The quiz is inherently cultural biased and presupposes a certain understanding of the questions. Someone who self-defines as a free market capitalist might "strongly agree" with the statement under the premise that a free market is one that is based on unfettered (free) competition which is good and encourages wealth maximization which is purchasing power which is freedom. That is, a free market is one that is not restricted by regulation. In the US, this is common view, is it not? And, under wealth maximization, the richer you are the freer you are. Better access to market, legal protections, healthy food, water etc. However, someone who does not self-define as a free market capitalist might also "strongly agree" with that phrase if they define a free market to be one that is based on complete, unfettered (free) access to information and equal access to the market and capital. Generally speaking, an overall even playing field in which case people would then in fact people be freer as a matter of relativity--no one person would have command over another, or something along those lines. Their rights would be no less than any one else's. Such a person would laugh at the concept that the American market is not free because it is restricted by regulation (as a free market libertarian might argue), rather they would see the market as being restricted in favor of those with access to capital and information. Anyway, I'm not a philosopher -- my ruminations on this are not complete. Smarter people are encouraged to educate me and flesh out my argument if it has any legs. Or maybe I am just being too serious about a fun little thing and should be concentrating on the fact that this quiz is scientific proof that the rethuglican candidates are in bed with attila the hun. vote for them at your peril. Also, it appears that philosophically according to this quiz, I should be a fruitarian.
I thought about that while I was taking the quiz as well. It definitely assumes one knows things, but I also thought the questions were sort of phrased that way for a reason. Maybe to confuse the test taker for a reason such as to strongly agree with a free market which I said I do not...for the reasons you just cited, but also they ask you later about socialist thought and regulation.
It seemed a way to make sure the reader was paying attention. On the other hand I do have a hard time believing Barack is so far up there in the right quadrant or even Edwards right now...so you most certainly could be right.
Very interesting. I agree, many of the questions could be interpretted any several ways. I ended up down in the SW quadrant which doesn't surprise me. However, I felt more like I was playing the game of pick the right answer than answering the question.
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