ManusJustus said:
HappySqurriel said:
ManusJustus said:
mrstickball said:
HappySquirrel is the first person I've ever seen to classify as a right-leaning libertarian from PoliticalCompass.org. Interesting. |
There are a lot less libertarians and communists for a reason, and people who think they fall under that category probably arent as extreme as they think they are. My reasoning is as follows:
People want some freedom and some control in their lives. Most people who want the market to be as free as possible also want to control their social environment by limiting gay rights, putting more religion into politics, and taking social freedoms away to protect themselves from terrorists (Patriot Act). However, most people who want more control over the economy also want more social freedoms.
This is why most people (in respect to this test and system of analysis) lay somewhere on a diagonal line from social conservative and economic liberal (upper right corner) to social liberal and economic conservative/authoritarian (lower left corner). Effectively choosing where they want freedom and where they want some control in their lives.
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You tend not to see too many people who fall along the other diagonal primarily because the questions do not do an adequate job of testing people's beliefs in these areas ...
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Real world evidence would also have me reach the same conclusion as mainstream politics follow the pattern I previously described A simple example being American Republicans and Democrats, Democrats want more social freedoms and more control on the economy while Republicans want more economic freedoms and more social control.
Libertarians and Communists are fringe political beliefs, atleast for a majority of the world population. I dont know of any libertarian governments and communist governments face protest from their population who demand more social or economic freedom.
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Consider (for a moment) that many Democrats want to decriminalize marijuana but at the same time they promote bans and higher taxes on smoking, are currently promoting higher taxes (and potentially bans) on unhealthy food, and are some of the most involved in regulating the content in videogames. In what way do these actions demonstrate a political party that supports lower government involvement in people's personal lives?
Don't be fooled by the marketing, very few politicians are really supportive of a smaller centeralized government with less involvement in your personal lives or the economy. All they're really doing is selling you one freedom for the cost of two.
