Political Compass

[Arkuski]

It seems to me, from reading the shutdown thread, that we have a lot of left leaning people around these parts. I am curious as to the exact breakdown of this phenomenon. So, go head to http://www.politicalcompass.org, take the test, and post your results. I just took it and this is what happened:

Six months ago I was here:

Also, go ahead and take a look at http://www.isidewith.com/ and take the political test there. I'm sure my results will be received very warmly:

Anyways, let's try not to make this into a complete shit-show. I think the arguments that we have elsewhere on the forums can be explained by the fact that we all have fundamentally different viewpoints, so something like this might be beneficial.

Also, here is the crowd chart:

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: Political Compass

Did this some time ago, was slightly leaning towards left-wing libertarian.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Political Compass

-4.5, -4.7

89% Dem, 87% Green Party, 71% Socialist, 30% Libertarian, 5% Republican

[jgano]

Re: Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -2.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.62

So, I'm pretty left-leaning, just as I thought.

[PaperclipGames]

Re: Political Compass

About what I expected.

Economic Left/Right: -5.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.72

[Kekeb]

Re: Political Compass

-3.5
-5.23

Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade

Can someone who actually knows shit about economics give an opinion on this? I like the concept of free trade, but that's not what the question is asking.

[tosh]

Re: Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -0.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.33

[Snowcrafta]

Re: Political Compass

I am 71% Green... http://www.isidewith.com/results/304191598

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Political Compass

I guess I'm pretty centrist.

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -0.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.85




edit:

Parties you side with...
79%Democrats
Democrats
on economic, foreign policy, healthcare, and environmental issues
70%Green Party
Green Party
on economic, healthcare, environmental, and science issues
55%Socialist
Socialist
on environmental, healthcare, and immigration issues
20%Republicans
Republicans
on science issues
15%Libertarians
Libertarians
no major issues

[alloyus]

Re: Political Compass

Damn it didn't read OP properly and took the quiz no one else is taking. 84% democrat though (80 green, 40 social, 27 rep, 21 liber)

[Arntonach]

Re: Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -3.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.69

Damn I almost fell off the graph.

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: Political Compass

79% Dem, 70% Green, 54% Socialist, 36% Libertarian, 1% Republican

[Reincarnate]

Re: Political Compass

Can someone who actually knows shit about economics give an opinion on this? I like the concept of free trade, but that's not what the question is asking.

You could get into an entire debate over this sort of question, but the idea is whether or not there are occasionally good reasons to put limits/regulations/restrictions on free trade in certain contexts.

In theory it's used to protect domestic industry -- using legislation that helps those who think we should "Buy American," or those who think we are becoming too dependent on foreign imports (which can be argued to be bad for national security reasons). Sometimes it can help fledgling industries that are struggling to get started (you might hear this get called as "bootstrapping").

But in practice, it tends to create a lot of deadweight loss and inefficiency, not to mention strained relationships with foreign entities and higher prices / less growth. Protectionism (tends to be) the wrong way to go about things as far as economics is concerned. It also tends to hurt the people it's meant to help.

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: Political Compass

That question is a bad one, and it's not the only one. Protectionism is important in some markets and bad in others. The current state of the economy has a huge impact on how acceptable it is.

Another question which really made me laugh was deciding whether it's more important to control inflation or unemployment. There's a really basic concept of macroeconomics called The Phillips Curve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_curve

There is a direct corrollation between inflation and unemployment. If you reduce inflation, unemployment goes up. If you reduce unemployment, inflation rises. The test-makers didn't know this, I guess. It's an internet quiz, so you can't expect much.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Political Compass

That question is a bad one, and it's not the only one. Protectionism is important in some markets and bad in others. The current state of the economy has a huge impact on how acceptable it is.

Another question which really made me laugh was deciding whether it's more important to control inflation or unemployment. There's a really basic concept of macroeconomics called The Phillips Curve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_curve

There is a direct corrollation between inflation and unemployment. If you reduce inflation, unemployment goes up. If you reduce unemployment, inflation rises. The test-makers didn't know this, I guess. It's an internet quiz, so you can't expect much.

Yeah a lot of questions on that quiz were poorly worded and needed a lot more detail in order for the answers to be meaningful.

That protectionism question, too, is a bad one because it said something like, "Is it sometimes necessary?" It's like, well, sure, sometimes it's a good idea -- but answering "yes" to that question probably gets you pegged as a protectionist in the end calculation.

When it comes to most economic concepts, their designation as being "good" or "bad" depends so much on context. Is raising minimum wage a good thing? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, etc.