Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

or, some of the things we discuss on these forum aren't covered by the poll at all!


For example, I believe that people are basically motivated by self-interest. That's not a good thing nor a bad thing, it's merely how things are. It's sort of like saying most people eat food several times a day, it's merely human nature.

However, it also means, that when you have governments staffed by people, then those people will primarily be motivated by their self-interest first, and the public interest second (if very much at all). I'd then point to the VA situation and offer it as empirical data to validate this point of view.

There wasn't a single question on the poll that asked how much do you trust government to do the right thing. If there were, then many people who post here would have high + scores on that question, while I would have a significant - score on that question.


Also, I wonder about the way the poll scores the data we do enter. Many people who are reporting high scores for being libertarian also appear to have a high level of trust in government. I'd find that hard to reconcile if the poll were being scored in a consistent manner.

Trying to follow...

Are you saying that left leaning people would tend to say that they trust the government to do the right thing?

I certainly don't.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 6.64, Libertarian: 2.29

Political Spectrum Quiz


Foreign Policy:

On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -6.11

Culture:

Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -5.59

****ing hippy.

[FreshFish]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

Are you saying that left leaning people would tend to say that they trust the government to do the right thing?

Not quite. I'm noticing that the poll uses the word "left" to mean different things in different contexts. I am on the "left" side for social issues and the "right" side for economic issues, for example.

People use the word "progressive" and "left-wing" interchangeably, and progressives very much want people to trust government to do the right thing in all times and in all circumstances. Look at The Life of Julia, for example.

So if progressives are "left leaning" then by definition pretty much they trust the government to do the right thing, no? "left" and "right" have so many different meanings in so many different contexts that they are losing all descriptive value unless you are talking about which hand you use when you brush your teeth.

[Rover]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

Moderate? Yup, this thing pegs you perfectly.

I thought it got the authoritarian part right though. Since I know everything, I have no problem telling people what to do...

[BassAle]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

The open ended questions such as: If an unwed teen becomes pregnant, abortion may be a responsible choice. bothered me. "May" in this instance, is so wide-open that it could greatly skew the leanings. Date rape? One night of fun? Incest? Consensual? It focuses on age, rather than act.

I don't get the problem with the question.

it's "abortion is never okay" vs we have a young person that likely has no means to support themselves or a child and who's future earning potential will be severely limited if they are unable to further their education (that is if there is every a case where abortion may be considered _responsible_ by someone, this is it).

[BassAle]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 5.01, Libertarian: 2.34

Foreign Policy:
On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -2.9

Culture:
Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -5.79

[burd]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

Pio's results, which he was reluctant to post:

You are one scary son of a biotch.

[jmh]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

Well, yeah, they're making the questions as open-ended as possible so that you take time and then they hope you side with them. The questions are framed in a way to get you going in a certain direction (theirs), but general enough for people to take a moment for internal debate - if you have any - on that question. It's meant to drive votes to their candidates come election day, so they create a questionnaire with questions that lead you more towards their conclusion than you might have otherwise. Political parties are all the same, regardless of their platform, they all want your votes.

I'm confused - who is "they" in this context? You're right that political parties all want your votes (and your money, as someone else noted), but the people who made the questions "as open-ended as possible" in this case seem to be the nice folks at GoToQuiz.com, who are, I think, simply trying to drive traffic to their site and not trying to get you to "side with" anything in particular. So I'm not sure this is really a reasonable explanation for BBDL's point about many of the questions being worded vaguely.

[St. Clown]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

I'm confused - who is "they" in this context? You're right that political parties all want your votes (and your money, as someone else noted), but the people who made the questions "as open-ended as possible" in this case seem to be the nice folks at GoToQuiz.com, who are, I think, simply trying to drive traffic to their site and not trying to get you to "side with" anything in particular. So I'm not sure this is really a reasonable explanation for BBDL's point about many of the questions being worded vaguely.

This same quiz, or one that's worded very similarly, with the quadrant output, used to be on one of the Libertarian Party's websites. I'm not sure if it's still there or not. I read the quiz and got the impression that they make it very appealing to choose the libertarian point of view on many of these issues, more so than most people are likely to answer when/if they're discussing amongst friends.

[jmh]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

This same quiz, or one that's worded very similarly, with the quadrant output, used to be on one of the Libertarian Party's websites. I'm not sure if it's still there or not. I read the quiz and got the impression that they make it very appealing to choose the libertarian point of view on many of these issues, more so than most people are likely to answer when/if they're discussing amongst friends.

Ahh, I gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

[Slap Shot]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

or, some of the things we discuss on these forum aren't covered by the poll at all!


For example, I believe that people are basically motivated by self-interest. That's not a good thing nor a bad thing, it's merely how things are. It's sort of like saying most people eat food several times a day, it's merely human nature.

However, it also means, that when you have governments staffed by people, then those people will primarily be motivated by their self-interest first, and the public interest second (if very much at all). I'd then point to the VA situation and offer it as empirical data to validate this point of view.

There wasn't a single question on the poll that asked how much do you trust government to do the right thing. If there were, then many people who post here would have high + scores on that question, while I would have a significant - score on that question.


Also, I wonder about the way the poll scores the data we do enter. Many people who are reporting high scores for being libertarian also appear to have a high level of trust in government. I'd find that hard to reconcile if the poll were being scored in a consistent manner.

So as I said, "...the poll isn't very accurate".

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

So if progressives are "left leaning" then by definition pretty much they trust the government to do the right thing, no? "left" and "right" have so many different meanings in so many different contexts that they are losing all descriptive value unless you are talking about which hand you use when you brush your teeth.

So, you trust corporate America more? Well, not me. Not in a million years.

[Rimbaud]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

My Political Views
I am a far-left moderate social libertarian
Left: 7.71, Libertarian: 2.39

Political Spectrum Quiz


I suppose I am?

[Critical Thinker]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

My Political Views
I am a far-right moderate social authoritarian
Right: 8.16, Authoritarian: 1.62

Political Spectrum Quiz


I believe I now hold the USCHO Fan Forum high score in all categories.

[ericredaxe]

Re: Your Political Stance - 2014 Edition

I'm a centrist social moderate.

I think that's about accurate. I would have guessed I would be a bit more socially left than the graph had me.