# Does the board lean left? (This is not a pit thread!) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042 "2008-09-17T21:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/21 "2008-09-18T02:42:28Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > **Sage Rat** , do you have any thoughts on my poll? Do you think it will show anything at all? How would you improve it? I don’t think it’s bad, though I think that you will want to send a private message to each of the people on your list if you want to get an answer. Mostly, I’m just saying that your points for contending the previous poll doesn’t reflect itself in the data. The board tradition is to call “Cite?” when declarations are made without any backing. I’m just keeping in that spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/22 "2008-09-18T02:46:06Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Here’s the results of the SDMB political compass test: > > [SD Political Compass](http://www.1728.com/SD.htm) > > Liberals are the majority with libertarians second. Republicans (upper right) are fairly non-existent. > > ETA: I don’t know what collecting a list of names is meant to achieve, without figuring out their leaning. Is that graph still open for additional submissions? Speaking of my presence on the list (woohoo, I made it :p), I am a conservative libertarian, (8.25, 1.95) on the political compass. It boggles the mind to look at that plot of the SDMB and see all the dots that are my complete opposite. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/23 "2008-09-18T03:19:47Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Minus that presumption, it would still be fairly likely that apoliticals are fairly well spread among all parties. Perhaps we’re operating under different definitions apolitical. The way I’m thinking of it apolitical means no interest in politics. This implies few or no strong opinions on political issues. From this we can conclude they are essentially dead central on the political spectrum. I’m not claiming that I’m right. I’m just saying that’s what I meant by that word throughout this thread. What does apolitical mean to you? > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Mostly, I’m just saying that your points for contending the previous poll doesn’t reflect itself in the data. I’m also starting to have my doubts about the previous poll since I visited this [page](http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008). Combined with the SDMB political compass plot I can conclude that **Airman Doors** is farther left, both economically and socially, than Obama, and I don’t think I’m the only person who might not believe that. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I don’t think it’s bad, though I think that you will want to send a private message to each of the people on your list if you want to get an answer. I was kind of hoping to get a few more responses before I resorted to PMs. I’m calling it a night soon, but I will consider it tomorrow. I will also consider just letting this thread die if it’s still just me and you in some kind of poll measuring contest. I don’t do smilies, but I did wink at the screen as I typed that. Finally, thanks for replying **Vox Imperatoris**. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/24 "2008-09-18T03:20:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Flaw 3: Using the name of the last poster of every thread might give more weight to posters who post in unpopular threads. Politically charged threads tend to be popular. A better way to generate the list might be to randomly access the forum list page (where this random reflects board traffic at different times of the day) and then random a forum (where this random reflects the popularity of the forum) and choose the name of the most recent poster in that forum. That sounds hard though. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Another problem with using the last poster from every thread is that someone who routinely posts controversial ideas is likely to have someone else quickly reply, and therefore take that person off of the “last post” listing. Since such people are likely to be correlated with more extreme views, a last-post method would skew the results towards moderateness. Likewise, I don’t think that any sampling method based on the separate forums is likely to be unbiased. Great Debates and, to a lesser extent, the Pit are likely to be disproportionately composed of those who have strong political opinions, while the other fora probably don’t have much selection at all for political views. And as you’re doing the sampling right now, every forum has equal weight, regardless of the amount of activity in that forum. So to get a good sampling of the board, you probably want to go with a method that’s forum-blind. I would recommend that you find a range of post numbers which covers one week, randomly generate numbers in that range, and check those posts. This will eliminate any biases from thread or forum activity, or forum-specific political tendencies. On another note, I would also recommend that you PM the people in your sample, to request their presence in this thread. Not everyone visits IMHO, so many people who would be willing to participate in this poll might unknowingly be avoiding it. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/25 "2008-09-18T03:23:21Z")
Last post of the night. As of right now my preliminary finding is that the board is: 4% Left 4% Right 92% Think I’m douche not worth responding to. (Oh, that’s not what you think? Respond and prove me wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/26 "2008-09-18T03:26:59Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > What does apolitical mean to you? Well, I’d rather not hijack this thread any more. Feel free to start a GD thread and I’ll respond to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/27 "2008-09-18T03:38:04Z")
Ok, I lied about that last post jibber-jabber above. This is my last post tonight. > [@Chronos](#): > > I would recommend that you find a range of post numbers which covers one week, randomly generate numbers in that range, and check those posts. This will eliminate any biases from thread or forum activity, or forum-specific political tendencies. This is outstanding and easily implementable. As a math guy I almost never say that to a physics guy. I’ll probably continue with this poll in order to work out the bugs in the data collection, but I might try this method next week. I was hoping to get responses of left, right, moderate, and I don’t care, but it seems like everyone responding feels like they have to respond left or right (maybe that’s a misconception of mine). I’m toying with the idea of a numerical scale from left to right. Something like on a scale of 1 to 7 where do you fall where 1 is very far left, 7 is very far right, and 4 is dead central moderate/completely apathetic. I’d like to put an example person at each number, but I’m afraid I will not be able to do so without injecting my own bias. Does anyone have any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/28 "2008-09-18T03:49:33Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > If we took an overall average by combining every single Doper into one squirming amoebic blob, I suspect ( and I believe others have come to the same conclusion in similar past threads ) we’d skew socially liberal and economically moderate. Well of course. On a board dedicated to fighting ignorance, you’d naturally expect to find the majority holding true political views. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/29 "2008-09-18T05:02:59Z")
I’m not quite sure those positions they post on the political compass website are remotely similar to what those candidates would get if they actually took the test themselves. They seem a lot more slanted upward than you would see in most normal test-takers, but maybe I’m wrong. Also, since it mentions Bob Barr, I’d support him if he had a snowball’s chance of winning; I support his policy of moving the War on Drugs to the several states, especially since it seems that most Americans have forgotten the states are supposed to have bigger governments than the federal government. I recently took a Government class, and that struck me as the biggest principle of our government that has been outright ignored for a long time. I depart from most Libertarians in that I support reforming, streamlining, and retaining the death penalty, and that I oppose prostitution, abortion past early 1st trimester, and I’m generally morally conservative in my personal life. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/30 "2008-09-18T05:51:58Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Well of course. On a board dedicated to fighting ignorance, you’d naturally expect to find the majority holding true political views. 😛 If only we could get the political parties to stop including that pro-ignorance plank in their platforms. Maybe a termite infestation or something? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/31 "2008-09-18T06:44:04Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > In my opinion, it’s more like 70%liberal and 30% conservative. I think 30% is still an overestimate. If it wasn’t, then the occasional threads where people try to name conservatives on the board would be less pitifully short. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/32 "2008-09-18T12:18:23Z")
I know Jerry’s been doing quite a bit of work on the board and it might just be a temporary thing. Give it a day or so and if it’s still leaning to the left try sticking a match book under the corner of your monitor and shim it up a little. Ok, levity aside, after taking the political compass test I found myself in conflict with my self image. For example, I voted for George Bush, both of them, all three times. I am anti-abortion, the only choice I see is the choice to have unprotected sex. It’s 2008, there are so many options for birth control and so much education available that there should be no excuse for an unexpected/unwanted pregnancy. You want choice? You have a choice before the child is conceived, make it then or give it up. I am pro gun. The bigger the better. Why shouldn’t I be able to use an assult rifle to take down a deer? A fully automatic hand gun would be a blast at the firing range. More power, more powder burns, more pointy spinny things moving faster gets my blood a’ boilin’. Educate the masses on safety and accept no excuses. I’m pro death penalty. I firmly believe that if we were to bring back public executions it would deterr at least a few felons, if not then it would eliminate some of them. I was born and raised a Babtist and attend an AOG church whenever possible, yes I’m a fundie bible thumper with a chip on my sholder and the good lord watching my six. With all that said, after taking the test I scored in the -6 / -3 range. This makes me a leftist libertarian somewhere near the political views of Nelson Mandela. Now I get the wonderfull opportunity to reflect on my views and biases to determine which is correct - my political self image or my expressed views. I only mention all of this because I think more than a few people have false notions about their politics and social self awareness. That, plus, I love using homey phrases like “gets my blood a’ boilin’” in sentences as often as possible. Just something to think about when you’re sitting up nights, sampling the SDMB and trying to determine a metric for the political and social stance of a random group of humans with the commonality of a free press newspaper columnist. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/33 "2008-09-18T14:22:31Z")
Remember to define “left compared to what?” This board has posters from all over the world. Compared to the average American, we’re left, but compared to people in the world as a whole, maybe we’re in the middle somewhere. I don’t see a lot of posters espousing Communism, but I do see most of us promoting tolerance of difference, which is more “liberal” than “left.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/34 "2008-09-18T14:30:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > But American politics is all pretty much on the right-hand-side of the global spectrum. We don’t have much Left Wing here in the UK any more, but from here, I can’t see any significant differences between the American political parties - they both look like the conservative party from over here. Exactly. ‘Left’ for a country where CNN is supposed to be an example of the ‘liberal media.’ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/35 "2008-09-18T15:23:25Z")
Interesting test **Sage Rat**. I skew a little left: Economic Left/Right: -2.88 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.21 I would have been close to center 10 years ago and a little to the right 20. This board does skew to the left, **at least in the Pit and GD**. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/36 "2008-09-18T15:23:39Z")
I’m a lefty by New Zealand standards which makes me a crazy far out lefty nut by American standards. My own perception of the board is that it leans left on the American political spectrum, BUT this board is also my primary contact with real Americans so my idea of average American political views may be way off. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/37 "2008-09-18T15:35:56Z")
According to the Political Compass test I’m -3.62 left economic and -4.15 social libertarian. I think many of the questions are flawed though. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/38 "2008-09-18T16:40:56Z")
I took the test again just now - I’m on the list, after all - and I lean left, and I’m pretty much in the same place I was last time I took it: Economic Left/Right: -2.12 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.59 I tend towards Libertarian, a lot I guess. But I am not a vocal lefty, at least I don’t think so. I think the “feel” of the board is seriously skewed. It may feel strongly leftist, and it probably is, but you’re also looking at the people who scream the loudest, on both sides. A ton of people like me rarely or never participate in the political messes (I’m in the rarely category, sometimes I can’t hold back). Most of the time I think discussing politics on a message board is kind of a waste of time, so I don’t know where that puts me. Even when I participate in the political threads I usually only do for a short time and end up rolling my eyes and leaving. Oh, and I end up pretty much where I expect on that spectrum. My political leanings are not a surprise to me. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/39 "2008-09-19T02:52:17Z")
If this board _wasn’t_ skewed to the left–that is, if the American posters here were even close to the American population as a whole–we’d be having Great Debates right now over the relative merits of the Mondale and Dukakis administrations. > [@ratatoskK](#): > > Compared to the average American, we’re left, but compared to people in the world as a whole, maybe we’re in the middle somewhere. The debates over British, Canadian, and Australian politics also feature relatively few supporters of the conservative party in each country. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042/40 "2008-09-19T03:24:48Z")
On the test, I pegged: Economic Left/Right: 0.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.49 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-lean-left-this-is-not-a-pit-thread/464042.md?page=3)