# Is there an internet questionaire to determine one's politcal persuasion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948 "2002-11-02T02:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948/21 "2002-11-04T03:47:52Z")
My turn. I read as Economic Left/Right: -2.00 and Authoritarian/Libertarian: -1.79. About the same as “Robin Cook” whoever the devil HE is. For the test itself… > [@](#): > > If globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations. > Agree > I’d always support my country, whether it was right or wrong. > Disagree > No one chooses their country of birth, so it’s absurd to be proud of it. > Strongly disagree. > > Our nation has many unique virtues. > Strongly agree. > > The enemy of my enemy is my friend. > Agree. > (It does tend to work well that way" > > Jews surely have to take some of the responsibility for their persecution over the past 2000 years. > Strongly disagree > > The growing fusion between information and entertainment is a worrying contribution to the public’s shrinking attention span. > Disagree. > (Most people are screwed-up peasants, anyway) > > Class background determines peoples’ consciousness more than their membership of a particular nation. > Agree. > > Corporations cannot be trusted to voluntarily respect the environment. > Agree. > (Duh) > > From each according to his ability, to each according to his need is a fundamentally good idea. > Agree > (It’s a nice idea, a noble idea, even. But it hasn’t really worked in practice.) > > It’s a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a consumer product. Strongly disagree. > (Buying a convenient container of cool, clean water. Yeah, 'don’t know why you’d want to do _that._) > > Many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society. > Agree. > > The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders. > Agree. > (Of course that’s what we should expect from companies. It’s how they work.) > > The rich are too highly taxed. Strongly disagree. > (I’m not rich enough yet to object to this) > > We’d be better off if companies simply told the truth, rather than spending a fortune on manipulative consumer advertising. > Disagree. > (Morally, yes. But in practice, it would probably just destroy the economy.) > > Abortion, when the mother’s life is not threatened, should always be illegal. Strongly disagree. > > All authority must be questioned. Strongly disagree. > > An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. > Strongly agree. > > All theatres and museums that can’t survive on a commercial basis deserve to perish. Strongly disagree. > > Marijuana and hashish should be legalised. > Agree. > > There are no savage and civilised peoples; there are only different cultures. Strongly disagree. > (There’s only so much one can tolerate without completely comprimizing one’s own moral standing) > > Those who are able to work and do not should not expect to eat. > Agree. > > When a person is troubled, it’s better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things. Strongly disagree. > (Go ahead and try this, if you’d like. But after your psyche burns itself out from the inside, don’t come crying to me) > > What’s good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us. > Disagree. > (Duh. Corperations look out for themselves before anyone else, it’s why capitalism works. It might not be the best system that’ll ever exist, but it’s one of the better ones right now, and it sure beats having to stand in line for turnips) > > No broadcasting institutions should receive public funding. Strongly disagree. > > A government must give its citizens as much social freedom as possible. > Strongly agree. > > A one-party state is better because it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system. > Agree. > (As the saying goes, it DOES make the trains run on time. The real “cost” of such a system is another argument) > > Although the electronic age makes official surveillance easier, people who haven’t done anything wrong shouldn’t be worried. > Agree. > > Capital punishment should be a judicial option. > Strongly agree. > (Hang 'em fast. hang 'em high) > > In a civilised society, one must always have people above to obey and people below to command. Strongly disagree. > > Abstract art, because it doesn’t represent anything, shouldn’t be considered art at all. Strongly disagree. > > In criminal justice, punishment is as important as rehabilitation. > Strongly agree. > > The businessman and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist. Strongly disagree. > (With only the “businessman and the manufacturer,” you have a society with no soul. Just as with only “the writer and the artist,” you have a society that can’t keep itself alive) > > It’s fine for women to have careers, but their first duty is to be homemakers. Strongly disagree. > (What do I look like, a freaking caveman?) > > Young people may have some rebellious ideas, but it’s normal to grow out of them and settle down. > Strongly agree > (Gee, no one else has noticed this trend in the last **5,000 YEARS!?** ) > Astrology can explain many more things than most people presently realise Strongly disagree > > Religion and morality are inseparable. Strongly disagree. > > Sex outside marriage is a sin. Strongly disagree. Ranchoth (“Make love, not war”? Who says we can’t do BOTH?) ---
**Author:** ![Erika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/47e85d/32.png) [@Erika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erika)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948/22 "2002-11-04T06:22:22Z")
**Lobsang** , “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is generally used to wrap up the idea that punishment should very exactly match the crime comitted - if you poke someone’s eye out, your eye should be put out. Extrapolate from there to an apropriate justice system. “Capital punishment as a judicial option” means that putting a criminal to death should be an possible punishiment in the court system. To “think globally, act locally” is to determine overall (global) goals, but then implement policies/practices that feed into that goal on a local level. So if you hold that cleaner water should be a worldwide goal, you seek to stop people from dumping pharmasutical products in the creek that runs through your back yard. The implications are (at least) twofold - you need to _do_ something in addition to holding a belief, and lots of people acting on local levels move toward the overall goal. On the luckiness question - it might not be a directly political one, but your answer illuminates whether or not you feel a person is responsible for their own situation/actions. Your opinon on that probably _does_ affect your political views, but it can swing both ways (some people are inherently unlucky, so we should, as a society, give them all the help we can vs. some people are inherently unlucky, so no amount of help we give them is going to help them change their situation; why bother?). And…Political Compass results: Economic Left/Right: 3.88 Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.00 On the World’s Shortest Political Quiz, I come out all the way in the Libertarian corner. ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948/23 "2002-11-04T07:39:36Z")
**Lobsang** : Protectionism is the belief that a government should provide economic protection for its country’s businesses and workers through tools such as subsidies and tariffs. E.g., Bush’s decision earlier this year to increase taxes on imported steel was a protectionist action, since it was an economic regulation implemented for the benefit of the American steel industry (and, IMHO, to the detriment of American steel consumers). ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948/24 "2002-11-04T12:02:36Z")
[www.govote.com](http://www.govote.com) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948/25 "2002-11-04T15:17:47Z")
Appreciative thanks go out to the people ( **Fang** and **Erika** ) who answered my annotations. That is why I did them. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-internet-questionaire-to-determine-ones-politcal-persuasion/134948.md?page=1)