December 23, 2003
More Tests, More Knowledge
By Byron LaMasters
So what are you?
Here's my results:
Your political views are Liberal.
Your political party is most likely Democrat.
Fairly accurate. Then again, it called Owen a moderate, and if you've ever read his blog, he's anything but a moderate (most of us would classify it as "right-wing reactionary").
Posted by Byron LaMasters at December 23, 2003 10:20 PM
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Byron,
Apparently I'm a moderate with slight Republican leanings too. Hmmm, not so much. I think it was my putting down that I favor decriminalizing marijuana and lowering the drinking age to 18 that did it, but I don't see why that would skew the score to the left THAT much.
Sherk
Yeah, I basically supported the "liberal / Democratic" position on basically all the issues execpt:
14. Should the average person be permitted to purchase a handgun?
I said "yes"
15. Should all handgun purchases require registration?
I said "no"
Every other issue I gave what I would expect to be the "liberal" or Democratic response. I used to support handgun registration, but I've come to realize that such a system is unenforceable and unrealistic, and the backlash would be significant. It's not worth it. And I support the rights of average citizens with no criminal background to purchase non-assault weapons whenever they choose.
As with most surveys, the big problem is that it assumes that every issue is black and white. Several of the questions I wanted to qualify, which is impossible. (For example, the question "are taxes too high?" My response would be Hell Yes and Hell No - depending on property versus income versus sales, local versus state versus federal, which income bracket, etc.)
This leads to the greater issue of why labels (i.e. liberal versus conservatove) are so meaningless for essentially three reasons. First, the liberal versus conservative dichtomy assumes that there are only two sides to any issue, or at least that they exist on a linear specrum, which is naive thinking. Second, one can be "conservative" on some issues and "liberal" on others. Third, the definitions change drastically over time and place. For example, a conservative in China is a communist.
As a further example of the last point is that the C & L labels have completely lost their original meaning, which is apparent from the words' etymology. Historically, Conservative meant resistant to change. Bush's National Security advisers would proudly call themselves conservative, yet they want to radically change (admitedly so) our national policy on the issue. Historically, Liberal meant in favor of personal liberties. A true laissez faire economy (Milton Friedman's dream)is a "classically Liberal" economy. Milton Friedman & his followers would cringe at the thought of being called Liberals (it might even drive his followers to commit more political assasinations in Latin America).
In sum, that is why I love Sam Rayburn's immortal words, "I am a Democrat, without prefix, without suffix, and without apology."
WhoMe?,
If you look back even further, 'conservative' simply referred to security, or protection. In it's essense, however, it has always referred to traditionalism -- tending to favor long-held arrangements, moral and otherwise, over and above modern designs.
In that sense, I'm a conservative, darn it! Not a moderate, a CONSERVATIVE! Ooooo! I'm too mad for words over this quiz...
Over the past year or so such quizes and tests have been a big fad on the internet. A couple I have recently run across are, "Which Mage are you?" and "Which Simpson are you?" This one seems about as serious as those.
BTW:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
