Topic awaiting preservation: Which side of the fence are you on?

I was raised in a conservative family, and when I was growing up the term "liberal" meant something between "Hitler" and "Antichrist." I have always assumed that I slipped further toward the center after I left home for university (and later left the States for Korea), but I was never sure how far. I would still call myself a conservative if pressed, since that is the label I am most comfortable with. The idea of calling myself a liberal is just beyond my comprehension.

Anyway, I was quite interested when I saw this political quiz, which, according to the site, "appeared in the October 28-30, 1994 issue of USA Weekend." Most likely not a fool-proof political benchmark, but I figured it would at least give me a general idea of where I stood.

The quiz has 25 questions of varying forms (multiple choice, agree/disagree, etc.), and the results are based on a scale of 0 to 40, with 0 being "100 percent liberal" and 40 being "100 percent conservative." They are even helpful enough to arrange nine well-known political figures along this spectrum to help you get a better grip on your score.

So, I took the quiz, and I thought really hard about my answers--I wanted to be as truthful as possible. Then I clicked the button to calculate my score... and I got a 17. I'm a borderline liberal, and the closest politician on the spectrum is William Jefferson Censored.



So, while I go outside and stab myself repeatedly with my spork, you all take the quiz and tell me how it turns out. Just in case the link got lost in all my babble above, here it is again: Political Quiz

(I still haven't decided if this is a Silly Little Personality Test, or if I even want it on my SLPT page...)

[Edit: quisja posted a much nicer (probably more accurate and less subjective) quiz down there, and I thought I'd repost it up here so nobody would miss it: political compass quiz.]




www.liminality.org

Scored a 4 - placing me with Ted Kennedy (I might join you for the stabbing) which is quite good as I didn't understand some of the questions: Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders?? Why Haiti??

[edit: I should say that given the spread I'm happy where I am although I'd rather be with Jesse Jackson ]

[edit2: Pass me the spork - what was I thinking stabbing myself - sporks Synax, yes in the ass. Its Spork Wars!!]

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

17 here also,

20: Colin Powell-ish

24

I've always had liberal values, especially in regards to science and religion, I'm pro choice, kind of a rebel, listen to punk music. But I'm conservative on my views as far as politics are concerned (freedom before civil rights), so I guess this number makes sense. This quiz does seem to be skewed slightly towards the liberal side though - I mean, professional athletes are more trustworthy than owners, that has nothing to do with political affilliation, same with the peace corps over the CIA, other questions are just worded so that it'd sound like you were uncompassionate if you were to choose the conservative answer.

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other questions are just worded so that it'd sound like you were uncompassionate if you were to choose the conservative answer

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I'll agree with that. The interesting thing is that this quiz was co-written by a Democratic consultant and a Republican consultant--as if all Democrats are liberals and all Republicans are conservative and everything will even out. Hmm....

Emps: Just make sure you clean off that spork before I get it back.

18, Colin Powell-ish also I suppose.

Suho1004: It was only a buttock shot but still.......... We don't know where Synax has been (and if we did we might be even more worried ).

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

Scored a 7...



_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"

I scored a 9, putting me just left of Mrs. H.R. C*****n.
I don't know. Politically I'd describe myself as at that point, not in the center, but where the left reaches all the way back around and meets the right.
Kinda tricky, but it exists. I know. I'm there.

13...right in between bill and hillary (no, my name's NOT monica).

when i was younger, i was TOTALLY liberal...but i've found as i'm getting older, my views on things are leaning towards more conservative thinking. more conservative for me anyways
i've always picked the democrats as my political party, but i did vote for bush last round. just felt he was the better man for the job. i still consider myself democrat though.

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Cell 1007::SST

I got 16. near Bill C*****n, Sh*t

7 here. This campus is rubbing off on me.

edit: "right in between bill and hillary (no, my name's NOT monica)." LOL

[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited 05-02-2003).]

well, I made it into the double digits (barely) with a score of 10. I don't know if a confirmed tree hug'n greenie like me really deserves a 10, a few of those questions had a conservative answer no matter which way you turned, so I tried to pick the lesser of two evils...

looks like I'm hanging out with Hillary.

My poor Dad will probably never get over the fact that he spawned a tree-hugger. He has actually called
Rush Limbaugh a damn liberal. I told him that I would hug only strong old growth American trees, and would have nothing to do with any of that damn foreign foliage.... that seemed to make him a little happier.


Lacuna: I have traveled in just the opposite direction since the days of my youth. I was quite the Rebublican back then. Funny, how life goes sometimes....

13.

I don't agree with the accuracy of the quiz, especially in regard to the associated politicians, but hey...it's a quiz.

And the term 'liberal' is always something that I have embraced. Unfortunately it has been raped by politicians and no longer means what it should.

i got 16.

right on with yannah.

hmmmm....

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He has actually called Rush Limbaugh a damn liberal.

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Whoa.

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And the term 'liberal' is always something that I have embraced. Unfortunately it has been raped by politicians and no longer means what it should.

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Well, I can't really disagree with you there--the original meaning of the word "liberal" is something I would consider positive, but you're right that it no longer means what it should. And with the way I was raised, it's just very hard for me to swallow.

Woohooo, 24 George Bush Sr., which would explain a lot... Mom always said there was something odd about me.

I am defently pro big-money and fiscally a republican. I am willing to kill a spoted owl in a heart beat the great outdoors is highly overrated. Thou I am no where near the republicans social platform and the religious right scares the crap out of me.


[This message has been edited by jstuartj (edited 05-02-2003).]

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when i was younger, i was TOTALLY liberal...but i've found as i'm getting older, my views on things are leaning towards more conservative thinking. more conservative for me anyways.

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Yep same here - I was much more left leaning when I was younger

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

19...Colin Powell-ish. Right where I belong...I'm a liberal Republican.

Many of those questions are not up-to-date...especially the Haiti-Korea question...

18 - Right between Colin Powell and C*****n..

I gues that would make me C*****n's Colon?

:::krets.net:::

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i got 16.

right on with yannah.

hmmmm....

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oh oh! ^-^

I got a 20... I guess that means I'm on the fence, huh?

That Can't be comfortable...

I got a 25. Sort of surprised but some of the questions were sort of gray for me...

GrythusDraconis
"I'm sick of hearing that beauty is only skin-deep. That's deep enough. Who wants an adorable pancreas?" - Unknown

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Many of those questions are not up-to-date...especially the Haiti-Korea question...

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Thus my note above that the quiz was written in 1994...

22 here, right between powell and bush (leaning a hair towards powell). about what i expected i guess, i have the conservative values in general but think government in general has some extremely wrong ways of trying to solve problems...

chris


KAIROSinteractive

15

I think where this is blurry is where the line is drawn between ethical views and political views. There are things I may not agree with personally, but I don't believe these things should be made illegal.

[This message has been edited by SPyX (edited 05-02-2003).]

Yes, Master Suho...but what I meant was, that since then, situations have changed...but I think you know what I mean.

Back then, maybe the questions were more 'cut-n-dried'...but today, they lean in a different direction, which was definitely not intended...in hindsight, I find that very funny...a 'conservative' question yesterday, is a 'liberal' one today...and vice versa...hehe...

Still, thanks for posting the link...

<- *points at location*

14 making me rather C*****nish I guess. I guess if there is a political figure I would like to be associated with it would have to be the one that is getting the most action.

DL-44 touched on something that I like to point out. "Liberal" doesn't mean "leftist". Liberal just means that you believe in giving every ideal a chance. Which is something I embrace. No matter WHAT you believe, you should have the right to believe in that. It's when it encroaches on the rights of others that it becomes a problem. It's extremes and zealotism that cause ALL the problems in the world.

$0.02


It's only after we've lost everything...
That we're free to do anything...

Despite the obvious cultural bias of the quiz, I still managed a 7.]

Being a lifelong socialist, that's no surprise to me, although... for the first time in my voting life, I didn't vote for the labour party in yesterday's local elections.

WS: This is true... but it was fun anyway, wasn't it?

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I think where this is blurry is where the line is drawn between ethical views and political views. There are things I may not agree with personally, but I don't believe these things should be made illegal.

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SPyX: That's exactly the point, though--your personal morality doesn't matter as much as whether or not you want the government to impose that morality on others (ie, legislating morality). At least, that's my take on it.

Dufty: Ditto - then again voting Lib Dem is pretty much like voting for the most left wing party these days

[edit: Poor show with the BNP though ]

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

I got a 9, and I think that's about where I'd have placed myself.

I'm a 10. I've come full circle I think, partial at least, lol. I was far left as a teenager (red even), more to center (possibly even to the right) after I married and had kids. And now, in my 30's, I'm back to the left. Seems wobbly I know but there are reasons for my changes over the years.

I'm a 12. Just about where I figured myself.

19 - right alongside Colin and WebShaman. Yeah, that works for me!



Evil in theory, not so much in practice...

18 - right in there with krets, in between Colin and Billy-Bob...

I had to disagree with a couple of those questions simply based on the way they were written. I'm certain if they'd been worded differently, I'd have to agree. That actually might put me as more conservative than I care to admit!


Bodhi - Cell 617

a 12 sounds about right. I too have become more conservative as I've gotten older.

Heard a great quote on the Bill Maher show about this a couple of days ago.

"If you're not a liberal when you're young you have no heart, if you're not conservative as you get older you've got no brain"



.:[ Never resist a perfect moment ]:.

9 for me left to Ms. C. I did google for jocelyn elders and rev robertson. I realy disliked robertson...

I normaly call myself a liberal-socialist but i have some real left ideas (some might even be communist's). I don't trust big money(old or new, religious or corporate). I think a governement should provide a good basis for it's civilians. And leave the free to mess up if they want to.

So what should this basis contain:
-Good education for everyone
-Good healthcare which is easy to access
-Well organized public transport (higher frequencies and good connections are more importand than high speed and luxury seats)
-Easy acces to modern comunication systems (internet, radio, tv)
-Payable housing even for the poor (specially in a little country making it easy to move could lighten up traffic jams)
-All governement projects should be as environmental as posible (thus protecing civilians from environmental disasters in the long term)
-The weak should be protected against the stronger or the powerfull.
-Also people who can not make a living on their own (handicapped etc) should be supported (with money and when needed with education).
- Roads should be in good (not perfect) shape.

All the rest should be up to the civilians. They should be able to manage from here.



__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

Woohoo, I win finally ... 26

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I am defently pro big-money and fiscally a republican. I am willing to kill a spoted owl in a heart beat the great outdoors is highly overrated. Thou I am no where near the republicans social platform and the religious right scares the crap out of me.

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Yep, same here... Mostly a conservative, with a hint of liberal in one or two places...

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Poor show with the BNP though

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Indeed...but in extreme times, people act extremely.

10 - along with norm, amerasu and hillary! hmm, i seem to have shifted to the right

11 here... This quiz was quite US Geared though. I mean the presidents question I didn't have much idea about. If you live in the UK then www.politicalcompass.org is quite good. It work on a sort of x/y two dimensional system. One dimension is liberal/conservative, the other is left/right.


home

That's a far more interesting (and accurate) example.

I scored:
Economic Left/Right: -7.62
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.97

(Pretty much as expected)

Definitely a good one there, quisja--much better than the one I posted. But no one should be thrown off by the "if you live in the UK" part--the test is more or less free from national bias. Anyway, I scored -2.25 on the econonomic left/right scale, and -2.67 on the authoritarian/libertarian scale.

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Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -7.38
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -7.44

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You have to be in good company if you are grouped with Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama (and Dufty, of course).

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

It's almost an honour, until you read the Iconochasms page?

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The Dalai Lama who, in 1982, granted several audiences to, and received a donation of more than $1 million from Shoko Asahara, leader of the Supreme Truth cult of Japan, and spreader of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway.

Nelson Mandela who, in October 1990, six months after his own release from prison, travelled to Indonesia and received a $10 million donation from dictator Suharto to help party funds, while avoiding criticism of Indonesia's repressive policies, including political imprisonment.

And Mahatma Gandhi who, in May 1940, said : I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed.

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Strange how these small discrepancies get brushed over.

Even Mother Teresa of Calcutta (already of dubious reputation with the right eyes)

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was an enthusiastic and uncritical guest of the dictatorships of Haiti and Albania, and the phalangists in Lebanon.

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Politics... the only thing, apart from religion, which I never hold against anyone.



[This message has been edited by Dufty (edited 05-03-2003).]

Dufty: I never said we were perfect but our heart is in the right place

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

I've taken this one before.. I was very right, very libertarian.. No one famous even close to me.

True Emps.

It's kinda rare to meet a fellow humanitarian these days

Dufty:

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It's kinda rare to meet a fellow humanitarian these days

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Yes I like them but I couldn't eat a whole one at one sitting (and I agree rare is always the best way to cook them)

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

I got 11 point.

Hiroki Kozai

I think that political compass thing IS a better deal than just a 1-dimentional line.

Economic Left/Right: -6.25
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.31

That puts me in the same quadrant as:
Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Naomi Klein, Eric Schlosser, Thomas Paine, Noam Chomsky and Ralph Nader.

yep...that's about it.

Economic Left/Right: 1.38
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -0.77

Pretty interesting reading there.

Economic Left/Right: -2.00
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -0.51

Still pretty durn close to the middle. (Other score was 20 from the political quiz)

I like being in the middle...

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -7.50
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -9.23

and

7

SOme of the questions arent really about politics though. It shouldn't be called the political compass if one of the questions is whether abstract art should be considered art or not.

according to the 2nd test, my scores of -

Economic Left/Right: -6.38
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.51

put me just Left of the Dali Lama, with more of a tendency towards anarchy.......

Does this mean I can never travel to Tibet?

Scored a 2 ...and therein lies the friction...


...xpi...

"nuff said"

[This message has been edited by Xpirex (edited 05-05-2003).]

"whether abstract art should be considered art or not" is actually a pretty pertinent political question.

I don't know about that second one...seems it's even more off than the first one -

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -4.97

Looks like another Dali Lama...
I begin to suspect that if you click 'strongly agree/strongly disagree' one or more times, you get branded a liberal.

[This message has been edited by WebShaman (edited 05-05-2003).]

Ok, I'm a little late on this but:

I got a 27 on the first quiz which puts me between a man I hated, George Bush the elder, and a man I absolutely idolize, Jack Kemp. But this is a very crude and inaccurate quiz and I think the second one is much better...

...and on that one I got...

Economic Left/Right: 1.88
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -1.95

This makes me "just right of center" like my Asylum location. But I don't see any famous people in that quadrant. Interesting. So I guess I'm a mild manored right wing libertarian

[edit]

I was just reading this page A Few Words about "The Extreme Right". I guess in the UK I would be considered a liberal democrat !!! Can you believe it??? What a complete opposite meaning that would have here in the states! Hilarious!

[/edit]

[This message has been edited by Bugimus (edited 05-06-2003).]

I am alittle late as well... I got a 9..I am not surprised. It is what I thought I would be actually.

"whenever I find myself on the side of the majority, I pause and reflect. " Mark Twain

Hmm.. 16.

17

I have no idea what that means for me, but it must be something good, because bad things rarely happen frequently.

edit: only kidding. bad stuff happens all the time.

I understand precisely.

It's just that the rate of their occurrence is rarely as high as the relative infrequency of their non-occurence when compared to the somewhat exiguous frequency of their frequent occurences.

^^ I knew it! Damned liberals!

The secret is now out!!! LOL!!!

Well, I'm Jean Chretien, on the second test. I landed on his spot exactly.

On that second one, I got

Economic Left/Right: -6.12
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -3.33

Almost right there in the middle, left libertarian.





Bodhi - Cell 617

Economic Left/Right: -2.88
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -5.67


_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"

17 .. kinda in the middle

just took the other,
Economic Left/Right: -6.75
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -2.82

quite badass, right around there with Nelson Mandela and Gandhi



[This message has been edited by Sanzen (edited 05-15-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Sanzen (edited 05-15-2003).]

15, very Bill C*****nish

"...I'd like to think that I'm normal"

I got 11, mate.
Cheers.

Hiroki Kozai

How did I miss this thread???
Oh well, better late than whatever.
Yep I'm the little mouse right there between mandela and the Dali Lama
Economic Left/Right: -4.88
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -5.38