Where do you see yourself on the political spectrum?

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Where do you see yourself on the political spectrum?

  • Who needs governments, I'm a right wing libertarian anarchist / survivalist

    Votes: 2 2.6%

  • Pat Buchanan is my hero.

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • A firm conservative

    Votes: 3 3.9%

  • Mainly conservative, but liberal on a couple of issues

    Votes: 5 6.6%

  • Centrist, but more conservative than liberal

    Votes: 8 10.5%

  • Centrist, but more liberal than conservative

    Votes: 14 18.4%

  • Mainly liberal, but conservative on a couple of issues

    Votes: 13 17.1%

  • A solid liberal

    Votes: 21 27.6%

  • Far out flamin' leftie. Let's squeez the rich and increase taxes to 80%

    Votes: 6 7.9%

  • Bring down the rotten capitalist system, I'm an anarcho syndicalist/Trotskyie/Communist

    Votes: 3 3.9%
  • Total voters
    76
  • Poll closed .
Irvine511 said:
anyway ... how could an open forum have a bias? if you think it's too left wing, then open your right wing mouth and say something. and vice versa.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if the board is skewed mostly leftward then when you open your gob, you get a 2 to 1 lambasting and that is just based on people's perception of themselves. It could be more heavily skewed if people are misidentifying themselves.

There are certain topics where discussion has been civil, but more often it disintegrates, and you have to parry multiple opinions without the benefit of someone else helping to articulate your points. So a lot of people just choose to not participate unless they can avoid being thrown into the minority opinion which is usually characterized as being racist/mean/homophobic/cruel/rigid/stupid/mysoginistic/greedy/unreasonable and that doesn't even include the more creative ways of calling someone that you don't agree with you an idiot. It's a big part of why I delete more than 75% of the posts I write.

If this board leaned rightward, the same arguments would be made by the cowering left. (Instead of by the cowering right) I'm just trying to illustrate why it's so hard to participate on this board if you're in the minority. And yet I'm a political junkie and a huge U2 fan, so it's like a moth to a flame.

To change the tone:

I love this poll! I was just thinking that I'd love to know where people SEE themselves on the political spectrum. It would be great to then have a poll to strike out where they are actually are in the political spectrum as a counter-point.

For the record I put myself down as Firm Conservative, which means that most of you look at me like I have two heads, and think that I take great glee in poisioning the environment from my ivory tower, stealing medicare from Granny, stoning gays for Jesus, starving the homeless (particularly the black ones), and that I can't wait to gun down an abortion doctor, all this while collecting corporate welfare to pay for the gas in my SUV with a go W sticker on the bumper. :rolleyes:
 
starsforu2 said:


Yeah, but if the board is skewed mostly leftward then when you open your gob, you get a 2 to 1 lambasting and that is just based on people's perception of themselves. It could be more heavily skewed if people are misidentifying themselves.

There are certain topics where discussion has been civil, but more often it disintegrates, and you have to parry multiple opinions without the benefit of someone else helping to articulate your points. So a lot of people just choose to not participate unless they can avoid being thrown into the minority opinion which is usually characterized as being racist/mean/homophobic/cruel/rigid/stupid/mysoginistic/greedy/unreasonable and that doesn't even include the more creative ways of calling someone that you don't agree with you an idiot. It's a big part of why I delete more than 75% of the posts I write.

If this board leaned rightward, the same arguments would be made by the cowering left. (Instead of by the cowering right) I'm just trying to illustrate why it's so hard to participate on this board if you're in the minority. And yet I'm a political junkie and a huge U2 fan, so it's like a moth to a flame.
Click to expand...



but i think everyone feels that way. it just seems, to me, and regardless of being right or left or in the minority or majority, that some choose to stay and fight and others choose to do several other things.

i will say, however, that the left leaning arguments, to me (and i realize this is a biased opinion), are in general more coherently argued than right leaning arguments. i'd like to think (and, hey, perhaps i'm delusional) that i'm able to appreciate a well-argued position, whether or not i agree with it, and based purely upon my own observations, i don't see equal quality of writing between left-leaning and right-leaning posters.

there are, however, notable exceptions. NBC is always logically sound. STING2 is always ready with a dissertation on UN Security Council resolutions. you've put forward some well worded arguments.

but, on the whole, the sheer number of people who are able to argue on a sophistocated level does skew leftward, in my opinion. and too often, your more right-leaning posters either make comments that are totally lacking in nuance (see the breast-feeding thread) or make arguments that are centered around the infallabilitly of the Bible, or more accurately, their belief in the infallability of their interpretaton of the Bible. and then when their beliefs are questioned, they scream about being discriminated against and being persecuted for their beliefs.

simply not a good basis for a rational discussion.

i'd also add that, on social issues, i do see a majority left-leaning of posters.

however, on international issues, i'd see a pro-American bias by the posters, myself included. in the US, i'm rather liberal. in Europe, i'd be centrist, if not even a bit center-right.

all to do with broader perspective.

and i haven't voted in this poll. i refuse to check off a box that i feel is inapplicable.

i'd call myself a "realist progressive."
 
Irvine511 said:
but i think everyone feels that way. it just seems, to me, and regardless of being right or left or in the minority or majority, that some choose to stay and fight and others choose to do several other things.

i will say, however, that the left leaning arguments, to me (and i realize this is a biased opinion), are in general more coherently argued than right leaning arguments. i'd like to think (and, hey, perhaps i'm delusional) that i'm able to appreciate a well-argued position, whether or not i agree with it, and based purely upon my own observations, i don't see equal quality of writing between left-leaning and right-leaning posters.

there are, however, notable exceptions. NBC is always logically sound. STING2 is always ready with a dissertation on UN Security Council resolutions. you've put forward some well worded arguments.

but, on the whole, the sheer number of people who are able to argue on a sophistocated level does skew leftward, in my opinion. and too often, your more right-leaning posters either make comments that are totally lacking in nuance (see the breast-feeding thread) or make arguments that are centered around the infallabilitly of the Bible, or more accurately, their belief in the infallability of their interpretaton of the Bible. and then when their beliefs are questioned, they scream about being discriminated against and being persecuted for their beliefs.

simply not a good basis for a rational discussion.

i'd also add that, on social issues, i do see a majority left-leaning of posters.

however, on international issues, i'd see a pro-American bias by the posters, myself included. in the US, i'm rather liberal. in Europe, i'd be centrist, if not even a bit center-right.

all to do with broader perspective.

and i haven't voted in this poll. i refuse to check off a box that i feel is inapplicable.

i'd call myself a "realist progressive."
Click to expand...

Yes you're biased :wink: but that's beside the point. I actually agree with much of your post, but I have to point out that there are half as many conservatives and thus you'd have half as many articulate posters on any given issue.

Plus, I think that when people are of a majority they will more quickly quell dissent instead of determining if there is a grain of truth or an untested idea in the mixture. And I think for some it's very sporting to start ripping on an idea or have fun playing devil's advocate. For me, I think I just need to toughen my skin and wade in, even if I look like a fool sometimes. Some of my positions are hard to articulate quickly or stem from a belief system different from yours. Which brings me to the next point.


On the religious points: It's easy to see that biblical arguments don't work with people who don't believe in the efficacy or accuracy of the bible, so I only argue using the bible when it pertains to the topic at hand... having said that, it does cripple my rhetoric because I do believe that the bible is important to my philosophy and so it can sometimes be hard to explain why I think something works better my way, or that my way is the more moral way when we can't even agree on what is moral.

In any case, I've enjoyed carrying on discussions with you, so thanks :up:
 
Mainly liberal, but conservative on a couple of issues.

Oddly enough, the issues I am conservative about (abortion and gay marriage, etc) I am merely personally conservative about. I don't want to see any current laws changed or overturned (or added, for that matter.) Yes, the "this is how I feel about this but it's not right to impose my beliefs on others" thing.

So since I'm only "legally" liberal on these issues, (in the end, my vote goes to the liberals), does this make me a solid liberal by default?
 
BTW..I'd be interested to know everyone's defenition of "centrist" either left or right-leaning, since today centrism seems to be dead. Is centrist the same as Libertarian ("it depends on the issue/court case/incident"?)
 
If you're looking for a personal definition from a left-leaning centrist, I think that a centrist sees no ideology as sacred, often looks at both sides with dismay as to how entrenched they are in their positions. A centrist seeks balance (not a perfect balance, but a reasonable one) between rights and power and viewpoint. A good centrist views himself as objective, so will make his decision based on the circumstances at hand.

Left leaning, I favor the worker, choice, graduated income tax, environmental and business regulation. However, I believe that the regulations have to be reasonable and not crippling, that the
worker has to give good production. I believe in corporate accountability, but I also believe in personal accountability.

A centrist will look at both sides of an issue and isn't afraid of compromise. I think a centrist will get uncomfortable when the balance of power sways too much either way. A centrist is practical. For example (ducks from possible flame), although I believe in gay marriage, I think the fight right now should be for civil unions. I think there is strong support for that when you don't use the word marriage. Later on, when it becomes a fait accompli, the word marriage will slide into the accepted vocabulary of its own volition. Gays ultimately get what they want. The traditionalists aren't threatened. A centrist isn't going to get all tied up in the language of a situation.

A centrist sees both sides and believes that most times the truth is somewhere in between.
 
PS. Centrist is usually considered a moderate. Or in some circles, wishy-washy or unprincipled opportunists.:wink:
 
What if you agree half the time with the conservatives, while wanting the hippy liberals to stop smoking weed but the rest of the time you reckon the conservatives should pull the carrots out of their arses and perhaps...have a smoke and lighten up?

:confused:
 
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