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Finding Your Inner Political Compass


by turfgrrl


June 22nd, 2007 · 47 Comments

It’s also the world’s smallest political leanings quiz. I’ve taken it before and my red dot moves ever so slightly right and left. My score:

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 70%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 50%

That makes me a CENTRIST.

CENTRISTS espouse a “middle ground” regarding government control of the economy and personal behavior. Depending on
the issue, they sometimes favor government intervention and sometimes support individual freedom of choice.
Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind, tend to oppose “political extremes,” and emphasize what they describe as “practical” solutions to problems.

The quiz is here.

Tags: Current affairs

47 Responses so far ↓ “Finding Your Inner Political Compass”



  • 1 anon // Jun 22, 2007 at 6:01 am

    Interesting test

    CONSERVATIVE
    LIBERTARIAN
    PERSONAL issues Score is 50%.
    ECONOMIC issues Score is 90%.

  • 2 anonymous // Jun 22, 2007 at 6:36 am

    I’m a Libertarian, but I knew that.
    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 80%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60%.

  • 3 Michael Geake // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:08 am

    How’s this for full disclosure from somebody running for office?

    CENTRIST

    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 60%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 30%.

  • 4 Hattie McDaniel // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:26 am

    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 50%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60%.

    I am a Centrist. No surprise to me. I do not believe in voting along party lines. I believe in what is best for the voters, and I can keep an open mind.

  • 5 Hattie McDaniel // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:34 am

    Lets get back to some Norwalk Issues. 2 MAJOR QUESTIONS

    1) There was another bank robbery in town yesterday. What is going on in Norwalk? Is there something about this city that we are missing? Maybe we have too damn many banks for a city of this size and have become the ATM for bank robbers?

    2) I see that Walter Briggs will be the Democratic Candidate for Mayor to run against Dick Moccia.

    I do not know Mr Briggs at all, and if he bumped into me in the street, I would not recognize him.

    Can we get some pros and cons of this gentleman, on why he should or should not become mayor?

    His accomplishments and his drawbacks, just the facts, I am not looking for personal attacks but FACTS.

  • 6 anonymous // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:40 am

    Norwalk, where everyone is a centrist, and all the children are above average!

    You probably have to have some level of self-awareness for the results of this quiz to be meaningful.

  • 7 anon // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:42 am

    seems as if bank robbing has become the latest sport event in Fairfield County. Its definately not just Norwalk.Fairfield County is leading the state, with 17(make that 18) bank robberies so far, including the record-breaking five in Norwalk in a month. The county appears poised to surpass its 2006 record of 21 bank robberies. Apparently even the bank robbers consider us wealthy.

  • 8 L'arlequino // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:46 am

    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 80%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 70%.

    I’m a…. LIBERTARIAN!!!!??!!!

    I’m crushed. Thought ’cause I’m a product of the Watergate era and a former hippie that meant I was one a’ them abortion-eatin’ “libruls”.

  • 9 anonymous // Jun 22, 2007 at 7:47 am

    Wow, I now want to vote for Geake more than ever now that his full disclosure is stating that he is a centrist!

    Look, so am I.

    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 40%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 50%.

  • 10 Watchdog // Jun 22, 2007 at 9:19 am

    L’arlequino:

    Former Hippie?
    May I digress? Have a seat, my friend, and please… don’t mind all the buttons and tubes. It looks scarier than it actually is.

    I’m afraid you’ll have to speak clearly to get a proper reading but the Deluxe Hippie-Meter 2000TM is pretty reliable.

    So then, let’s begin.

    Steppenwolf OR The Incredible String Band?

  • 11 L'arlequino // Jun 22, 2007 at 9:29 am

    Steppenwolf. Though I gotta say I was really weaned on Zeppelin.

  • 12 Annonymous // Jun 22, 2007 at 9:54 am

    I’m a CENTRIST - no surprise to me.

    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 50%.
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 20%.

    Have to say the test is a bit too black and white and need more refinement to be totally accurate (spoken like a centrist). If you look at all the numbers, most who take the test are in the centrist category and the extremes are out of touch…but sometimes the extremes are the ones who move the agenda.

  • 13 old and in the way // Jun 22, 2007 at 9:56 am

    OK…into the hippie-dippie vault…past the psychedelic light show…through the purple haze ….around the Velvet Underground and…oops, watch out for Grace Slick leaning against that wall with Jim Morrison…and…

    Pearls Before Swine, the Fugs, or Frank Zappa?

  • 14 L'arlequino // Jun 22, 2007 at 10:02 am

    Zappa rules. Saw him twice in concert. Take that, Tipper Gore.

  • 15 indythinker // Jun 22, 2007 at 10:13 am

    Blue Oyster cult, Greatful Dead and Cream were my favs
    saw them all in concert way back when.

  • 16 Anonymous // Jun 22, 2007 at 10:16 am

    Personally, I’m a Frisbeetarian. I believe after you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there for eternity.

  • 17 Jasmine Bullard // Jun 22, 2007 at 11:06 am

    by Anonymous — June 22, 2007 @ 10:16 am
    Personally, I’m a Frisbeetarian. I believe after you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there for eternity.

    Rule #1 in the Frisbeetarian bible.

    “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED”

  • 18 Watchdog // Jun 22, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    Thanks for your lighthearted responses, my friends.

    Just as I thought…

    you’re all a bunch of lovable softies.

  • 19 turfgrrl // Jun 22, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    Grace Slick? More like Grace Jones, David Bowie, and Deborah Harry leaning up against the bar over here.

  • 20 old and in the way // Jun 22, 2007 at 12:36 pm

    Nothing worng with those folks either…just the next generation and a bit more commercially acceptable. A fond memory is The Doors performing in the end lounge at my school and falling off the stage. David Bowie, good as he is, is no match for the “originals” in terms of flat out debauchery. And speaking of that, check out Robert Frank’s documentary about the Stones called “xxxxsucker blues”. The Stones had it pulled from distribution but there are bootleg copies around. Maybe check with our Westport neighbor, Keith Richards. My, my, my…what a time that was.

  • 21 L'arlequino // Jun 22, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    Ah, the Stones. Caught their ‘81 tour in Dallas. Myself, I’m an FM underground alumni of the 70’s. Quadrophenia. Tull. Dark Side of the Moon.

    BTW, check out www.radioio70s.com if you want a blast from the past. You can also access it thru iTunes.

  • 22 mattw // Jun 22, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    100% / 20%

    This is a longer one that I like, where I score a -7.25/-7.28.

  • 23 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 12:36 am

    Conservative.

    The Incredible String Band and Orff, even De Temporum Fine Comoedia — what else could spark a late dorm night debate over cheap wine and cigarettes on “What encapsulates more love? The phrase ‘I love you’ or ‘Pater paccavi’.

  • 24 L'arlequino // Jun 23, 2007 at 6:54 am

    mattw - thanks for providing that link. Much better now, thank you, since I score south of Gandhi on the scale:

    Economic Left/Right: -5.63
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.67

    Always thought I had more in common with Mahatma than Matt Drudge…

  • 25 turfgrrl // Jun 23, 2007 at 9:39 am

    mattw: I’m still a centrist on that one … although I never liked the question format on this quiz since there’s no maybe, my classic answer to many issues. :) For example, protectionism on trade? I’m only happy with a maybe on that issue.

    Economic Left/Right: -2.00
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.67

  • 26 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:07 am

    I jumped over to the “longer test” and gave up on the first proposition.

    “If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations.”

    That’s an either/or question? Dudes, my buds and I are a trans-national corporation. We’re talking, uh, five people who are investing in a Central American tee-shirt company. Trust me, it’s scary betting your kid’s future on the ability to create a factory that is easily compliant with quality of work concerns. The hundreds of workers are making more money here than elsewhere. There’s a health clinic, air-conditioning, a used suggestion box, a nice HR team, employee loan program, etc. I’m helping hundreds of people have a better life than their parents and giving them the chance to provide an even better life for their kids. I’m taking a risk and expect to get paid. And, yeah, it’s a corporation so it won’t have to die when I do.

    Call me sensitive but I found the site insulting.

  • 27 turfgrrl // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:12 am

    Vet Park Junkie: Another good example, the questions on the longer one are worded awkwardly too. As always, the quiz makers are just as biased as we quiz takers. A universal problem with trying to fit all questions into multiple choice answers.

  • 28 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:31 am

    Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo…

    Thanks Turf, back to normal.

    Now to spend the day at the islands, time to get ready to the melodies of Gulag Tunes.

    http://context.themoscowtimes.com/story/168548/

  • 29 Concerned Citizen // Jun 23, 2007 at 11:43 am

    Very interesting site Turf..I came out as a
    Conservative Libratarian
    Your PERSONAL issues Score is 50%
    Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 90%

    Thanks for the cool site.

  • 30 high road // Jun 23, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    Moscow Times? Gulag tunes? Is this another version of “The Onion”? They can’t be serious. I mean, many of my family were sent to the Stalin’s slave labor camps in Siberia — including Kolyma. And someone makes a CD? With a surf beat? Tell me this is satire, please.

  • 31 high road // Jun 23, 2007 at 12:30 pm

    And I like the longer test…mostly because I come out right about where they place Ghandi. Hand me my dhoti…

  • 32 OldMomYoungGrand // Jun 23, 2007 at 4:31 pm

    Good films for you guys to see. Festival Express, only recently released - a documentary from the early ’70’s. You’ll love it. Janice Joplin, The Band, etc.

    Also, check out the Concert for Bangledesh…new last year - George Harrison’s concert at Madison Sq. Garden…the first of the big super concerts. included Dylan, Ravi Shankar and many others. I always played the album and wished I had seen it (raising little kids at the time). It is terrific…I bought it but it is available for rent on Blockbuster.

    You may also like the Bob Dylan documentaries “Don’t Look Back” and Scorsese’s “No Direction Home”…if you are a new or old Dylan fan. Amazing to see how young he was and the creative process. Loved all of these…all can be rented.
    Peace!

  • 33 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 4:57 pm

    High Road, I am very sorry to hear of your relatives. Please go back and re-read the article with Russian eyes. It’s serious. Antipov is using the surfer medium to keep the songs alive and accessable to the new generation. Note the contrast to Chanson. Given the current state of Russia, I pray his music is just as effective in counteracting the party line as those cassettes that were smuggled during the seventies. We should not forget the horrors of the gulags. With Gulag Tunes in my CD player, I won’t.

    Watch
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHTB6Ev4Rwo&mode=related&search=

  • 34 high road // Jun 23, 2007 at 6:13 pm

    Vet Park Junkie, I hear you and well-intentioned it might be…but, to me, it’s like humming along to ditties from the Holocaust — rearranged with a surfer beat. Maybe Americans aren’t fully aware that Stalin was the equal of Hitler in mass deportations and killings. And maybe today’s Russians don’t care. After all, it was primarily Poles, Ukrainians, Balts, Czechs and other undesirable nationalities that were tortured and shipped to the slave camps. So I’m pretty sure the CD won’t be a big seller in Warsaw or Budapest or Riga.

  • 35 turfgrrl // Jun 23, 2007 at 7:13 pm

    high road: If I remember my eastern european history, wasn’t Stalin responsible for more deaths than Hitler? (Counting all gulag and starvation deaths during the two purges.)

  • 36 Jasmine Bullard // Jun 23, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    high road: If I remember my eastern european history, wasn’t Stalin responsible for more deaths than Hitler

    Yes but I believe that Stalin’s claim to fame is that he did most of the damage to his own people.

    I am sure that the is a special place in Hell for these two. As in “Little Nickey” Hitler is having an extra large pineapple shoved up his butt each day as an added attraction

  • 37 Jasmine Bullard // Jun 23, 2007 at 8:11 pm

    Post #5

    Does anyone have anything to say about question #2?

    Test, Test, Hello Test.

    Anyone out there?

    Can you hear me now?

  • 38 high road // Jun 23, 2007 at 8:27 pm

    36 — depends on what you consider Stalin’s “own people”. The “captive nations” that were allocated to Stalin after WWII to form the USSR bore the brunt of Stalin’s purges. Russification — where the native populations were deported and Russians brought in to live there — continues to cause problems. Remember that all the nations that made up the former USSR are not “Russian” — they are distinctly different by culture, religion, and language — as I’m sure you know.

  • 39 Jasmine Bullard // Jun 23, 2007 at 9:12 pm

    Yes and the Ukraine is the one that hates them the most I believe.

  • 40 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:02 pm

    I found this site several few years ago. It is very depressing and the numbers are numbing. The author made a detailed effort to count the number of deaths due to politics during a dreadful century. I use it from time to time as a personal reference when I talk to my kids about recent history. We need to learn and to remember. Follow the first link for an analysis of the data. We need, regardless of our “scores,” to make this century better. Hence, with heartfelt sympathy for High Roads views, I like music that might make a headbanger ask questions and, maybe, think twice and remember his humanity before getting sucked in by some thrilling rhetoric.

  • 41 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 23, 2007 at 10:03 pm

    Ah, the link:
    http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm

  • 42 high road // Jun 23, 2007 at 11:15 pm

    Sorry…I humbly disagree that Gulag Tunes will make any headbanger or clubgoer or dancer stop and think. It only trivializes what the Soviets did — something that they still have not fully owned up to. Think about it. Do a mindthing and substitute any of these terms for “Gulag” and picture folks drinking and dancing to them — World Trade Center, 9/11, Auschwitz or another atrocity of your choosing. Doesn’t work for me.

  • 43 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 24, 2007 at 10:02 am

    Antipov launched the CD as “songs made for drinking a weeping.” His wife (yeah, not unbiased) states that listening to the CD has brought people to tears. It was precisely that substitute-mindthing that made the CD catch my eye and, I admit, my visceral reaction was not as strong as yours.

    Antipov explained that the mix of “blatniye pesni” and western music was “obvious.” Both strains where anti-Soviet protest music. This is why I lobbed the CD into this thread of political leanings and 60’s music. Also, I was disturbed by Putin’s attendance at McCarthy’s Red Square concert. My reaction was “Careful! Careful! Careful! Watch who’s stealing your sentiments!”

    High Road, please understand that I am in no way trying to talk you out of your feelings or opinions. I’m trying to explain mine. Thank you for reacting and I do promise to keep thinking.

  • 44 Mike (and Lena) Antipow // Jun 24, 2007 at 3:26 pm

    At the begging: i am sorry for my English.

    I’d like to note that Gulag songs were not composed by Stalin. They were composed mostly by unknown persons that died in Gulag and prisons. And lyric (well known by most of Russians) contain a lot of anti-regime phrases. Because of this they were forbidden in soviet age. You must read Yuz Aleshkovsky books to understand why Russians or dancing when they must cry.

    We get a lot of fans here and abroad (mostly in east Europe) where people understand this sense of humour: black and sad (not cynic). But we get a lot of enemies here. Some man writes that they like to kill us. Among them are Stalin fans.

    BTW my grandpa died in Gulag and this CDs are my act of revenge.

    Thanks for all you friends who understand my point.

  • 45 Vet Park Junkie // Jun 24, 2007 at 4:10 pm

    Dear Mike and Lena,

    Thank you for answering my email. I will get Aleshkovsky’s books and I will think of your grandfather each time I listen to your CD.

    Bill Steward

    (For those locally in these globalization days, in pondering High Road, I asked Antipow to join in.)

  • 46 high road // Jun 24, 2007 at 4:32 pm

    Strange isn’t it, how after all this time, my first thought on reading his post was “I hope the KGB doesn’t find me.” It was such a dark period in people’s lives…Russians, too. Maybe all the music action going on in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Baltic will help. Hey, check out the B-Sea Surfers (that’s Baltic Sea Surfers) also. Surf’s up all over the world, I guess.

  • 47 high road // Jun 24, 2007 at 6:45 pm

    And one final bit, I always liked Colin Powell’s comment about Bush looking into Putin’s eyes and seeing his soul. Powell said: “I looked into Putin’s eyes and saw the KGB.”