# What is my political philosophy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 18, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376 "2008-08-18T04:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/21 "2008-08-18T17:27:09Z")
[Here](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=7.00&soc=-6.97) I am, way away from everyone else in the thread! [QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] > **[The Political Compass](https://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-1.12&soc=-1.90)** OMG! What does this mean? Ewww, I’m in the green. [/QUOTE] If you look at the international chart at the bottom of the end-of-test page, or the [U.S. Primaries](http://www.politicalcompass.org/usprimaries2008) or the [E.U. Governments](http://www.politicalcompass.org/euchart), you’ll notice that the majority of world politics happens on the line from the center of the chart to the top-right corner, which corresponds to a one axis conservative-liberal view of politics. Landing where you do, you are well described by the one axis point of view, but are more liberal than most of the world. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/22 "2008-08-19T01:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] The Contradiction Party? Seriously, how can a “small” government be responsible for making everyone happy? I think you need to either rethink that premise or realize that you want a big government. [/QUOTE] Did I say that the government was responsible for “making everyone happy”? No. I said that the government has responsibilities to provide the basic necessities like health and education to provide for the PURSUIT of happiness. That is, no one is going to hand it to you. You have the basic tools, it is your responsibility to make something of it. You may fail miserably, and you may succeed, but at least you had the same opportunities as everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/23 "2008-08-19T01:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Sounds like a pretty standard democrat yuppie (ex-hippy.) You might try the [political compass](http://www.politicalcompass.org/). Lower left is liberal, upper right is conservative, upper left is socialist, and lower right is libertarian. [/QUOTE] Don’t you have to have money to be a yuppie? ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/24 "2008-08-19T01:42:16Z")
[QUOTE=gitfiddle] Did I say that the government was responsible for “making everyone happy”? No. I said that the government has responsibilities to provide the basic necessities like health and education to provide for the PURSUIT of happiness. That is, no one is going to hand it to you. You have the basic tools, it is your responsibility to make something of it. You may fail miserably, and you may succeed, but at least you had the same opportunities as everyone else. [/QUOTE] Looks like Driver8 and Frylock already picked that one up… ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/25 "2008-08-19T01:58:21Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Sounds like a pretty standard democrat yuppie (ex-hippy.) You might try the [political compass](http://www.politicalcompass.org/). Lower left is liberal, upper right is conservative, upper left is socialist, and lower right is libertarian. [/QUOTE] [Here](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-2.50&soc=-6.10)’s my compass. I’m apparently a left libertarian, which might explain [why I like Obama](http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/02/04/economics_of_barack_obama/index.html) . I’m kind of surprised at the results, but I’m also disappointed on some of the questions and responses. There were certainly things I’m not familiar with or that I’m ambivalent about that I had to choose agree or disagree on. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/26 "2008-08-19T02:12:45Z")
Several years back there was a series of threads that discussed each question on the political compass individually, the last one is [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=330918), if anyone is interested in reading about what was discovered. Of course new points will have to be brought up in a new thread, since the mods tend to lock old threads that resurface. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/27 "2008-08-19T02:27:14Z")
[Here](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-6.88&soc=-7.18) I am, pretty far down in the green. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/28 "2008-08-19T03:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] [No surprises here](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=5.25&soc=-1.69), except perhaps that I wasn’t down a little further on the libertarian scale. [/QUOTE] Dang! Who’da thunk **Weirdave** was to the right of [me](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=3.12&soc=-0.77)…and that we’re both _libertarians_!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/29 "2008-08-19T08:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] Dang! Who’da thunk **Weirdave** was to the right of [me](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=3.12&soc=-0.77)…and that we’re both _libertarians_!!! :eek: [/QUOTE] I think I should have been much further down, but some of the questions were seriously flawed. For example: **In a civilized society, one must always have people above to be obeyed and people below to be commanded.** How to answer that question? Every civilized society needs some type of hierarchy, anarchy is a fool’s gambit, but the question is phrased in a very authoritarian manner, one that I don’t agree with at all. There will always be a hierarchy, but the ability of individuals to move up or down in that hierarchy is key to a healthy civilization. I thought about this one for a while, then reluctantly clicked “agree”, although if it was a 10 point scale my “agree” would be about a 5.000001. I suspect that question kicked me up a little on the scale. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/30 "2008-08-19T21:42:30Z")
I’m nearly [dead center.](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-0.75&soc=0.00) I guess I’m the guy who the politicians move toward when they get nominated for a general election. I’m in the Middle of America geographically and middle of the compass politically. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/31 "2008-08-19T22:25:28Z")
[I am an anarchist](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-4.62&soc=-8.00)! As far as the “small” government thing, I’ve always meant “small” in relation to personal freedoms - let people smoke weed or visit prostitutes, etc. - not “small” when it comes to infrastructure and community/social programs. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/32 "2008-08-20T17:25:00Z")
It’s hard to say, I’m liberal in some ways and conservative in others… I’m kind of an enigma ( heh ). Seriously, I’m an environmentalist, capitalist, pro-life (where I care about all life (mother and child, elderly, animals, etc…), I believe in small government and low taxes ( I prefer a national flat tax). I worry about the Iraqi’s if we pull out and leave them high and dry yet I hate this war too. I’m glad we took down Hussain, but I am outraged by the aftermath and lack of planning. I guess I’m a moderate… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/33 "2008-08-20T17:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] [I am an anarchist](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-4.62&soc=-8.00)! As far as the “small” government thing, I’ve always meant “small” in relation to personal freedoms - let people smoke weed or visit prostitutes, etc. - not “small” when it comes to infrastructure and community/social programs. [/QUOTE] Anarchist? That far left you’re damn close to a communist. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/34 "2008-08-20T18:07:59Z")
[QUOTE=JohnnieEnigma] I guess I’m a moderate… [/QUOTE] Either that or an enigma. I must have taken the test wrong, the results lined up with Nelson Mandela. C’mon guys, I’m a conservative, right? Remember me? Wacky ol’ Nate the conservative Christian? Remember, I put the “Fun” in Fundamentalist? I’m pro-life and anti-gun law. I think the gumment should mind their own damn business and stay out of my yard. I find the increasing trend toward socialism disturbing: I want to succeed on my merits, not because the system pulled me along. However I do support social programs that equalize the population rather than exploit a fortunate birth. I support the war on terror and the homeland security efforts, I’d rather give up a little convienence than sacrifice security. But I agree that Bush blew his load in 2001 and it’s been a downward spiral ever since. However I voted for him because I couldn’t even stomach Gore or Kerry, let alone envision them as leaders. But then again I plan to vote Obama, not on his position but on his strengths. Dammit, first I find out I’m a liberal Quaker, then I find out I’m a leftist with some anarchistic traits. I’m going to quit before someone makes up a quiz about my sexual preference. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376/35 "2008-08-22T23:50:32Z")
[This is me](http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-2.12&soc=-5.33) No surprise that I’m below the X-axis but I thought I’d be right on the Y-axis or _slightly_ to the right of it. Is there a test with more or better questions? I could argue for agreeing or disagreeing with a lot of those questions, and I wanted to answer in the middle - between agree and disagree - for several of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-my-political-philosophy/460376.md?page=1)