# How conservative am I? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233 "2008-09-12T05:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/21 "2008-09-13T15:51:38Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > It would also be nice to eliminate the situation, where somebody works extra hours for a bigger paycheck, only to get a smaller one because the money they made bumped them up to a higher tax bracket. Nitpick: that doesn’t actually happen. Here’s the (probably oversimplified, with made-up numbers) explanation of how tax brackets basically work: [$0-$25000]: 10% [$25001-$40000]:15% [$40001-$70000]:20% [$70001-$120000]:25% If you make $85k per year, you’re taxed at 10% of the first $25,000, then 15% of the next $15,000, then 20% of the next $30,000, and 25% of the last $15,000. You can never make less by working more, at least in the respect that you’re talking about, you can only have a smaller increase than you expected. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/22 "2008-09-13T16:57:11Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > I’m about as liberal as they come without having a shrine erected to Pete Seeger, and I can think of many agreement-filled discussions I’d have with said OP. Sounds interesting. I’ll be looking for you in GD. 😃 > [@PaulParkhead](#): > > Well, just as **Indistinguishable** said, the issues you picked aren’t all live or partisan ones in the UK. > > Over the last decade or so, British politics has been concerned with European Union issues, immigration, civil liberties vs protection from terrorism, economics and infrastructural type stuff like healthcare, roadbuilding and so on. Oh, and protection of the environment, or lack thereof. > > So if you had views on these sorts of things, I might revise my answer. Yeah, I know most of what I mentioned is Americentric, since that’s where I live.🙂 Immigration - Legal immigration by following a country’s procedures - for. Illegal immigration by sneaking into a country - against. I do believe that the immigration process should be as quick, and easy, and inexpensive as possible. And that for countries that have an illegal immigration problem, the government should go after the companies that employ the illegal immigrants, since that is more effective than trying to round up all of the illegals. Civil liberties vs protection from terrorism - I like what Ben Franklin said about that, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Also, as for detaining terrorists, or potential terrorists, I feel that, if they’re caught on the battlefield, they should be POWs and treated as such. If they’re picked up anywhere else, they need to be given a trial, not detained indefinitely like my country does. Healthcare - I already mentioned being on the fence on UHC, but I’m curious, since the UK already has it, what kind of healthcare issues do you guys have? roadbuilding - Haven’t given it any thought. What political issues surround roadbuilding? > [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Nitpick: that doesn’t actually happen. Here’s the (probably oversimplified, with made-up numbers) explanation of how tax brackets basically work: > [$0-$25000]: 10% > [$25001-$40000]:15% > [$40001-$70000]:20% > [$70001-$120000]:25% > > If you make $85k per year, you’re taxed at 10% of the first $25,000, then 15% of the next $15,000, then 20% of the next $30,000, and 25% of the last $15,000. You can never make less by working more, at least in the respect that you’re talking about, you can only have a smaller increase than you expected. When I had a job, over the years I would have coworkers work tons of overtime only to complain how small their checks were because there was a much bigger chunk of taxes taken out. Now I’ve heard people on this board mention how when that happens it’ll all work out because you’ll get back what you lost at the end of the year. But that really doesn’t help if you need the money now. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/23 "2008-09-14T15:17:03Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Nitpick: that doesn’t actually happen. Here’s the (probably oversimplified, with made-up numbers) explanation of how tax brackets basically work: > [$0-$25000]: 10% > [$25001-$40000]:15% > [$40001-$70000]:20% > [$70001-$120000]:25% > > If you make $85k per year, you’re taxed at 10% of the first $25,000, then 15% of the next $15,000, then 20% of the next $30,000, and 25% of the last $15,000. You can never make less by working more, at least in the respect that you’re talking about, you can only have a smaller increase than you expected. Thanks! You are, I believe, correct. And I had lost track of how the system works. I have recently commented that some raises might result in less take-home. Now I remember that it can’t happen. Ignorance fought (and I won’t sound silly to my co-workers next time. At least for this reason). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/24 "2008-09-14T16:11:23Z")
I’m what I consider conservative. I believe in small government, the right/obligation for people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, etc. I loathe affirmative action and the like, as I find that to be the very discrimination the liberals cry foul about. On the other hand, I am pro-choice (to a point), in favour of gay rights, and I abhor racism in any form. I shouldn’t have to single these things out as an “I’m a conservative BUT” type of thing, as to me they are self-evident. I blame the Liberal-left and the US Christian-right equally for the fact that I feel I have to. I guess the thing is, I’m not an _American_ conservative. I’m not into the small town, God-fearing vibe. This means I often find I have no place, on either side, in SDMB debates. Were I American, I’d vote Pubby, but the churchy stuff would grate - almost to the point of my voting Dem. Either way, it’d be an imperfect fit. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/25 "2008-09-14T16:47:45Z")
Personally, I wish the US had more than two parties, like in the UK. Just out of curiosity, how many political parties are in Australia? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/26 "2008-09-14T16:57:28Z")
You sound like a moderate to me, pretty much dead center. I’m very left though… the view is a bit distorted from here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/27 "2008-09-14T18:09:59Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > You sound like a moderate to me, pretty much dead center. > > I’m very left though… the view is a bit distorted from here. 😃 Actually, I figured that the more to a left somebody is, the more to the right I’ll appear to be to them. So, if you’re far to the left, and you see me in the center, then that means if you were closer to the center, then you’d see me as…a little on the left.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/28 "2008-09-15T00:54:16Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Personally, I wish the US had more than two parties, like in the UK. > > Just out of curiosity, how many political parties are in Australia? Dozens, in theory. Mostly crackpot or single-issue ones. But that’s not really what you want to know: which is there are two big ones, Labor and Liberal (the latter is the conservative party, despite its name). One of those two invariably wins office, however sometimes they have to form alliances with minor parties if they don’t get an outright majority. The Greens are a growing force in this regard. There is also the National Party, which is pretty much the farmers’ party. They tend to go into formal coalition with the Liberal Party. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/29 "2008-09-15T00:55:18Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > You sound like a moderate to me, pretty much dead center. By US standards, yes I guess I am. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/30 "2008-09-15T01:24:53Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Actually, I figured that the more to a left somebody is, the more to the right I’ll appear to be to them. > > So, if you’re far to the left, and you see me in the center, then that means if you were closer to the center, then you’d see me as…a little on the left.:eek: Or maybe I was trying to subconsciously overcompensate for lefty-vision. :smack: To be honest, sometimes I envy moderates. It must be nice to not to be regularly outraged about one thing or another. I know people don’t see Obama as moderate any more, but before he started considering to run I thought of him as very moderate, or at least willing to accept input from both sides, which really impressed me. I didn’t (and don’t) agree with all of his positions, but I loved his willingness to compromise in order to reflect the full spectrum of political opinions. I’m surprised that he’s been portrayed as very liberal, but I guess it’s the ‘‘community organizing’’ angle. I fully admit he seems quite liberal in today’s light. My point in mentioning that is that I’ve always really admired and respected centrists, and am willing to vote for them even if it’s not a perfect fit just for the simple reason that they are in the sane, rational center. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/31 "2008-09-15T04:55:05Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Or maybe I was trying to subconsciously overcompensate for lefty-vision. :smack: > > To be honest, sometimes I envy moderates. It must be nice to not to be regularly outraged about one thing or another. > > I know people don’t see Obama as moderate any more, but before he started considering to run I thought of him as very moderate, or at least willing to accept input from both sides, which really impressed me. I didn’t (and don’t) agree with all of his positions, but I loved his willingness to compromise in order to reflect the full spectrum of political opinions. I’m surprised that he’s been portrayed as very liberal, but I guess it’s the ‘‘community organizing’’ angle. I fully admit he seems quite liberal in today’s light. > > My point in mentioning that is that I’ve always really admired and respected centrists, and am willing to vote for them even if it’s not a perfect fit just for the simple reason that they are in the sane, rational center. I use to be very conservative when I was younger, but somehow over the years, I’ve slid towards the center. As for Obama, a lot of people think his nuanced answers means he’s thinking hard about the issues. I think that he’s trying to give an answer that will make everybody happy. In other words, I think he’s trying to be all things to all people. I’ve also been disappointed in how, in my opinion anyway, after winning the Democratic nomination, he’s changed somewhat, in order to win over moderates. Also, I don’t agree with some of his positions. BUT, having said all that, I still favor him slightly over McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/32 "2008-09-15T04:56:42Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Dozens, in theory. Mostly crackpot or single-issue ones. But that’s not really what you want to know: which is there are two big ones, Labor and Liberal (the latter is the conservative party, despite its name). One of those two invariably wins office, however sometimes they have to form alliances with minor parties if they don’t get an outright majority. The Greens are a growing force in this regard. There is also the National Party, which is pretty much the farmers’ party. They tend to go into formal coalition with the Liberal Party. Cool, thanks for the answer. Oh and hey, just out of curiosity, how is Peter Garrett working out for you guys?😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/33 "2008-09-15T05:06:05Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Cool, thanks for the answer. > > Oh and hey, just out of curiosity, how is Peter Garrett working out for you guys?😃 Well, I vote the other way so I think he’s the same loudmouthed git he always has been. But of course, I’m biased. To try to give you a balanced view, I think those Australians who vote towards the left are a little disappointed in him. These are people who had posters of him when they were teenagers and are now seeing him as part of the establishment he was so vocal against. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be making the headlines much at all. But as I said, I’m not the best person to ask. A Labor-voting Aussie doper or two should be along soon. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/34 "2008-09-15T05:25:35Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Well, I vote the other way so I think he’s the same loudmouthed git he always has been. But of course, I’m biased. To try to give you a balanced view, I think those Australians who vote towards the left are a little disappointed in him. These are people who had posters of him when they were teenagers and are now seeing him as part of the establishment he was so vocal against. > > In fact, he doesn’t seem to be making the headlines much at all. > > But as I said, I’m not the best person to ask. A Labor-voting Aussie doper or two should be along soon. Not that I know much about Australian politics, but from what little I’ve heard about him in the past, it always seemed like he’s never actually done anything. I always got the impression that any position he’s held has been largely ceremonial, but after skimming through Wikipedia, it appears that he’s been very active politically. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/35 "2008-09-15T05:43:46Z")
You certainly couldn’t accuse him of not putting his money where his mouth was, back when Midnight Oil was going. He wasn’t just a political singer, and did get out there with the NDP etc. Love or loathe him, he did put the work in, way back when - I’ll grant him that. But now that he’s aligned to a major party, he’s alienated a lot of his support base, the word “hypocrite” is bandied about a fair bit, and also, one suspects, he’s treated almost as a potential liability by his political masters - he won them a seat as a high profile candidate, but he didn’t get the Environment portfolio which everybody thought he would. His face tends not to appear on the evening news. Not very often, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/36 "2008-09-15T05:49:16Z")
That is to say, he got an eviscerated one - with climate change stripped out of it and given to Penny Wong. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/37 "2008-09-15T06:09:57Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > That is to say, he got an eviscerated one - with climate change stripped out of it and given to Penny Wong. Yeah, I saw that on the Wiki page. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/38 "2008-09-15T06:39:19Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I also know that there are web sites that tell you this sort of thing, but I’ve never found them to be very useful. So, here’s the thread. I’ll share a bunch of my social and political beliefs and you respond how conservative you think I am on a scale of 0 to 10. 0 = Moderate, 5 = Conservative, 6 = Right wing extremest. I’m obviously American, but if you’re from another country, I’m also curious how I’d rate by your country’s standards. As for me, I’d rate myself a 3. Maybe a 3.5. I need more information: - what would a Socialist be on your scale? - how about a Communist? (We have both of those in Europe!) Here in the UK (like most of Europe) we are well to the left of the US: We allow abortion and have civil partnerships for gays. There have been continuing protests about Iraq since before we went in. We don’t have school vouchers (though the right has suggested them). There is a thriving private school sector. We have both Universal Healthcare and effectively ban all guns (even the beat police aren’t armed). I’m not sure about medical marijuana, but the newspapers have a knee-jerk reaction to legalising anything that isn’t alcohol or tobacco, so all our politicans keep their heads down on that one :eek::smack:). We have an official Church of England, but it accepts evolution. So here in Europe you would be pretty far to the right (maybe an 8)! ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/39 "2008-09-15T06:45:08Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I need more information: > > - what would a Socialist be on your scale? > - how about a Communist? > > (We have both of those in Europe!) Since 0 is moderate, those would be somewhere on the negative number scale. > [@](#): > > Here in the UK (like most of Europe) we are well to the left of the US: > > We allow abortion and have civil partnerships for gays. > There have been continuing protests about Iraq since before we went in. > We don’t have school vouchers (though the right has suggested them). There is a thriving private school sector. > We have both Universal Healthcare and effectively ban all guns (even the beat police aren’t armed). > I’m not sure about medical marijuana, but the newspapers have a knee-jerk reaction to legalising anything that isn’t alcohol or tobacco, so all our politicans keep their heads down on that one :eek::smack:). > We have an official Church of England, but it accepts evolution. > > So here in Europe you would be pretty far to the right (maybe an 8)! Wow, that’s pretty high up there. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233/40 "2008-09-15T08:15:11Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Here in the UK (like most of Europe) we are well to the left of the US: > > We allow abortion Well, hey now, despite all the controversy, so do we… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conservative-am-i/463233.md?page=1)