# Online libertarian purity test: I'm "soft-core" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312 "2002-12-22T03:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/21 "2002-12-22T07:32:10Z")
1. Say, what is a libertarian anyway? And what kind of nut would answer no to questions like “Do you believe in freedom of expression for books, newspapers, radio, television, the Internet, and so on, even for offensive and unpopular views and subject matters?” or yes to questions like “Should the minimum wage be abolished?” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/22 "2002-12-22T08:20:37Z")
1. I need to get that lower. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/23 "2002-12-22T08:33:34Z")
1. How embarrassing! It should be much lower. I’ll chalk this one up the very late hour. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/24 "2002-12-22T08:48:36Z")
1. I’m actually more liberal than libertarian…but the fact that I hold libertarian views on social issues (such as legalization) probably has a lot to do with my skewedly high score. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/25 "2002-12-22T08:58:52Z")
> [@](#): > > And what kind of nut would answer … yes to questions like “Should the minimum wage be abolished?” Since this isn’t great debates, there isn’t much need to get into the differing economic theories of various people but for the record from his analysis page: > [@](#): > > 1. Should the minimum wage be abolished? > > Here was a surprise, for me at least. Only 59.02% of test-takers favored abolishing the minimum wage. What is going on here? I’ve always thought of the minimum wage as one of the most widely accepted examples of “pro-worker” legislation that in fact harms the lowest-skilled workers. Is the recent, overblown empirical work of Card & Krueger gaining influence? Or have high school history teachers continued to exert their nefarious influence over the minds of their former students? So I guess 59.02% of the test takers are nutjobs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/26 "2002-12-22T09:27:41Z")
1. “ **6-15 points:** You are starting to have libertarian leanings. Explore them.” Actually, I’m pretty happy where I am, thanks, and have no desire to become an anarchist. On the “World’s Shortest Political Quiz”, I’m a “Left-Liberal”, out on the lunatic fringe of the “Personal Self-Government” axis (I’m against drug laws and think prostitution should be legalized and so on), but left of center on the “Economic Self-Government” axis. I suspect the shorter quizzes tend to exaggerate people’s libertarian leanings; being in favor of “free trade” but against “ending all taxes” does not make one half-way to being libertarian, if the hard-core libertarian position equates to abolishing the state entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/27 "2002-12-22T10:37:30Z")
160 ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/28 "2002-12-22T10:37:35Z")
I suspect that the test doesn’t cross international borders very well. For example, “Do we spend too much on Medicare” could provoke one response from me. It could well provoke the opposite response from a U.S. citizen, even though we were in complete agreement on the underlying issue. We’re starting from different bases so, the answers to questions that include degree, like “too much”, are not comparable. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/29 "2002-12-22T10:48:33Z")
Some of the later questions seemed almost satirical. I answered “No” to the last two-thirds of the test and got a 19. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/30 "2002-12-22T12:48:48Z")
Desmostylus wrote: > [@](#): > > For example, “Do we spend too much on Medicare” could provoke one response from me. It could well provoke the opposite response from a U.S. citizen, even though we were in complete agreement on the underlying issue. It works for me either way, assuming you’re spending more than zero. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/31 "2002-12-22T12:55:58Z")
1. > [@](#): > > 51-90 points: You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much. The most interesting thing about this is that I’m not a political person. I do not like to talk about my political leanings because since a teenager people have made fun of my beliefs. Let’s just say I’m not your typical American and the UK suits me much better… ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/32 "2002-12-22T13:21:43Z")
1. About right. [Aside: the Desmostylus/ Libertarian exchange on Medicare means this: in Australia Medicare is a universal compulsory national insurance scheme rather than an old people’s health insurance subsidy scheme. It is of course possible to think that we underspend and you overspend on our respective programmes (or the other way around I suppose).] ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/33 "2002-12-22T13:21:55Z")
156 (but that was in heart mode, not head mode) ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/34 "2002-12-22T13:22:05Z")
54, medium core libertarian. Feels quite accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Akara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Akara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Akara)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/35 "2002-12-22T14:19:39Z")
1. 31-50 points: Your libertarian credentials are obvious. Doubtlessly you will become more extreme as time goes on. Sounds about right. Phoenix ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/36 "2002-12-22T15:02:51Z")
16… softcore. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/37 "2002-12-22T15:58:31Z")
Whoa. I scored an 8. I’d better go kick something to feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/38 "2002-12-22T16:22:06Z")
Apparently I’m in the 90’s. And I don’t even think of myself as particularly political – Hank Williams summed it up for me: "Mind your own business, Mind your own business, “Cause if you mind your own business Then you won’t be minding mine” I guess that fits Libertarianism. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/39 "2002-12-22T16:34:19Z")
“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.” — Henry David Thoreau, \*Walden \* ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312/40 "2002-12-22T16:42:46Z")
105, even if I thought some of the questions were a bit oversimplified. Back to cleaning the guns and planning who’s going to be first against the wall when the revolution comes… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-libertarian-purity-test-im-soft-core/144312.md?page=3)