In my opinion, I think it leans far left. Any number of times I’ve seen conservative viewpoints bashed and lambasted while far left viewpoints are embraced and encouraged (And no, I’m not going to give links. Partly because it isn’t a thread to bash particular posters, and partly because I don’t want to single out one lone topic or issue). But if you ask me if this board has a slant, or a feel, I’d say it’s damn left of the center.
So what do you think? In the overall scheme of things, how do you feel this board leans- is it far right, far left, or in the middle?
To back up Coldfire, I see this board as fairly neutral. I notice right-of-centre opinions far more purely because I disagree with them more often. My opinion based on gut feeling is that the board is certainly right of centre; put that together with yours, CnoteChris, and I’d say it’s most likely to be a fairly neutral board with posters who notice certain slants or posters more often than others.
This board has a preponderance of people who haven’t stopped asking questions yet. Few things are beyond challenge. That’s this Board’s great charm - although cognitive dissonance reduction means that most people think the world is biased against them.
Whilst it is the case that people on the right here (and boy there are plenty of them) ask plenty of searching questions, it is the case that by definition conservatives are less inclinded to challenge the status quo. So it would not be surprising if on a balanced Board if the radicals were attacking and the conservatives were defending.
In my view the fanatical moderates hold sway here, despite their relatively small numbers. They entertain questions, but accept no easy answers.
I would say that this board leans to the left, which is why I avoid political discussions (I would say I lean slightly right). That said, this board is far more diverse than many on the Internet.
In the same way, I think atheists are over-represented on this board, and Christians under-represented. But, again, I’ve seen worse.
All in all, I would say this is a diverse board, but I wouldn’t call it neutral.
I’m in favour of universal health care and universal education and I’m opposed to capital punishment, all “left” opinions. On the other hand I support the Second Ammendment, which is a “far right” thing. There are supporters of all sides on these boards, so I think it’s fairly well balanced.
All in all it’s a pretty eclectic mix here. What seems to make a difference is that there are few points of view that are universally shouted down, although we’ve definitely got some partisan shouters.
That would, IMHO, be relying on an archaic definition of conservative.
I’m atheist.
I favor legalizing use of several now prohibited drugs, such as marijuana.
I’m all for letting gay marriages be recognized.
And I strongly favor letting the individual elements of society drive the market towards solutions as opposed to relying on often misguided top-down central planning.
That’s what makes me tend to identify myself as conservative.
If I felt uncomfortable around here, I wouldn’t stick around.
Chris, in the overall scheme of things the last one overrides the previous ones in importance. I have many conservative friends who share my views on the first three points.
And, they’re consistent with my overall philosophy that we do better when we take care of things ourselves and try to limit the degree to which we rely on or are interfered with by federal bureaucracy.
I lean to the left, and my opinion is that the board does lean to the left by American standards. On a scale of 1 to 100, with one being Ann Coulter and 100 being some liberal who is just as annoying as Ann Coulter, the board stands at 65.
I feel that this should mean that it can still be a pleasant and stimulating environment for a conservative, at least a conservative who checks in at 10 to 49 on the sugaree scale. But of course as I am a flaming liberal (rank of 80 or so), I cannot say for sure. I’d like to know how welcome most conservatives do feel here.
The categories of conservative/liberal are useless on this board (of all places) and almost as useless in real life.
There are eco-friendly, left leaning feminists that won’t think twice about shrieking for their SO to kill one of God’s creatures peacefully building a giant web in the bathroom shower.
There are burly, he man “take care of business” politically conservative types that shrink in fear and confusion from some of the discussion threads the SDMB ladies gleefully engage in.
There are fiscally conservative, socially liberal atheists who think everyone should have as much freedom as they can handle except smokers who should be banished to the Aleutian Islands.
There are leaning fundamentalist Christians who are experts about oral sex.
There are law and order, gun toting lesbians who write Sapphic porn in thier spare time.
There are compassionate souls who strive to see everyone’s everyone’s point of view except for pedophiles who they think should be staked out in front of Army Ants with a liberal dosing of maple syrup at the first opportunity.
There are lassize faire, classically liberal soccer moms who think people should have to obtain licenses to breed and would be willing to support legislation toward this end.
And then there is well…Spoofe.
And you want to pigeon hole this crew? Good Luck!
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, conservative/liberal labeling.
In my many years of experience, I’ve learned that the best you can label things is in relation to one another, not whether one thing is “liberal” or “conservative” in general.
Case in point: me. I probably appear to be a KKK-supporting xenophobic conservative compared to some of the Dopers here. On the other hand, put me next to the bulk of my classmates back in law school, and you’d think I hugged trees and spent my free time in Planned Parenthood.
I define myself and do my best to do right to the world around me. But politically? I’m like teflon: labels don’t stick to me.
Hmm. From my perspective, which is admittedly that of a left-wing nut by American standards, the board looks fairly middle-of-the-road. I’d say it has a strongly liberal slant on some issues (pretty much anything involving sex or drugs) but it’s decidedly conservative on others (gun control). In other words, I guess it’s a libertarian-biased board most of the time.
Sometimes it seems more liberal, sometimes more conservative.
Around here, I’d say we’re pretty much all in favor of homosexual rights, non racism, religious tolerance-which is usually considered leftist.
But then, we also have a large population that is very pro-2nd Amendment, capitalism, and rugged individualism-which is usually considered to be on the right.
So who knows? I can’t tell you-I’ve been known to call myself a Socialist Monarchist just to confuse people!
(please note, I’m not saying anything is wrong with the above viewpoints)
Ringo, you sound like a classic Libertarian to me. Us Libertarians are usually considered “liberal” on social issues, but “conservative” on fiscal issues. Basically, it all boils down to You Leave Me Alone, and I’ll Leave You Alone, and we’ll all get along just fine. Works for me…Timmy
Actually, I think a few are mroe libertarian. Government out of our lives.
I’d say the board leans * liberal, but not very far. ** Sugaree’s* rating sounds about right. I do think you will find a relatively low percentage of party-line people. More Dopers seem to take stands on issues, rather than hewing to the platform. I favor capital punishment. I also favor more (if not total) gun control. I lean right. I also know one of the more stable long-term relationships I’ve seen is between 2 guys, and there should AT LEAST be more recognition of such relationships, if not full marriage. (Sodomy between consenting adults in some places? is it 2002 or 1502?) Does this seem to put me on the left on some things. Yeah. Does it bother me? Not in the least.
I’d say it leans a bit to the left. Enough so I notice, but not so much that I feel uncomfortable…It’s not as though the place is over run by insane socialists or anything
