39 replies to this topic

[Rafv Nin IV]

From taking looks at the various "Political Compasses" held by members of Revora, it becomes obvious that people on this board tend to lean socialist. There are very few people with economically conservative compasses like mine, and I have yet to see one that is socially conservative. What I'm speculating about is whether this is due to the nature of Revora, the scoring mechanism of the Political Compass, or Western society in general.

As there seems to be a high percentage of Western European users on Revora, I think that ought to have an effect--in general, those nations are more liberal than, say, America.

I doubt anyone else cares about this, but hey--it's just something useless I noticed

Edited by Ravnin IV, 25 January 2009 - 04:02 AM.

[Tom]

I consider myself Libertarian and anti-authoritarian. However when i take the political compass it shifts me to the left side of the scale even though I consider myself a fiscal conservative. It doesn't give enough options and to be honest isn't really that good. The questions are quite fucking stupid.

[Phil]

The compass is really rather limited.

I like to call myself a social-liberal, partly for lack of the term libertarian in German.

I was actually writing up a rather large post here explaining my positions but accidentially closed the window Possibly I'll rewrite it with all the details later.

For now I can just give you the graph of a pretty good political analysis tool we have here in Switzerland. Please note that these results are about 2 years old. I expect the welfare state to have shrunken a bit in favour of less taxes in the mean time and the liberal society to have grown even more: Graph


Edit: What does your compass look like then, Tom?

Edited by Dark Lord of the Sith, 25 January 2009 - 01:11 PM.

[Vortigern]

Yeah, the compass doesn't give you nearly enough in terms of latitude. For example, I believe strongly in the rule of law, yet I also believe that law should be far more accommodating in certain areas such as drug use. I am fully pro-choice and libertarian, yet my political idol is Mussolini, partly for his flexible belief system and partly for his uncompromising rule. I would consider myself right-wing and fairly authoritarian, yet the compass brings me out as a socialist and libertarian. I'm considering taking the test again and deliberately skewing the results to make it look like what I actually believe.

I am also a Futurist (I don't know if that translates), which means I believe the world can only be restored to a halfway decent system through revolution, whether bloody or otherwise, it doesn't bother me. The current system is so full of shit it needs a fire hose up the arse.

[duke_Qa]

woot, Mussolini. i don't understand how people can trust "rulers" of that sort. if i didnt have the opportunity to think "jeez i'm glad i'm not gonna see you after the next election" then i would prolly find a new country.

i guess i'm a social democrat of sorts. pretty liberal but not liberalistic. i believe in a well-sized government that takes care of things that should not be sacrificed to competition. I believe that we have the right of personal freedom, but also responsibility for others. Your freedom ends when it encroaches on someone else's freedom. it takes 2 seconds to find paradoxes to those "rules", but it should be the leading train of thought when it comes to how to run a society.

[Banshee]

I am not a socialist. I am a capitalist who believes that the intervention of the state is important to prevent abuses, specially on strategical sectors of the economy and also provide a basic wellfare (good public education and hospitals mainly) to give people the chance of having a decent future.

I'm also anti-authoritarian. I think people should have the ability to choose their own leaders, although the way it is done at the moment on the vast majority of the countries is completely wrong. Most of the elections are decided by the most charismatic celebrity rather then the competence of the team that they carry on their backs that will really rule the place.

And I do not live on western europe. I live in Brazil (south america).

[Vortigern]

woot, Mussolini. i don't understand how people can trust "rulers" of that sort. if i didnt have the opportunity to think "jeez i'm glad i'm not gonna see you after the next election" then i would prolly find a new country.

You see, though, Mussolini was legitimate. He wasn't elected as such, because at the time Italy's premiers were chosen by the royal appointment, but he was legitimate. King Victor Emanuel (check spelling...) was a fan of Mussolini and appointed him over and over again for 22 years. I think I'd be quite happy to live under his regime. Things got done, nobody really got hurt unless they were openly disrespectful of Mussolini and attempted to incite rebellion, and he was a genuinely popular figure until he fell in with Hitler circa 1937. For the previous fifteen years of power he had been respected nationwide and internationally, and had made Italy into a recognised world power. Great man.

[Phil]

He was a fascist dictator who came to power by force, intimidation and the upper classes' fear of communism. I would be very careful calling him legitimate.

His totalitarian rule was kept up through oppression, intimidation, persecution, manipulation and murder. Getting things done isn't necessarily a positive attribute if those things are one of the former. Banning all parties and organisations of people who think differently doesn't make it better. Furthermore inciting rebellion is a very broad term and has been applied to just about any threat a totalitarian state saw in history.
He was a madman just as any other dictators of his sort. In fact, I'm quite happy Switzerland is not a world power but instead respects human rights and personal freedom.

I think you're really romanticising a system in which you yourself would have no place.

[Copaman]

I think my compass is fairly close, although I do feel that the results are skewed left in the test. I.E. the question which asks "'From each according to their ability, to each according to their need' is a fundamentally good philosophy" I chose to agree with because I feel that if it could be implemented without a hitch, it would work nearly perfectly and really benefit society; choosing to agree with that skewed me 1 or 2 points to the left, I think - I took the test a second time with the same answers except for that and ended up -.2, -2 or so.

If it's possible (and by definition, I don't think it is), I like to think of myself as an extreme center with a tendency for libertarianism.

As for what you said, Rav, about it being something to do with Revora - I think it's more to do with the global community. The world as a whole is decently more liberal than America. I spoke with one of my friends who lives in Michigan and has only posted here at Revora once or twice (Username Sapphire IIRC) and she thinks about the same way as I do. We spent 10 days together in a political leadership camp-type deal, but I really don't think that changed my views or hers for that matter. The common link the two of us shared was our experience discussing politics with a global audience - she was a fourmite for a bit, before her internet shit the bed.

[Puppeteer]

the scoring mechanism of the Political Compass

That's the one. I'm really not this far left at all, but the absence of the "Neither Agree Nor Disagree" option limits my choices severely.

[Phil]

Yeah, good survey-style analysis tools usually have choices like ++ + = - -- (that is "I strongly agree", "I agree", etc.).

[duke_Qa]

The best way to get good answers out of surveys is to go with even number of choices. That way you can't just go for the middle choice all the time on difficult questions. There can be an extra choice outside the normal options that says something like "no opinion/no clue". Just to make the moderate answer look like a coward's way out.

[Casen]

*raises hand" Only Fascist on this forum. Well, I lean more towards Brazilian Integralism to be fair. On social issues I'm so/so and moderate, but on economics I'm definitely corporatist. Also I am authoritarian as I believe that's the best way to keep order.

[Vortigern]

I think you're really romanticising a system in which you yourself would have no place.

All true, alas. I am indeed a hopeless romantic yearning for a darker time. Mussolini was indeed a brutal dictator and war criminal, but that doesn't mean he should be condemned from all sides. I find one must admire the abilities of any and all who can maintain power for more than 20 years.

[Casen]

Mussolini was a great man...not saying he didn't make mistakes. Like allying with Hitler, so on...though in some cases he had no choice. It was ether suck up to Hitler or Hitler would easily destroy his country.

[Vortigern]

Correct. Mussolini chose the lesser of two evils, except that it ended up being the greater of two evils by mistake. We've all cocked up at some point. We just probably weren't in charge of nations at the time.

[Banshee]

*raises hand" Only Fascist on this forum. Well, I lean more towards Brazilian Integralism to be fair. On social issues I'm so/so and moderate, but on economics I'm definitely corporatist. Also I am authoritarian as I believe that's the best way to keep order.

Brazilian Integralism? How's that? I've never heard of this term here .

[duke_Qa]

So, one question for the fascist-fans.

You are living in a fascist nation, and you have somehow ended up on the wrong side of the rulers. Would you still embrace the fascists "suppression" of dissenters, or would you find the cost too high?(yes/no question, no buts) Because if you really want something, you have to consider the bad sides as well. And the bad sides with fascism are pretty perilous. "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried" as Churchill said.

[Romanul]

From taking looks at the various "Political Compasses" held by members of Revora, it becomes obvious that people on this board tend to lean socialist. There are very few people with economically conservative compasses like mine, and I have yet to see one that is socially conservative. What I'm speculating about is whether this is due to the nature of Revora, the scoring mechanism of the Political Compass, or Western society in general.

TBH,I'm coming from Eastern Europe,and,I'm rather more for democracy than for socialism.Its more...acceptable.I tell ya,its much,MUCH better in democracy than in communism or fascism.

[Copaman]

Brazilian Integralism? How's that? I've never heard of this term here .

(clicky) Apparently it's a legit term...




I'd never heard of it either.

Edited by Copaman, 26 January 2009 - 09:43 PM.