Are you a conservative or a liberal?

I got a -1...so, I'm in the middle leaning towards liberal. I identify myself as liberal, however, I am not "looney" or "clinically insane" as most liberals that get press time are. I use common sense, which is why I'm in the middle, I suppose...too extreme either way and you end up looking like a complete nutjob or asshat.

~Zoo

I hate to nitpick, but every time I see a quiz like this, I hate the questions.

Question 1 should be "of the two, which do you think is the better way to reduce crime?"
Question 2 should be reworded along similar lines.

The same person (*coughs me coughs*) could answer "Yes" to both responses to question 3.

As I understand it, the conservative position on question 4 is that the smallest government isthe most most "just and fair". It's been a while since I read Hayek, though.

"Measurable results of effectiveness" is the Technocratic position. Technocrats these days seem to be mainly liberal. Indeed, I seem to recall a recent Republican president claiming to be a "compassionate conservative".

There. I feel better, at least...

This is soooo wrong.

My score is 3, then I am conservative???? no way.

I am telling you Draginol, the Bees are buzzing in your ears and making you do things with strange results.

No way i am conservative .... like you

Let me see ....

I know that I am a poor french that know few things about american politics, but I think that the scoring is upside down: If I have correctly understood the various Draginol's blogs, Draginol is a conservative and would have surely answered B in all those 5 questions, scoring a total of -5.

I'm thinking Brad had a few beers (or something) before he posted this.

In America, I would probably be termed a Liberal, but if you call me that here in Australia, expect me to tell you where to go. And not politely, either.

What do exercises such as these prove? These prove exercises such as these don't prove a bloody thing.

there are people who get lucky-lottery,
there are people who cheat the system con-men, elected officials
and
there are people who inherit it so this question needs some more work

and on this question my answer was both

and on question 1 i didn't choose either

question 2 by by passing laws that promise rights for one group you in effect take those rights away from another group

The scoring is wrong.  I dont think the test is comprehensive enough, but a good 30 second sound bite as to which way you lean.

That's what I thought too.

this is not a fair judge of anything, imho.

1st off, the claim that the conservative and the liberal philosophy are the "dominant" ones is false. they may be the most vocal, but they are hardly dominant. most people are not hardliners of either. and it is only the political climate of the last 10 or 15 years that has "pushed" people into corners that they really don't belong in. and now that the dust has settled once again, current numbers put both parties, which have become respectively synonymous with libs and cons, have become a minority to independents.

since vietnam both liberal and conservative camps have tried to convince us that their ideology is 100% correct, and the more time that goes on, more and more people realize that neither ideology is sound all of the time. and in real life, different situations sometimes call for different measures. treating political beliefs like they are a religious doctrine is foolish, imho.

i can't even answer some of these questions, like #3...i don't think people are rich exclusively for either reason. some worked hard, some inherited it, some fell into it and i'm sure there are a few other scenarios and combinations. many people who are well off have had combinations of luck and hard work. some people who are down in the dumps are there due to factors beyond their control and some aren't. trying to funnel everyone into 1 of these 2 camps is not a real choice, but a pundit's statement.

i think most people would rather try to figure out what we have in common at this point. the days of trying to "wedge" everyone into polarized camps are old news. the fact is that most of us (at large) have more in common than not and more and more people are realizing we'd be better served starting from there rather than trying to pigeon-hole everyone into naturally combative camps for another round of "why we're so good and righteous and the other side wants to ruin america and everything that is good even if they don't realize it, which they probably do" debate.

as far as a decent "soundbyte quiz" goes...i prefer this one. it's like the one above, with soeme more choices...WWW Link

one last note. a lot of the "philosophy" expressed for the "conservative side" actually are more libertarian. from their webpage...

Are you a Libertarian?



We know that can be a tough question as you may have heard many different definitions of the word "libertarian" or maybe you met a few people who identify themselves as such.

Let's see what Webster's has to say about it:

Pronunciation: "li-b&r-'ter-E-&n
Function: noun
1 : an advocate of the doctrine of free will
2 a : a person who upholds the principles of absolute and unrestricted liberty especially of thought and action b capitalized : a member of a political party advocating libertarian principles

While many may quibble with the definition, we think it's close enough.

Simply put, if you believe that you are responsible for yourself and your family, and not the government, then you belong with us.

just food for thought. not lookin to get anyone's panties in a bundle, lol

UPDATE:

I had the final scoring backwards.  Updated:

SCORING:

5 to 2: You are a liberal.

-1 to 1 You are in the mushy middle.

-2 to -5 You are a conservative.

 

Also, to those whining about the test: then don't take it.

But I do have another question to add:

6) When you see a test on political belief do you:

a) Take it or not take it as it suits you [-1]

Whine that the test doesn't present enough shades of gray or is too "simplistic" even though you wouldn't be bothered to try to come up with something better yourself since complaining about what other people do is a lot easier than actually doing something yourself [1]

this is not a fair judge of anything, imho.

The definition of a 30 second sound bite.

My score is 42. Does that make me liberal or conservative?

the ultimate answer!

does that mean brad is really a supercomputer named "deep thought?" (j/k)

I'm in the mushy middle - mushy? I resemble that remark. I consider myself to be left leaning. I'm a registered Democrat.

-3, -4 if you count the extra question.

1) Do you believe that the best way to have a safe society is...

A] Reduce the number of fire arms floating around in our population [ 1]
B] To encourage lawful citizens to possess fire arms [-1] XX

 

2) Do you believe the best way to promote a racially fair society is...

A] Reward and encourage companies and universities to have a racially diverse environment. [1]
B] To pass laws that forbid employers or universities from using race as a selection criteria. [-1] XX

 

3) Do you think that rich people got rich because..

A] They got lucky or cheated the system or inherited it. [1]
B] They worked hard and made good decisions. [-1]  XX

4) Do you think the federal government should be..

A] There to make sure that society is as just and fair as possible [1]
B] As small as possible -- the government the governs best governs least [-1]  XX

 

5) The policies that should be pursued should be based on

A] Compassion and good intentions [1]
B] Measurable results of effectiveness [-1] XX

 

how can this be? for I Am Moderateman, not conservativeman

I scored a -5 with the caveat of "Fascist". Thats a bad thing right?

Here's how I'd do a second draft of the test, separating out "libertarian" from conservative. What are you now? (I skipped question 2 because it was too confusing for me).

1) Do you believe that the best way to have a safe society is...

A] Reduce the number of fire arms floating around in our population [+1 liberal]
B] To encourage lawful citizens to possess fire arms [+1 libertarian]
C] To provide more firepower to the police and army [+1 conservative]

3) Do you think that rich people got rich because..

A] They got lucky or cheated the system or inherited it. [+1 bellyacher]
B] The system rewarded their behavior. [+1 liberal]
C] They worked hard and made good decisions. [+1 libertarian]
D] They have superior business sense and economic skills -- they deserved it. [+1 conservative]

If I can expand on point B a little bit, the idea is that some societies have a system that rewards people for being religious figures, some for being well born, some for contributing things of value to society. Some reward being corrupt or having more guns. The liberal insight is that just because your society says people deserve what they have -- what they earn or what they can take or what they were born with or what the religious rules say they get -- doesn't necessarily mean they deserve it. It depends on what you think of the system.

4) Do you think the federal government should be..

A] Interfering in society to protect people from injustice and economic mishaps [+1 liberal]
B] As small as possible -- the government the governs best governs least [+1 libertarian]
C] Interfering in society to make it stronger economically, militarily, and morally [+1 conservative]

5) The policies that should be pursued should be based on

A] Compassion and good intentions [+1 liberal]
B] Measurable results of effectiveness [+1 utopian]
C] Patriotism and morality [+1 conservative]

I think your changes reflect more of how a liberal views conservatives than anything else.

Conservatives have a lot in common with libertarians on many issues.  Christian conservatives may be a type of conservative but they are not pure conservatives. 

Libertarians are not conservatives in many areas including:

• Don't believe in regulating controlled substances
• Don't believe the government has the right to zone property for residential, commercial, etc.
• Would abolish the EPA, FDA, and other regulatory services of the government

Those are 3 things that conservatives are obviously not in favor of in general.  There is overlap between a conservative and a libertarian just as there is overlap between a liberal and a socialist.

-4 conservative

I think your changes reflect more of how a liberal views conservatives than anything else.

Hey, I pride myself on being sympathetic enough to conservatives to not misrepresent them on something like this, accidentally or on purpose. If there's bias in it it's from my libertarian side.

The way I read what you're saying, you think I portrayed Christians and libertarians as conservatives, but you're saying they are separate in some ways. As far as Christianity, I was careful to include some secular values every time I mentioned morality to show it's not conservatives' only goal. And of course liberals vote their morals too, but when I think of a government that believes the moral fiber of a nation is what makes it great, I think conservative.

As far as libertarian vs conservative, I know there are differences and I know there's overlap. The same is true for libertarian vs liberal. I came to liberal via libertarian, actually. Here's how I see it:

* The authoritarian conservative would keep the FDA to create a healthier market for food and drugs.
* The libertarian conservative would get rid of the FDA because the market can handle it. Let people take chances on risky drugs if they feel the risk is worth it, and companies that put out killer drugs will go bankrupt.
* The libertarian liberal would get rid of the FDA because the chances are the companies it regulates will eventually take it over and use it to do their testing at taxpayer expense, stamp all their products "Grade A," and generally discourage competition.
* The authoritarian liberal would keep the FDA because you can't trust business owners to make safe products on their own.

I don't like authoritarians, conservative or liberal. I grew up Republican because all my life the Republicans were the party of smaller government, but in the Bush years we've started to see a gap growing between libertarians and big government conservatives. Most techies fall on the libertarian side of that divide, and I think you do too, more so than not. Remember how the OKCupid test Link put you in the middle ground between the two? You're not a Cory Doctorow libertarian or even a Dave Barry libertarian, but you're more like a P.J. O'Rourke libertarian.

N - Let me find that political map.

Just a sec..

Okay, Noumenon here is what I was getting at:

In the political spectrum, conservatives would be most of the top part and (American) liberals would be most of the bottom part. A libertarian is probably a type of conservative in most cases but a conservative is not necessarily a libertarian.