# Where Are You on the Political Compass **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631 "2010-10-09T19:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/41 "2010-10-10T15:00:35Z")
Economic Left/Right: -6.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.44 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/42 "2010-10-10T15:14:58Z")
Economic Left/Right: 5.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.15 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/43 "2010-10-10T15:46:15Z")
-6.00 -3.95 I am with Ghandi and that is about right. I am a pacifist. I have hated the last 10 years of warring and exploitation. I might have been persuaded to enter WW2 , but that is about it. No the financial leaders and owners are not showing any love for America. It bothers me. Patriotism is for the little people. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/44 "2010-10-10T15:52:53Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > -6.00 > -3.95 > I am with Ghandi and that is about right. I am a pacifist. I have hated the last 10 years of warring and exploitation. I might have been persuaded to enter WW2 , but that is about it. > No the financial leaders and owners are not showing any love for America. It bothers me. Patriotism is for the little people. So 9-11 which were worse than the Pearl Harbour attacks count for nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/45 "2010-10-10T15:53:29Z")
Economic Left/Right: -1.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.41 ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/46 "2010-10-10T15:56:10Z")
Economic Left/Right: 0.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41 Which is about what I’d expect – I describe myself as a civil libertarian who’s fairly conservative but far too moderate on fiscal matters to fit in with most libertarians. I know I’ve taken this test before and posted results here; I wonder if I can find that and compare. ETA: Found it – in 2004, I was -2.25, -6.51. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/47 "2010-10-10T16:10:42Z")
-5.88,-7.64 ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/48 "2010-10-10T16:56:20Z")
Economic Left/Right: -3.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.05 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/49 "2010-10-10T17:00:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > -6.00 > -3.95 > I am with Ghandi and that is about right. I am a pacifist. I have hated the last 10 years of warring and exploitation. I might have been persuaded to enter WW2 , but that is about it. > No the financial leaders and owners are not showing any love for America. It bothers me. Patriotism is for the little people. It’d be nice if you’d spell Gandhi’s name correctly. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/50 "2010-10-10T17:05:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A third issue is that it doesn’t touch on foreign policy at all. While I am firmly in the -,- quadrant (although not as much as some,) I would be more toward the “center” if the test contained a third axis of foreign policy, because I think we need a strong military and we need to use it. (However, I think Gulf War II was a mistake because it was poorly sold, planned and executed, not that I was against removing Saddam by force.) I never answer these political compass polls for this precise reason. Opinions on foreign policy are very important in reflecting one’s overall political philosophy, yet they are not considered at all in the test. While some people may think that one’s stance on foreign policy issues are predictable based on their scores on the issues that are tested, I can assure you that, at least in my own case, it’s not so. I’m much more hawkish than one would think based on my domestic politics. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/51 "2010-10-10T17:09:00Z")
-3.38 -3.64 More moderate than the last time I took this, I think. I tend to avoid “strongly” answers. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/52 "2010-10-10T17:50:21Z")
Economic Left/Right: -8.75 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.15 Yes, I hate big business. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/53 "2010-10-10T19:27:43Z")
Some of the questions don’t take non-political opinions into account. For instance: _It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society._ If I disagree, am I saying it’s OK that our economy is controlled by selfish, soulless money mongers? How about the possibility that I think personal fortunes are more often the result of team members dividing their profits rather than an individual’s accomplishements? I could disagree for reasons that have nothing to do with politics. The compass makes no distinction. and this one: \* A genuine free market requires restrictions on the ability of predator multinationals to create monopolies.\* Again, I could have pragmatic reasons for disagreeing, but be counted as a hardline conservative on the side of these multinational predators. Maybe I think single national companies cause more problems than multinational companies. Maybe I don’t think they form monopolies as much as they do conglomerates. Maybe I’m not too worried about monopolies as long as they bring prosperity to underdeveloped parts of the world. It’s like being asked “When did you stop beating your wife?” I’m already pigeonholed before I even hear the question. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/54 "2010-10-10T19:40:14Z")
Economic +6.88 Social - 5.18 I am always in the deserted quadrant of Milton Friedman and no one else. I hover around the Rand Paul zone I guess, but I am not nearly as strident as he is. I would really say that I am on the far fiscal conservative end on the US economic debate and socially very very strongly liberal. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/55 "2010-10-10T20:18:13Z")
Economic Left/Right: -1.62 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.23 It does seem to have a lot of questions that are very open to interpretation and that are distantly removed from policy questions, so I’m not confident that the test measures what it thinks it measures, but it is an interesting diversion. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/56 "2010-10-10T22:05:56Z")
Holy crap: Economic Left/Right -2.62 Social/Libertarian -0.92 I blame this message board. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/57 "2010-10-10T22:18:15Z")
Economic Left/Right: -8.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.08 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/58 "2010-10-10T23:06:20Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > -6.00 > > -3.95 > > I am with Ghandi and that is about right. I am a pacifist. I have hated the last 10 years of warring and exploitation. I might have been persuaded to enter WW2 , but that is about it. > > No the financial leaders and owners are not showing any love for America. It bothers me. Patriotism is for the little people. > > So 9-11 which were worse than the Pearl Harbour attacks count for nothing? Note, I said I could probably have been convinced to enter WW2. That was after Pearl Harbor. 911. Hell no. Terrorism should be fought by intelligence agencies and spies. There is no country they live in. Iraq had zip to do with 911. Afghanistan barely. it was warlords in the middle of the country, permitting them to train. (if that is true). I get tired of seeing the stock footage of Arabs on monkey bars, while a voice over says it is in Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/59 "2010-10-10T23:53:44Z")
Economic Left/Right: -6.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.79 ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631/60 "2010-10-11T08:52:03Z")
Economic Left/Right: -5.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-on-the-political-compass/556631.md?page=4)