Quantifying sociopolitical views into a polical ideology

[Cunning_plan]

Sorry for the wordy title. The issue I am having is working out where I fit on the political spectrum. I have experimented with things like political compass etc but that's quite hard to use to find a political ideology/group especially when green views end up forcing me more towards the top right than I should be.

Is there a similar resource that will take your political views and suggest what kind of politic you follow, or does it just take time and reading? In the end is it really that important? People seem to cling to their specific groupings almost as strongly as Christians stick to their particular sect.

Any suggestions?

Many Thanks as ever,

Cunning

[apathy maybe]

How about you try describing some of your views, and then you will get a bunch of people jumping and saying, "you are obviously a Marxist!", even if you've never looked at Marxist writings before.

That's always fun.

But no, it isn't important what you call yourself. It makes it slightly easier to find people who agree with you (or whom you agree with), and it makes it easier for people to ignore you because you are a Trot, anarchist, greenie, whatever.

[Nwoye]

But no, it isn't important what you call yourself.

I 100% agree. I don't think you should label yourself, especially based on what some online political test tells you.

[Invincible Summer]

If you really want, you can take the Political Compass test (http://www.politicalcompass.org/)

[ckaihatsu]

How about you try describing some of your views, and then you will get a bunch of people jumping and saying, "you are obviously a Marxist!", even if you've never looked at Marxist writings before.

That's always fun.

But no, it isn't important what you call yourself. It makes it slightly easier to find people who agree with you (or whom you agree with), and it makes it easier for people to ignore you because you are a Trot, anarchist, greenie, whatever.


Gentle reminder:

- Our *objective* interests correspond to our *objective* relationship to the means of mass production (which is the most broad-based, cutting-edge, and influential technology that society has ever developed).

- Our *subjective* attitude towards this fact determines our sociopolitical views.

One could be born into a wealthy family, acknowledge it, and yet decide to subjectively identify with the class struggle. Or, one could be working class and deny it and subjectively identify your politics in relation to the bullshit propaganda coming out of mainstream channels, thus making you a Green, a liberal, or a radical. If you're basically anti-capitalist but too locale-oriented then you're an anarchist.

Anyone still reading this please go and see Trotsky's "Permanent Revolution".


Chris


P.S. I did up a handy political spectrum to deal with this very issue of political ideologies. Please keep in mind that in the real world we routinely build platforms with near-like-minded people, but our own support is grounded in certain principles that grow out of our political worldview.


Ideologies & Operations

http://tinyurl.com/yqotq9




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-- Of all the Marxists in a roomful of people, I'm the Wilde-ist. --

[Annie K.]

I don't think you should bother trying to find one word to describe your entire political engagement. Take it too seriously, and you might even start to inverse the process of locating yourself, and adapt your reflexion to the ideology to which you think you belong. It is useful only in very particular situations, and by using the same name systematically, you risk to forget that fact. In fact, the only use I ever found in calling myself political names is to scare off people who really believe that anarchists are waiting the first occasion to burn their homes and kidnap their kids.

Anyway, you will be categorized eventually. Be lazy and let others do it as they please.

[ckaihatsu]

I don't think you should bother trying to find one word to describe your entire political engagement. Take it too seriously, and you might even start to inverse the process of locating yourself, and adapt your reflexion to the ideology to which you think you belong. It is useful only in very particular situations, and by using the same name systematically, you risk to forget that fact. In fact, the only use I ever found in calling myself political names is to scare off people who really believe that anarchists are waiting the first occasion to burn their homes and kidnap their kids.

Anyway, you will be categorized eventually. Be lazy and let others do it as they please.


Annie, I'd like to preface my comments with my continued concern about your tagline. You should either change it, or find help if your personal situation requires it.


That said, I'd like to make a case study of this post of yours. I do not mean it as an attack.

The reader should note the religious-type language used: "...locating yourself" and "...the ideology to which you think you belong."

These are attempts to soften what politics is and to situate it in more of a personal, touchy-feely kind of approach. As I stated previously, politics is 100% about where your interests lie, and in the case of working people, our interests as a class reside in our ability to collectively control the means of mass production -- the basis of all material substance in human society.

[Annie K.]

You're talking about this "hit me!" ? I don't see the problem, it's just a lousy pun with my user name. And if it lets some of you catch self-depreciative or sexual innuendos, that just adds a well-needed touch of sarcasm to this demonstration of my poor sense of humor.

Interests can be thought over at many different levels. Some workers think their interest is to get a raise, some to get enough money to start their own business, some to get a social-democrat party elected, some to have their class seize control of the means of production, some to bring down the class-based society as soon as possible, some to get saved by jesus.
Politics is about what one says and does. Beliefs and ideologies are politics. Touchy approaches are politics. Positivist, materialist approaches are politics. In most of the cases (everyone except the marxists), class dialectics is history, not politics.

This one seems like he wants to "work out where he fits". I said that I hardly see the point in it.

[ZeroNowhere]

If you really want, you can take the Political Compass test (http://www.politicalcompass.org/)
Which is relatively useless and capitalism-centric.

[Invincible Summer]

Which is relatively useless and capitalism-centric.


True, but it's sort of fun to see where you fit on their spectrum.


I just realized he said he already used it though.


but that's quite hard to use to find a political ideology/group especially when green views end up forcing me more towards the top right than I should be.

Is there a similar resource that will take your political views and suggest what kind of politic you follow, or does it just take time and reading?

I think that you just need to read a variety of literature, as well as try to interact with different groups to find out "where you belong." It may change too, so just be open-minded.



In the end is it really that important? People seem to cling to their specific groupings almost as strongly as Christians stick to their particular sect.

Well, no, it's not that important. I see people clinging to their specific groupings similar to people strongly believing in their opinions. Religious beliefs are also opinions. Do you see where I'm going with this?

[Nwoye]

An interesting quiz that I've taken, although I can't link to it cuz' I'm a newb, is from openpolitics.

Although it will frustrate anarchists.

[ckaihatsu]

Which is relatively useless and capitalism-centric.


It's kind of like a cocktail party ice-breaker kind of thing -- it's a little novelty that'll get you into the whole "politics mood" if you aren't already, but I wouldn't take it too seriously, especially if you simply * have something to say * yourself.

I don't know how much it explains about the difference between public ownership versus private ownership -- maybe it *obscures* more than it reveals...! 8 /