Political Compass

[06hurdwp]

I just took the Political Compass test and scored:

Economic Left/Right: -8.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.97


Is this good or bad?

[Terminator X]

It's irrelevant.

Live life, read books, get involved - that'll tell you a hell of a lot more about your beliefs than a poxy internet quiz.

[06hurdwp]

It's irrelevant.

Live life, read books, get involved - that'll tell you a hell of a lot more about your beliefs than a poxy internet quiz.


Yes thats true, but I want to know if my result is consistent with someone who claims to be a Communist

[Leftsolidarity]

Economic Left/Right: -9.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.77

[Leftsolidarity]

not that it matter too much but now you have someone to compare it too

[Obs]

Yes thats true, but I want to know if my result is consistent with someone who claims to be a Communist

The political compass quiz is irrelevant because its questions are phrased in a way that are incompatible with anti-capitalist thought. For instance, one question asks if the quiz taker believes that protectionism is necessary for a free market. This is, of course, a nonsense question for a leftists, who opposes a market economy and rejects the very idea that any such thing as a "free" market could exist.

[bezdomni]

When I hear "political compass", I reach for my Marakov...

[StoneFrog]

lol funny the first time i took that quiz, i ended up next too stalin.. i was like who that?(yes i was super ignorant) actually one of the reasons i looked into communism.

now im probably about where you are.

[hatzel]

Is this good or bad?

It's literally the worst result you could ever possibly have :)

Hint: as the other users have said, that test is pointless. We'll judge your politics by your politics, by the opinions you argue on this site. Not by some numbers some machine has pulled out of its robobutt. We'll very soon be able to tell you whether your politics are "consistent with someone who claims to be a Communist," though, and some of us have already, so sit tight, and all will be revealed...

[Ismail]

This link has a good critique of the compass, among other things: http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/redefining_the_political_spectru.htm


Effectively, the other two systems, the Nolan system and Political Compass system, only measure degrees of regulation, however this is insufficient, because it really tells you nothing about what is being regulated, the reasoning behind the regulations, or the intended goal. They also make the incorrect assertion that "regulations" and "freedom" are inherently contradictory, while this is not really true - it all depends on the nature and execution of the regulations.

For example, regulations that prevent slavery increase freedom. Rules and regulations are not by definition restrictive on the whole, as their net effect can be to facilitate liberty. For example, by having traffic lights we can regulate traffic in a way to reduce congestion and accidents, therefore the rules actually facilitate freedom of travel, they don't restrict it.

By referring to Left and Right purely in terms of laissez-faire vs. authoritarian, things like regulations preventing racism and regulations enforcing racism with equal degrees cannot be properly depicted. However, if we consider racism to be an issue that can be viewed in terms of Left and Right, and we view anti-racist ideology as "Leftist" and racist ideology as "Rightist", then strict regulation of racism, either to prevent it or promote it, can be shown as authoritarian Left and Right policy accordingly, while policy that takes no stance on racism at all is simply Liberal. Thus Affirmative Action is seen not as a "Liberal" program, but as a socially Leftist program that is "Left of Liberal." Likewise, the Nazi use of the State to enforce racial genocide is obviously not "Liberal" or even Leftist, it's an example of the authoritarian Right.

Obviously, in this case, both Affirmative Action and the Holocaust are examples of the use of State authority to regulate matters of race. According to both the Political Compass and the Nolan Chart these two policies would have to be lumped together on their political spectrums, which plainly makes no sense.The "Nolan Quiz" of course is pretty much terrible (http://world.std.com/%7Emhuben/rupright.html).

[PhoenixAsh]

Wauw...that is a bullshit quiz and it is definately well established withkn the boundraries of capitalist economy.

There is no way for a communist or anarchist to answer towards his or her political and economic ideals.

[Kenco Smooth]

The political compass is not only useless for those who don't fit in the capitalist paradigm but is completely off for anyone who ideologicaly does fit in it. The thing throws people to the left and into the libertarian section (largely a bias in the questions but I can't help but feel there's something wrong with the method used to assign positions).

To get into the right-authoritarian quarter you more or less have to be an out and out fascist.

[Bronco]

Yeah it's completely useless, which is why I'm surprised that a lot of members put their results in their sigs

[Aurorus Ruber]

It works pretty well I would say for people in mainstream political positions (liberal and conservative and so forth). If you're comparing people who share the assumption that the current political system works and merely disagree over the details, it can provide a satisfying picture. But of course it does a poor job of addressing the qualitative differences between political philosophies that go beyond degrees of social liberalism and such. If you don't share the assumption of liberal democracy and capitalist economics, the results become rather meaningless, particularly on economic issues.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Well I win, I got -10 and -10.

[SacRedMan]

Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.03

Is this a good score?

(oh, and the quiz isn't worth it afterall)

[Kiev Communard]

I would say that in order to evaluate one's political position properly, it is necessary to take an immense number of factors into account, with the result that no simple two-dimension plane may be used to represent them correctly. Therefore all such simplistic quizzes are fundamentally useless.

As to more "leftist" form of possible political classification (no pun intended), it is necessary to take into account the positions of various political movements on fundamental issues of class system and the State, so that it would be like that:

1. Bourgeois liberals - Support capitalist class system, favour "laissez-faire", yet in fact authoritarian State, well equipped to prop up capitalist property and provide direct support to capitalists (i.e. "corporate welfare"). Dominant economic ideology: Classical liberalism/neoliberalism/right-"libertarianism".

2. Bourgeois conservatives - Support "strong State" (protectionist and regulationist), favour paternalistic policies towards the subaltern classes in order to stabilise capitalist class rule. Dominant economic ideology: Regulationism/Keynesianism/"soft" corporatism.

3. Petty-bourgeois corporatists (fascists, Third Positionists) - Support "organic State" as a centralized organisation of capitalist class, dumbly believing that it is somehow "above classes". Generally are co-opted by bourgeois conservatives and are used as dupes/minor partners, without their programme being fully realized. If they come to power on their own, they generally constitute a "new bourgeoisie", with the old one being subordinated to them, but mercilessly prosecute those of their supporters who actually believe in their former ideas. Dominant economic ideology: "military Keynesianism"/corporatism.

4. Petty-bourgeois State socialists - democratic socialists and (original) Labourists. Not to be confused with modern-day "social democrats", who are nothing but paternalistic bourgeois conservatives ("Blue Labour") or outright neoliberals (think Dominique Strauss Kahn as "socialist" leader:laugh:).

5. Petty-bourgeois libertarians - market anarchists, mutualists, left-Libertarians, etc. I think this does not warrant additional explanation, save for the fact that they are genuinely against capitalism and its State, yet strive for the society of small commodity producers that would be likely to contain tendencies towards the capitalist restoration. Dominant economic ideology: Individualist anarchism/mutualism.

5. Proletarian State socialists - Marxists-Leninists, Trotskyists, Bordigists, more radical democratic socialists and Labourists. I think it is clear there.

And finally:

6. Proletarian libertarians - collectivist and communist anarchists (including anarcho-syndicalists), Council Communists, Autonomist Marxists, Luxemburgists, De Leonists, etc. All these groups are united by their rejection of equation of socialization with statization and their emphasis on proletarian autonomy. Dominant economic ideology: Libertarian Marxism/social anarchism.

At least that is how I see it.

[Savage]

5. Proletarian State socialists - Marxists-Leninists, Trotskyists, Bordigists, more radical democratic socialists and Labourists. I think it is clear there.

No. Bordiga wasn't a statist, he only believed that the state would exist (as a constantly decaying entity) during the period of transition, and he certainly did not consider this period to be socialist.


6. Proletarian libertarians - collectivist and communist anarchists (including anarcho-syndicalists), Council Communists, Autonomist Marxists, Luxemburgists, De Leonists, etc. All these groups are united by their rejection of equation of socialization with statization and their emphasis on proletarian autonomy. Dominant economic ideology: Libertarian Marxism/social anarchism.These groups believed that the state would exist during the period of communization, I don't know what proletarian autonomy necessarily means, but if it's anything other than the proletariats' control over society as a whole and the complete revolutionization of social relations (including their existence as a class) then these groups rejected it. I wouldn't go around calling any DeLeonites 'libertarian', and Luxemburg was closer to Lenin than to than any of these number 6 tendencies.

[Savage]

As for the political compass, there is communism and there is capitalism, that is all you need to know.

[Die Rote Fahne]

Peep the sig.

[hatzel]

Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.03

Is this a good score?

Nah, it's not even left enough to count as liberalism :tt2:

Seriously, if anybody else ever comes along and posts a couple of numbers and asks if they're 'good', then I'll...well, I'll laugh, so you'll have to live with knowing that I (of all people :mellow:) laughed at your expense. Oh, the shame, the shaaaaame!