Just as a point of recommendation, I heartily recommend searching out some talks or books by Chomsky, as he's one of the most important linguists, philosophers and political activists of our time.

-- 15 Feb 2010 14:23 --

I forgot what a long effing quiz that one was... I'd be surprised if you continued to get a high-level detailed response from people, just because it's kind of a pain to collect it as you go. Please note that I had to look up some economics terms as I went, because that is a topic on which I am a complete layman.


Page 1
If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations.
Strongly Disagree

I'd always support my country, whether it was right or wrong.
Strongly Disagree

No one chooses his or her country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it.
Strongly Agree

Our race has many superior qualities, compared with other races.
Strongly Disagree

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Disagree

Military action that defies international law is sometimes justified.
Disagree

There is now a worrying fusion of information and entertainment.
Strongly Agree

Page 2
People are ultimately divided more by class than by nationality.
Agree

Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment.
Agree

Because corporations cannot be trusted to voluntarily protect the environment, they require regulation.
Agree

"from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a fundamentally good idea.
Agree

It's a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product.
Strongly Agree

Land shouldn't be a commodity to be bought and sold.
Disagree

It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society.
Strongly Agree

Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade.
Agree

The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders.
Strongly Disagree

The rich are too highly taxed.
Strongly Disagree


Those with the ability to pay should have the right to higher standards of medical care .
Strongly Disagree


Governments should penalise businesses that mislead the public.
Agree

A genuine free market requires restrictions on the ability of predator multinationals to create monopolies.
Agree

The freer the market, the freer the people.
Disagree

Page 3
Abortion, when the woman's life is not threatened, should always be illegal. Strongly Disagree

All authority should be questioned.
Strongly Agree

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Disagree

Taxpayers should not be expected to prop up any theatres or museums that cannot survive on a commercial basis.
Strongly Disagree

Schools should not make classroom attendance compulsory.
Agree

All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind.
Strongly Disagree

Good parents sometimes have to spank their children.
Strongly Agree

It's natural for children to keep some secrets from their parents.
Agree

Possessing marijuana for personal use should not be a criminal offence.
Strongly Agree

The prime function of schooling should be to equip the future generation to find jobs. Strongly Disagree

People with serious inheritable disabilities should not be allowed to reproduce. Strongly Disagree

The most important thing for children to learn is to accept discipline.
Disagree

There are no savage and civilised peoples; there are only different cultures.
Agree

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

When you are troubled, it's better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things.
Disagree

First-generation immigrants can never be fully integrated within their new country.
Disagree

What's good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us.
Strongly Disagree

No broadcasting institution, however independent its content, should receive public funding.
Strongly Disagree

Page 4

Our civil liberties are being excessively curbed in the name of counter-terrorism.
Strongly Agree

A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system.
Strongly Disagree

Although the electronic age makes official surveillance easier, only wrongdoers need to be worried.
Strongly Disagree


The death penalty should be an option for the most serious crimes.
Agree

In a civilised society, one must always have people above to be obeyed and people below to be commanded.
Agree

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


In criminal justice, punishment should be more important than rehabilitation.
Disagree

It is a waste of time to try to rehabilitate some criminals.
Agree

The businessperson and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist.
Strongly Disagree

Mothers may have careers, but their first duty is to be homemakers.
Strongly Disagree

Multinational companies are unethically exploiting the plant genetic resources of developing countries.
Strongly Agree

Making peace with the establishment is an important aspect of maturity.
Disagree

Page 5
Astrology accurately explains many things.
Agree

You cannot be moral without being religious.
Strongly Disagree

Charity is better than social security as a means of helping the genuinely disadvantaged.
Disagree

Some people are naturally unlucky.
Disagree

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

Page 6
Sex outside marriage is usually immoral.
Strongly Disagree

A same sex couple in a stable, loving relationship, should not be excluded from the possibility of child adoption.
Strongly Agree

Pornography, depicting consenting adults, should be legal for the adult population.
Strongly Agree

What goes on in a private bedroom between consenting adults is no business of the state.
Strongly Agree

No one can feel naturally homosexual.
Strongly Disagree

These days openness about sex has gone too far.
Disagree

Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41

The Nolan Test is one of the most famous and commonly used:

http://www.theadvocates.org/quizp/index.html


The Political Compass Chart is also well-known:


http://politicalcompass.org/


This is also a good one:

http://www.idealog.org/en/quiz



So where do you score?

I score firmly libertarian.

According to those quizzes you posted, I am akin to Ghandi, The Dali Lama and Nelson Mandela in that I am apparently a Libertarian.

I always knew I was special.

~spidey

I'm a Centrist and a bit to the Left

First of all, without trying to be a prick, I'd point out that this probably should have been posted on this not-so-dated thread. My Political Compass Test results can be located there. As for my results on the other two quizzes provided...

The Advocates for Self-Government quiz seems very heavily slanted in a particular direction and my results seemed inaccurate. I'm pretty sure I'm not a "centrist", as my results on this quiz indicate. (My exact score was...50% libertarian on personal issues and 20% libertarian on economic issues.)

The IDEAlog10 quiz was more interesting and the results seemed reasonably accurate. However, I would point out that there aren't a lot of deep or far-reaching questions on the said quiz, which limits what one's results can possibly indicate. Hence I suspect many people will be inaccurately described as favoring equality, despite instead favoring mere "equal opportunity" to exploit others. The quiz doesn't seem to draw a clear distinction between the two. If it did, I wouldn't be classified as anything close to a liberal. Likewise, most of the social issue questions describe only specific circumstances and, as such, aren't really too objective. My IDEAlog10 results were as follows:

Departure from [individual] freedom:
Order: 2
Equality: 10

How about I put an end to the griping and just merge the two threads, m'kay?

~spidey

Sometimes at intervals it can be interesting to do a compare/contrast. I've collected the graphs of our various Political Compass positions below. Opening each in an independent tab or window and doing a side-by-side comparison makes things interesting.

Based on economic position. (Rightmost to leftmost.)

Nightspectre = 3.00
Adze = 1.12
Lunamoth = -5.75
Arquinsiel = -6.25
Wolfmammy = -6.75
DarklyInclined = -7.25
Armed Communist Pikachu = -9.12

Bottom Line: Most people here are social-democratic; left of center, but right of what I'd call communist economics. I define the latter as anything left of -8.50. The right-of-center people here are only moderately so. It seems DarklyInclined comes the closest to my views in this area.

Based on social issues positioning. (Most authoritarian to least.)

Wolfmammy = -2.26
Adze = -3.54
Arquinsiel = -4.05
Nightspectre = -4.31
Armed Communist Pikachu = -4.51
DarklyInclined = -5.59
Lunamoth = -6.41

Bottom Line: Everyone here falls below the median line. It's simply a matter of degree. In terms of overall positioning on social values, I seem to have the most in common with Nightspectre, Goth.net's foremost economic rightist, by this measure. I also think it's worth noting that, contrary to prejudices about communists being authoritarians, only two of the seven participants on this thread fell in a more anti-authoritarian position than myself. It also seems we don't have any anarchists here.



I've been surprised to have received as many detailed responses as I have. Wolfmammy and Adze have already provided such responses, in addition to my own and now yours. In total, we now have four.

The economics section (page 2) was the easiest one for me. Speaking of which, I did have a question for you in that connection:



That's a response I'd have expected from Nephele. How do you reconcile that position with the broadly social-democratic ones you describe on page 2 (economics) and your indication on page 3 that "What's good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us" is an utterly wrong statement?

Additionally, what tells you that "astrology accurately explains many things"? It's always seemed to me an enormous leap of faith. Whenever I read horoscopes in the newspaper (or wherever), they always seem intentionally vague. So vague that they might be read into nearly any situation or development. Hence they strike me as obviously phony.

Dear Pikachu. You know less about me than you imagine. I have not contributed to your thread here, and I politely ask that you refrain in the future from including me in your games. Thank you.

-- Nephele

Alright alright. I was just going based on your self-described sympathies for Randian Objectivism, which politically becomes a form of right wing libertarianism that's very sympathetic to concepts like free trade.

There are those who do feel more comfortable in placing others into neat, catagorized boxes, I suppose.

-- Nephele

Aaaaah! You replied before I finished editing my earlier post! I've provided an alternative, more neutral link therein.

Politcal Compass results for me:

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: 6.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.08


That makes me almost touching Milton Friedman position on the chart.

Which is gratifying, because I WORSHIP Milton Firedman!

My political compass

Economic Left/Right: -4.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.72

apperantly i am akin to gandhi and the dalai lama as well, spidey.

anyway, that was an interesting quiz

Went back and altered one or two answers because I thought the questions were phrased in too ambiguous a way, but the result didn't change too much:

Economic Left/Right: 6.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.69

I'm curious - and please don't be offended... Did you treat it seriously, or not? The reason I ask is because, to my mind, you have a lively but somewhat mischievous intellect, and I can't quite see you as somebody who would religiously slave over reams and reams of questions providing the Keys to your Soul.