I came across the most interesting concept a while ago called the Political Compass. Instead of a one-dimensional line between Liberal (Left) and Conservative (Right), political thought is seen as a whole two-dimensional spectrum of belief and ideology.
From 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.
There’s a quiz you can take at the site to determine exactly where on the spectrum you fall, and I found my results very accurate in describing my own political, economic and social views. So yeah, take the quiz and come tell us all what the results were! I promise there won’t be any pyres. ^_^
My Results:
- Economic Left/Right: -9.75 (So economically VERY strongly to the Left – Collectivist)
- Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.00 (So socially very strongly Libertarian, Anarchist)
I lean very strongly towards the political and economic beliefs espoused through Anarcho-Socialist, so the results are pretty-much spot-on. If you’re brave, share yours!
~Simone.
the ramblery 