Are you conservative, moderate, or liberal?

[Tamhansen]

Actually I was referring to Victoria 2, but yes I find myself playing too much CK2 these days. As well. As war of the roses, but that's a completely different experience.

As for that poll, you would end up with a lot of choices, plus you would have to explain a lot of them I reckon. Ah the blissful simplicity of a two party system. No tough choices, just red or blue, elephants or donkeys. [ /jest  ]

[Oniya]

And these are just the examples I've researched so far. Guessing there are a few more. I'm currently working out a four axis system, to include religious tolerance, but There's still no 4 dimensional display mechanism.

Color variants, plus the X/Y/Z system.  Beyond that you start requiring animation.

[Tamhansen]

Yeah, maybe color variation might work, but it'd be less clear. Still very few options in this 3d universe of ours.

[Avis habilis]

Beyond that you start requiring animation.

Or some kind of socio-political tesseract.

[Oniya]

Well, you're still projecting onto a two-dimensional retina.  Stereo vision allows us to see three dimensions with relative ease, but when you're dealing with irregular forms, four is pushing it.

(Regular forms like n-cubes can be interpreted quite a bit farther, I've found.  Ninth-grade geometry had some interesting 'slackers' in the back row.)

[Moraline]

This poll is flawed - what's defined in the poll is nothing like the definition of those parties that I've been raised with and I'm not so certain that many people in the UK would agree with those definitions either (but I'm just guessing.)

Also, why is there 3 versions of liberal and only 2 versions of conservatives? Don't conservatives have the same sets of extremes?

I think the terms, radical, crazed, and communism as well as socialism are being used in a context that's not being clearly defined either.

Especially since communism and socialism are philosophical concepts all their own. Trying to define something like communism is like trying to define democracy - many counties and people have their own ideas of how it should work and what it means to them. You can't just tag on a word like socialism for instance and expect it to be clear - where do you begin to say it's socialism? Is every act of social reform and support an act of socialism? Does conservatism contain no form of socialism within it at all?


... Although with an American Election looming.. why don't we just have a "Who are you voting for poll?"

[Oniya]

As I suggested in my earlier post (which may or may not line up with the poll-maker's thoughts), when you hit 'Crazy Conservative', you'd be more likely to want to burn E with fire than sign up.

Just my thoughts.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I'm a conservative that leans toward the right.  But your poll choices are flawed, as they're limited to the European definition of these terms. 

We're American, aren't we?

I'm a conservative because I believe in Constitutionally limited government, the Bill of Rights, and freedom.  I utterly oppose big government and its fiscally unsound spending (in the form of Bailouts and foreign aid in the form of Fast and Furious) and the idea of my country being indebted to foreign countries that utterly hate our way of life.  One of these days, China is going to come calling on the substantial amount of money we've borrowed from them.  And when we can't pay...what then?

Well, many people on this board are American.  Many are not.  So I find nothing unreasonable about phrasing a poll in a global context.

There's a saying in financial circles: If a deadbeat owes you $1,000, they have a problem.  If a deadbeat owes you $1 million, you have a problem.  Of course, with financial matters everything is relative, but you get the gist of it.  If the day arrives when we can't pay China, they're the ones with a problem.  They have no way to collect.  What are they going to do, muscle the United States of America?  We are the world's muscle.

[Cyrano Johnson]

As I suggested in my earlier post (which may or may not line up with the poll-maker's thoughts), when you hit 'Crazy Conservative', you'd be more likely to want to burn E with fire than sign up.

Just my thoughts.

I wonder about that. I have the impression the far right is plenty freaky behind closed doors.

[Tamhansen]

true, but then your outward demeanor might be crazy conservative, but your true nature would not be. So either you'd be lying to the world or to yourself.

[Hemingway]

I live in a left-leaning European country, and I find myself to the left of the government on many issues. I guess that makes me Crazy Liberal. Which I kind of like. It's like, I'm not just liberal, I'm craaazy liberal. Because freedom is so crazy!

On tests like the Political Compass, I consistently land close to the south-western corner, which is the Left Liberal neighborhood, right next to the social anarchists. I don't identify with any particular label, though. I suppose you might say that I'm an anarchist in principle, but I'm more pragmatic than that in practice.

[elone]

As far as the given choices go I would have to say radical liberal, although I think the communist part of it doesn't really fit.

I support abortion rights, same sex marriage (with full spousal benefits), legalization of most illegal drugs (what a tax boon that would be), national health, etc., etc.,

In other words, the right to life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I also support a socialist agenda of nationalizing utilities, big oil, and negotiating with drug companies as a government.

I do recognize that the government is not the most effective management company, but maybe we could hire Milt Romney as the Secretary of Commerce to oversee this.

I would reduce our military spending and stop being the policeman of the world, then maybe we could afford to feed our hungry and take care of our own.

I would vote for Dennis Kucinich in a heartbeat.

I am sure there are a lot of arguments against some or all of this, but that is not what this topic is about.

[Grainne]

I just have to post here tonight.

I am Proudly, and unabashedly, a huge, knee-jerk, flaming Liberal..actually, I'd say I'm a Social Democrat, but we have no such party here in the States so I'm just a Democrat, who's a Liberal, who loves the Progressive Caucus, and thinks that Bernie Sanders rocks. :)

[Callie Del Noire]

I just have to post here tonight.

I am Proudly, and unabashedly, a huge, knee-jerk, flaming Liberal..actually, I'd say I'm a Social Democrat, but we have no such party here in the States so I'm just a Democrat, who's a Liberal, who loves the Progressive Caucus, and thinks that Bernie Sanders rocks. :)

While i don't agree with everything the Right Honarable Mr Sanders supports, I agree with his take against corporate personhood and respect his attitude and leadership. If we had more well spoken Leaders like him, we might actually get some stuff done.

[Tamhansen]

While i don't agree with everything the Right Honarable Mr Sanders supports, I agree with his take against corporate personhood and respect his attitude and leadership. If we had more well spoken Leaders like him, we might actually get some stuff done.

I dread the day the US government actually starts getting things done. They might just solve the energy crisis or alleviate world horror. Hell they might even legalise stem cell research which would lead to the extinction of hundreds of diseases and ailments. that'd mean I'd have to rethink my gloomy world view and i hate effort.

[Question Mark]

Threw my vote on the heap.  I'm moderate in a lot of ways, because I feel compromise should be the core of American democracy.  I'm very socially progressive, and support a mostly isolationist foreign policy where we keep our armies out of foreign nations.  I believe in a moderate safety net; small, efficient, temporary, perfect for getting people through some bad luck but unsustainable in the long run.  I think the government should regulate businesses, but it needs to be streamlined to prevent rober barons and mega-corps from dominating the market, but not cumbersome to small businesses.

I'm kind of halfway between Stein and Johnson, with a little of Obama (2008 edition) mixed in.  So, on this poll, I'm a moderate liberal.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I would call myself a pragmatic centrist.  Or, perhaps, a hard-boiled technocrat.  I'm in favor of things that work.  This means I support free enterprise and economic freedom, but I also believe there must be a "referee" to keep things fair, enforce standards, and guard against excessive disparities in wealth and corporate malfeasance.  I also think the free market is nearsighted, and that some government projects are necessary to fund things that don't provide a rate of return starting next quarter or next year (public education, pure science R&D, the space program, interstate highways and other infrastructure, etc.).  I also think there's a credible argument to be made in favor of adding at least some level of health care to the basic services government already provides or is at least substantially involved in (i.e., highways and roads, ATC, water and sewerage, national defense, Social Security, etc.) and I'd like a mature, fact-based national dialogue on this (not "ZOMG!!!!!1! BARACK HUSSEIN WANTS DEATH PANELS!!1!!").  But where the unfettered (or lightly fettered) free market can provide, I say let it do so and keep government interference to a minimum.

On social issues, I'd probably qualify as "center-left."  I support civil unions for homosexuals (I think the State should just butt out of marriage entirely).  On most things the Right bitches about, I say to each his or her own.  Don't like drugs?  Don't do them.  Don't like porn? Don't watch it.  Don't like cannabis?  Don't smoke it.  Don't like homosex?  Don't have it.  Don't like abortions?  Don't have one.  And so on.  On the other side of the coin, I support the death penalty (though I think in a well-run system, it would be uncommon), and hard prison time for violent crimes.

[WildCat]

Also, why is there 3 versions of liberal and only 2 versions of conservatives? Don't conservatives have the same sets of extremes?

Well, really there aren't. The poll has moderates and two degrees of conservative and liberal. Just that in America we call moderates "liberal", conservatives "moderate" and right-wing nutjobs "conservative". :)

Anyway, I'm the kind of American democrat that longs for Kucinich or Sanders but wants to win badly enough to vote for Edwards or Obama.

[Stattick]

Also, the poll only allowed a max of 5 options.

[Vekseid]

There should have been a button for adding more, the limit is supposed to be 20.

[Stattick]

There should have been a button for adding more, the limit is supposed to be 20.

I looked and didn't find anything. Maybe scriptblock for Firefox screwed it up for me?

[Vekseid]

If you're blocking scripts from E you'll have problems with features like that, yes :-p

[Stattick]

If you're blocking scripts from E you'll have problems with features like that, yes :-p

Scripblock tells me that elliquiy's allowed, but google-analytics.com is not. I can always change that... turn it on temporarily or permanently. But I'm a paranoid sort, so I dislike turning on scripts for something that's used on multiple sites, worried that it could be used as a vector for malware.

[Vekseid]

Analytics isn't relevant.

When you click on 'New Poll', below the list of entry boxes there should be a link that says 'Add Option'

[Stattick]

Analytics isn't relevant.

When you click on 'New Poll', below the list of entry boxes there should be a link that says 'Add Option'

Ah, so there was.