# How Libertarian Are You? (Quiz) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 21, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267 "2016-05-21T00:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/41 "2016-05-21T12:46:28Z")
I gave up before the end, but I suspect I would have scored in the 6-15 range. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/42 "2016-05-21T13:05:51Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > If you scored a 20 as a Democrat, there are some major areas in which you would side with the Libertarians over the Democrats. I think that’s enough to call you a “soft-core” libertarian. I view that as a case of the libertarians having some good and original ideas. But with the usual caveat that their good ideas aren’t original and their original ideas aren’t good. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/43 "2016-05-21T13:09:45Z")
66, but I have professed many times that I am a lower case libertarian on the conservative side of the quadrant plot. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/44 "2016-05-21T13:47:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I saw the picture of Ayn Rand, I thought, “Oh gawd, I hope my score is low.” Not to hijack, but my opinion of the pollsters was significantly lowered by the idea that they might admire her. Anyway, do people think that if she were around now, she’d be a Libertarian-capital L? would she identify herself as a libertarian with a small l? For some reason Objectivsts (Rand’s name for her philosophical outlook) officially reject libertarianism, and say Rand would too. I’ve read their official explanation of why and it never made any sense to me. I’m probably not a good judge because they both seem like silly naive outlooks on life to me. They sure strike me as kindred spirits. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/45 "2016-05-21T14:53:32Z")
The problem with the questions is that it fails to distinguish between the relation of the government to individuals and the relation of the govenment to corporations. In general, I feel the govenment spends too much time worrying about individual acts and not nearly enough interposing itself between individuals and corporations. FWIW, I am convinced that libertarianism would quickly devolve into an authoritarian dictatorship, taken over by whoever got there firstest with the mostest force. I scored 23, but most of the questions did not distinguish between the two positions vis-a-vis individuals and corporations and so were meaningless. Needless to say, I want to abolish drug and adult sex laws, which gave me a lot of the 23. Also debloat the military, which has largely become a machine for enriching corporations and hasn’t actually won a war since it invaded that military powerhouse Grenada. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/46 "2016-05-21T14:59:12Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I saw the picture of Ayn Rand, I thought, “Oh gawd, I hope my score is low.” Not to hijack, but my opinion of the pollsters was significantly lowered by the idea that they might admire her. Anyway, do people think that if she were around now, she’d be a Libertarian-capital L? would she identify herself as a libertarian with a small l? She had utter contempt for libertarians, both small and capital L. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/47 "2016-05-21T15:06:49Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I scored a 53. But it depends a little on the interpretation of some of the questions. So I really fall somewhere between 40-60. > > I suspect this will turn out to be higher than the average for this board, but I’m hoping we can get enough responses to get some kind of loose, unscientific sense of where that is. I scored a 28, so there is definitely something wrong with the test. 🙂 Honestly, I thought this was a very bad type of test, locking you in to only yes/no when many of the answers were somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/48 "2016-05-21T15:09:29Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > My answer for the first 3 was, “I don’t have access to the numbers and experts to be able to make any such determination”. As such, I declined proceeding. > > I’m jealous of all you out there who do have such access and the time to review it. Yeah, I’m a socialist and I scored a 14 but that was only because I didn’t spend more than half a second looking at the questions. How on earth is any one supposed to answer simple yes or no to questions like, “Does drug approval take too long?” or “Should military budgets be cut by 75%?” And with everything over a 6 meaning, “Congrats! You’re a Libertarian! If you’re lucky, you can can be a better Libertarian!” – it’s pretty easy to see what the quiz is trying to do. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/49 "2016-05-21T15:12:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I scored a 28, so there is definitely something wrong with the test. 🙂 > > Honestly, I thought this was a very bad type of test, locking you in to only yes/no when many of the answers were somewhere in between. Or not so much “in between” but “it depends…” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/50 "2016-05-21T15:42:45Z")
Ok. Just hold on. I’m putting together an online quiz for you guys in which a carefully calibrated panel of AI judges assesses your long-form essay answers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/51 "2016-05-21T15:52:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > She had utter contempt for libertarians, both small and capital L. Rand’s political beliefs were at least ninety percent libertarianism, although she always denied the similarities. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/52 "2016-05-21T16:03:41Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Ok. Just hold on. I’m putting together an online quiz for you guys in which a carefully calibrated panel of AI judges assesses your long-form essay answers. And don’t be surprised when a lot of us actually take it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/53 "2016-05-21T16:44:04Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I got a 28. I identify as a libertarian and that is normally how I vote. I also scored a 28 and identify as a libertarian-leaning republican. I typically vote republican, though I’ll probably vote for a write-in presidential candidate for the first time in my life come November. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/54 "2016-05-21T17:06:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > She had utter contempt for libertarians, both small and capital L. Don’t you think that this was more of a territorial dispute than anything else? And, if you weren’t 100% with her, you were against her. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/55 "2016-05-21T17:11:56Z")
1. I am nowhere near a libertarian. As a liberal I am in favor of statism regarding the economy, but socially liberal. I think almost all my pro libertarian points are from pro-civil rights opinions. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/56 "2016-05-21T17:17:38Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I scored a 53. I went back and looked at the test… How the hell did you score a 53? I can’t imagine you answering “yes” to any of the Part II or III questions (except the one about bombing civilians and the one about drugs), and even if you answered “yes” to every question in Part I (which I’m sure you didn’t), you’d only score 30 -36. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/57 "2016-05-21T17:26:04Z")
I scored a 9, which I think was surprisingly high. My reaction to most of the questions was, "Good God, No!!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/58 "2016-05-21T17:39:55Z")
I got a 15. Looking at the poll results it looks like a pretty awesome lognormal distribution with a mode of 22ish. I’d be interested to see the result of this quiz plus what political party people will vote for in the upcoming election and seeing the boundary within that distribution. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/59 "2016-05-21T17:54:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I went back and looked at the test… How the hell did you score a 53? I can’t imagine you answering “yes” to any of the Part II or III questions (except the one about bombing civilians and the one about drugs), and even if you answered “yes” to every question in Part I (which I’m sure you didn’t), you’d only score 30 -36. As I said in my post, several of them depend on how you interpret the question. If I look at them one way, I might well score 36. Looked at another way, it’s more like 60. I think 48, 50, and 61 are especially dependent on how you interpret the questions. Such is the nature of any quiz like this. I just ran through it again giving my gut response without overthinking the questions and I get 55. [ul] [li]On 1-30, I said yes to all except for 5, 9, 11, 17, and 25. [/li] [li]On 31-50, I said yes to 33, 41, 46, 48, and 50. [/li] [li]On 51-65, I said yes to 52, 55, and 61.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267/60 "2016-05-21T18:31:19Z")
I got a 21. Questions like “Do we spend too much on Medicare” gets a “Yes, for what we get in return” answer from me. So there was a lot of that sort of interpretive question. But I thought the quiz in general was an okay starting point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-libertarian-are-you-quiz/755267.md?page=4)