Political Standpoint

[Bucic]

Lets just agree it was a 'translation' issue with the survey and pretend it never happened. :)

Yeah. Otherwise I would have been almost as far left as Stalin! :doh:

[EtherealN]

It is biased and contains a lot of biased questions, speaking from the scientific point of view.

 

Example:

"A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system."

 

Actually, the question asked there masks something that is extremely interesting from several viewpoints. If you have an established opinion about what is "right", isn't it best to have this position be given precedence?

 

In the democratic era the answer to the above questions seems emotionally simple, but it actually tests something that I don't think you picked up: whether we attribute good governance to what we personally feel is right, or what a majority feels is right? It's still sort of sloppy since context is lost, and in this case context is everything, but my read of it was basically:

 

"Would it be better if your party had a monopoly on power?"

 

Assuming that I read it right, and the question acts on the same level for the result as the original test (which was 10-question and also had a "centrist" position in the middle), I would expect that this acts only on the authoritarian-libertarian axis. If you agree, you are authoritarian, if you disagree, you are libertarian.

 

Anyhow, I personally feel that this specifically is the most interesting question in the world of politics. I feel that my position is correct (otherwise I wouldn't hold it), so why am I not prepared to use the force of State to enforce my position? There's a lot of interesting thinking that can be done within the context of this "problem", and a lot of it touches the personal realm of realising that I may be wrong in part or whole. In fact, something like 80% of my political life (when I was active in politics) touched this topic.

 

Personally, my end-point in the question is that I simply cannot be sure enough of being "right" to put force behind it. But at the same time we face the question of whether said force becomes more legitimate just because a majority (or, let's face it with normal election turnouts, a minority) backs it?

 

It's interesting stuff. :)

[EtherealN]

Yeah. Otherwise I would have been almost as far left as Stalin! :doh:

 

You're misreading it here. My read of Stalin (after readin a couple biographies as well as general historical documents) is that he would be on the authoritarian side. I could try to go through the test again according to my best reading of him from those books, but generally he'd be somewhere in the top left.

 

But don't make the mistake of thinking that just because you end up in a given position you are like historical person X. The position is a sum of many variables, so it is very possible to end up in the same place as someone else while still answering differently to every question. ;)

[EtherealN]

COnsidering your country of normal residence (origin even if I got it right) I would have expected you to be a bleeding heart, card carrying liberal commie, down at the barricades. :D:D

I was surprised.

 

 

Meet you for Cigars and brandy down the Rotary Club next Friday? :D

 

Just to see if you got it right:

 

I'm a swedish national, normally resident in Sweden though I have had extended stays in Russia (though not long enough to merit changing my registered residence), and my ethnicity is majority Swedish though quarter german, with my surname being exotic, tracing back to a 19th century immigrant from what is now Peru. (The name isn't Peruvian, but the name was given to him by the ship's priest when he joined the crew. He eventually ended up an officer in the royal swedish navy and served with distinction in the wars with russia.)

Edited July 19, 2011 by EtherealN
Century counting is complicated. :P

[Bucic]

EtherealN,

I referred to the graph showing preferences of the historical figures. And to the fact that I was 7 out of 10 leftie points :)

 

Interesting descent...

[RIPTIDE]

Just to see if you got it right:

 

I'm a swedish national, normally resident in Sweden though I have had extended stays in Russia (though not long enough to merit changing my registered residence), and my ethnicity is majority Swedish though quarter german, with my surname being exotic, tracing back to a 19th century immigrant from what is now Peru. (The name isn't Peruvian, but the name was given to him by the ship's priest when he joined the crew. He eventually ended up an officer in the royal swedish navy and served with distinction in the wars with russia.)

Ya, I got the Sweden right. :)

[Daze]

 

I don't think it's too accurate

[213]

a lot of people who are leftist libertarian end up registering on the right side on these kinds of test. the reason being that there is a drastic difference between the solutions proposed and the actual outcome.