Orienting My “Political Compass”

All right, here’s my first attempt to remain relevant without getting angry...

I just discovered a new site called “The Political Compass.” Yes, it’s another one of those seemingly endless web-based tests, but I think the concept behind this one is fairly worthwhile. In a nutshell, the site’s originators are seeking to counteract the traditional designations of “left” and “right” in referring to political ideology. Or, to be more accurate, they’ve divided the traditional distinction into two separate scales — economic (which they divide into “economic left/right”) and social (“libertarian/authoritarian”).

In addition to the test itself, the site also provides some detailed analysis of their system as well — along with assessments of the UK political parties and the candidates in the U.S. presidential race.

For the record, I came in at a –6.62 on the Economic Left/Right scale, and a –6.05 on the Libertarian/Authoritarian scale. Which would appear to put me somewhere to the “left” — on both scales — of just about the entire field of presidential candidates... with the possible exception of Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton.

Hmmm... what say you go take the test and let me know what you think?