Political Compass - Machine Nation

I come up as

Economic Left/Right: -2.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.64

No real change since my last one.

Ronald Binge apologies if I have the wrong person but were you a PD supporter on p.ie with the PD flag ?

Again, apologies if I have the wrong person.

No, I was always a FG supporter in Ireland and a supporter of the Liberal Democrats in Britain.

Could it be that the politicos of the right are just a bit under pressure as a result of the year and times that are in it - there are a good number of right and centre oriented posters here who haven't planted their dots on that square.

Nor should they be obliged to imo. The dots don't add anything to the picture of the poster, on the contrary I find them rather reductionist.

Tis the word for it cactus - reductionist. It can't really represent groups of individuals, surely.

I'm almost inclined to think there is a class element though it is a bit diluted in Ireland and a local geographical component as well a wider one. It's even possible that we might have a more insular mentality than others - could we include that in a kind of test ?

Also what happened to the 'guilds' ? And tradespeople ... are they born with the silver spoon/hammer/wrench/electrical wire stripper in their gob ? I'm guessing that the trade of computer programming isn't at all related to class or inheritance but ability or aptitude.

People's natural abilities aren't measured by those tests but their political outlook is often informed by their professional ability or aptitudes.

cactus flower wrote:

Could it be that the politicos of the right are just a bit under pressure as a result of the year and times that are in it - there are a good number of right and centre oriented posters here who haven't planted their dots on that square.

Nor should they be obliged to imo. The dots don't add anything to the picture of the poster, on the contrary I find them rather reductionist.

Very much the case. Still, I find it interesting.

Well at least it goes some way as far as I'm concerned to debunk the notion that I'm in some way "right wing" because I'm a card carrying member of Fine Gael. It is a fairly broad organisation in that respect.

I scored: ECON -7.38, SOC -6.21

I remember doing this test before and I think I scored about the same. Interesting test. I'm not so sure that it gives an accurate reflection though. Although I do think it acts as a good compass.

Folks think differently than they act. I might say that I strongly think Brian Cowen would look good with my foot planted firmly in his rectum but I'd be very unlikely to do it without a physical provocation from him, this would beg the question: how strongly do I think this? I reckon the test gives a picture of one's frame of mind but doesn't take into account the relativity between thought and action - thus someone 'strongly disagreeing' with something might actually be mildly disagreeing in actuality should the said scenario arise. Maybe if it asked a series of questions that gauged the tipping point where action would result and then used this barometer to measure political orientation?

That is a scary score Hermes

youngdan wrote:

That is a scary score Hermes

Thought it was a little tame meself.

You may be trying to meet others with whom you disagree half way. See how I have moderated my views to be closer to all you guys.

That's always been my methodology. Most of my more extreme views esablish how I act personally, my respect for the views of others tempers considerably how I act with and deal with them. The building of bridges is where it's at imo. Besides, there's a lot more to life than politics.

youngdan wrote:

You may be trying to meet others with whom you disagree half way. See how I have moderated my views to be closer to all you guys.

Did you do the test, youngdan?

Quote :

Folks think differently than they act. I might say that I strongly think Brian Cowen would look good with my foot planted firmly in his rectum but I'd be very unlikely to do it without a physical provocation from him, this would beg the question: how strongly do I think this? I reckon the test gives a picture of one's frame of mind but doesn't take into account the relativity between thought and action - thus someone 'strongly disagreeing' with something might actually be mildly disagreeing in actuality should the said scenario arise. Maybe if it asked a series of questions that gauged the tipping point where action would result and then used this barometer to measure political orientation?

I think that's one of the weaknesses of most opinion polls - they don't gauge how strongly people feel about the issue that's being asked about. I'd say, for example, that while the majority of people in Ireland are positive about the EU, the majority would cheerfully change their opinion to "don't care" if a positive cost them 10 cents.

I'd love to do a survey where extreme answers cost the person polled money - literally cents, but I reckon the vast majority of people would avoid the extreme viewpoints if it even cost them that much. Mind you, political polls also ought to record the number of people who said they didn't have time or couldn't be bothered doing the poll.

Strange how few there are on the authoritarian left.

Hermes wrote:

Folks think differently than they act. I might say that I strongly think Brian Cowen would look good with my foot planted firmly in his rectum but I'd be very unlikely to do it without a physical provocation from him, this would beg the question: how strongly do I think this? I reckon the test gives a picture of one's frame of mind but doesn't take into account the relativity between thought and action - thus someone 'strongly disagreeing' with something might actually be mildly disagreeing in actuality should the said scenario arise. Maybe if it asked a series of questions that gauged the tipping point where action would result and then used this barometer to measure political orientation?

evercloserunion wrote:

Strange how few there are on the authoritarian left.

The spread seems to be from bottom left to top right - the other two extremes are probably the same as each other approaching Totalitarianism ?? Could this be because of Hermes great point above - there is a disparity between thinking and doing and there is a learning element too where if one of those questions was a Referendum say on abortion or making school compulsory then through the process of groups lobbying their view for a few months before a person might change their view over those couple of months. You know, you'd never know what you'd do if you were king of the world ...

The test is very theoretical too and should ask people what they have done in certain circumstance or how they felt or thought. Must try to remember to copy some of the questions in here as thread topics

I think you make a good point Audi and Ibis too. I hadn't thought about the full implications of what I was saying - my mind was merely in tinkering mode and didn't really go beyond twiddling with the dials.

I wonder what would happen if folks had to pay to vote?

That's possibly an ott thought as far as democracy and morality are concerned. But it does raise a somewhat dangerous idea about how stable a government we have and indeed the consent they possess to rule.

That might be an overly dramatic point to be making. I think the relativity of language and meaning might be more what I'm getting at. Do I tell my partner that I love the black dress because stating that I merely like it might be considered to mean that I don't like it? It's all about perception and a fear of rejection isn't it?

I see that Zakalwe's dot and mine have disappeared. Also, I found that I was able to substitute joel's name for mine on the P.ie chart.

These charts are wide open to third party interference

evercloserunion wrote:

Strange how few there are on the authoritarian left.

Maybe not when you consider the hammering authoritarian leftism took in the 90's & 90's.

Auditor #9 wrote:

The spread seems to be from bottom left to top right - the other two extremes are probably the same as each other approaching Totalitarianism ??

That's not my reading of the plane at all. Is it suggested that if the Dalai Lama just got a little more laid back and if Thatcher just got off the fence they'd converge on approximately the same point (bottom/left & top right)? I don't think so. The left/right axis might wrap, I'll grant you that, but not the vertical axis.

cactus flower wrote:

I see that Zakalwe's dot and mine have disappeared. Also, I found that I was able to substitute joel's name for mine on the P.ie chart.

These charts are wide open to third party interference

Absolutely. Your dot hasn't disappeared - there's just a poster with the same score as you (Sandy). I'll see what I can do to show you both.

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Early days yet. Only a small number have put their dot on chart.

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Early days yet. Only a small number have put their dot on chart.

That's also true. Have you done this quiz cactus?

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Early days yet. Only a small number have put their dot on chart.

That's also true. Have you done this quiz cactus?

Yes. Ibis says my dot is hiding under Sandy's.

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Early days yet. Only a small number have put their dot on chart.

That's also true. Have you done this quiz cactus?

Yes. Ibis says my dot is hiding under Sandy's.

Really? So you're economic alignment is the same as mine? Interesting.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

ibis wrote:

Well, it seems we are, on average, rather the to the left of p.ie. I'm not sure the guys at boards.ie get it at all, though.

It seems to be that way. I'm dead-centre on the economic axis, yet that's enough to put me firmly in the site's right-wing. Boards do seem to be a scattered lot.

Early days yet. Only a small number have put their dot on chart.

That's also true. Have you done this quiz cactus?

Yes. Ibis says my dot is hiding under Sandy's.

Really? So you're economic alignment is the same as mine? Interesting.

Perhaps its the Smith factor