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View Full Version : The political spectrum of RevLeft posters



Black_Rose
30th September 2011, 04:10
I recently took the Political Compass test and I scored a -7.28 and -2.88. I had similar results when I last took the test approximately three years ago, but obtaining similar results is somewhat surprising as I thought I have moved significantly to the left since I fervently read the writings of Henry CK Liu and devoted more intellectual effort towards study history. Perhaps I just realize the inherent flaws of liberal democracy, especially during the epoch of neoliberalism in contrast to a bipolar Cold War geopolitical order, and how liberal democracy is mutually incompatible with my political objectives, but haven't really changed my political objectives, although I certainly have different strategic and tactical insights now.

As for myself, I would be content with social democracy, although I am not a person who would lambaste those who advocate a planned economy, state-socialism, or communism, and I actually appreciate the economic accomplishments of the DDR and see it as a legitimate and tenable regime. However, one reason why I consider myself a revolutionary is that I understand that contemporary liberal democracy is not the ideal political vehicle that would lead to the fruition of social democracy because liberal democracy allows the bourgeoisie, who are reactionary and, at best, liberal leftists, to disproportionately influence policy due to their financial resources, which would thwart any opportunity to adopt a leftist government policy. I was smart enough to realize that, despite the fervor of the "radical left" (the Daily Kos habitues are the perfect stereotype) for Barack Obama's rhetoric for "hope and change", Obama would not be able to enact any policy that had the semblance of socialism/social democracy because of the nature of the political system precludes it (and this was assuming that he was an earnest leftist). Nevertheless, I thought he would reverse the Bush tax cuts, but he wasn't able to accomplish that.

In other words, I am explicitly anti-bourgeoisie rather than someone who affirms the merits of "far-left" economic ideologies such as communism.

Now, my question is what is the gamut of political ideologies held by the posters of RevLeft? It is indeed likely that I am a relatively right-wing poster here, but I am most certainly not a reactionary or liberal.

What is the distribution of the horizontal (economic) axis of the political compass for the general population (of the United States or any other country)?

Commissar Rykov
30th September 2011, 07:28
Political Compass is useless and usually just there for people who have no clue about politics to be astounded by. It is fun I guess if you are into things like astrology or random net quizzes. I enjoy taking various political tests as they typically contradict the last one I took.

Smyg
30th September 2011, 10:08
Actually mine was fairly accurate. -10, -10. :D

DarkPast
30th September 2011, 11:49
Political Compass doesn't really work because it depicts the Right and Left in terms of laissez-faire vs. protectionism in the economy. Which is, of course, nonsense. The quiz is useless for people like us who think outside the frames of the current political system.

That said, it works pretty well 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 who just disagree over the details, it can be somewhat useful.

Nox
30th September 2011, 11:50
-10, -10

Smyg
30th September 2011, 11:53
Never knew you were an anarchist, Dzh. :rolleyes: :D

El Louton
30th September 2011, 11:57
-9.50 -7.23

Nox
30th September 2011, 11:58
Never knew you were an anarchist, Dzh. :rolleyes: :D

All communists, regardless of tendency, have the same end goal (a stateless, classless society)

GPDP
30th September 2011, 12:07
All communists, regardless of tendency, have the same end goal (a stateless, classless society)

This. The test is basically worthless for us communists. Most of us are gonna end up in the bottom left corner regardless of tendency, which by itself should raise some awareness as to the test's limitations, because you'd swear from the shitstorms we have here that we couldn't possibly all be so close together on it.

ZeroNowhere
30th September 2011, 14:11
I am out of left field.