Welcome to The Political Compass™.
There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left', established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape. For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ?
On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them that the old categories on their own can't explain. Similarly, we generally describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet that leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the hook.
That's about as much as we should tell you for now. After you've responded to the following propositions during the next 3-5 minutes, all will be explained. In each instance, you're asked to choose the response that best describes your feeling: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree. At the end of the test, you'll be given the compass, with your own special position on it.
The test is entirely anonymous. None of your personal details are required, and nothing about your result is recorded or logged in any way. The answers are only used to calculate your reading, and cannot be accessed by anyone, ever.
The idea was developed by a political journalist with a university counselling background, assisted by a professor of social history. They're indebted to people like Wilhelm Reich and Theodor Adorno for their ground-breaking work in this field. We believe that, in an age of diminishing ideology, a new generation in particular will get a better idea of where they stand politically - and the sort of political company they keep.
So are you ready to take the test? Remember that there's no right, wrong or ideal response. It's simply a measure of attitudes and inevitable human contradictions to provide a more integrated definition of where people and parties are really at. Click here to start.
If you wish to contact us, email info@politicalcompass.org.
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9 comments:
I'm on the graph right about the same spot as Gandhi.
wow, I was way out in the bottom left corner:
economic left: -8.67
social libertarian: -6.62
so, I am even more liberal than both you and Gandhi. I take pride in that.
LOL. Yep, me an' Gandhi gonna put the fear of gawwd into the heathens.
Gandhi's ashram was nothing but cult of evangelical hinduism!
and they way he walked about in nothing but a toga. obviously gay. another Ted Haggard.
I'm surprised. you are even more conservative than my wife. yet, she isn't a liberal as me.
actually, this has me concerned that I may be too liberal. . .
nah
I wonder what answers I gave that made me more conservative than you and your wife.
it may be that we are both for fair trade and not free trade.
oh, and that reminds me. . . you once blamed the unions for the exodus of jobs in the NW. shouldn't you blame the government for helping to create a situation where those canneries and such could split long serving communities and escape the labor unions by going overseas.
US jobs should have always been protected, but free trade acts have only hurt us.
Well I really blame both the unions and the companies. The workers at the canneries were making damn good wages and had an excellent benefits package at the time. They got greedy and asked for even more. They were wanting to have conditions similar to what the Longshoreman's union workers had. Like if you show up to work for just 10 minutes you get paid for 4 hours. If you show up and work for 2 hrs you get paid for 8 whether you work or not. As a business owner that kind of thing really pisses me off.
The companies didn't give a rat's ass about the workers, unlike say a small company like mine does, and only wanted MORE profit. They were making millions of dollars per quarter in profits for their shareholders, but it was never enough.
Yes I agree that the government should have done something to ensure that things were equitable for all parties concerned. That's where conservatives and liberals differ. When a conservative says he wants the government out of his business, he means it literally. They never seem to have a problem with the government sticking its nose into our bedrooms.
my point exactly:
if the companies couldn't just up and move than a compromise would have been found and life would have gone on.
you know, I'm sure that if that was the case the economy would be better for us little guys. the rich don't need to worry about the economy--we do. hell, we all need jobs with living wages.
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