I’ve taken the Political Compass test several times over the last decade. This is a test to gauge your political stand along two axes: economically left/right (think of it as collectivist / communist vs free market / neo-liberal / laissez faire) and politically (authoritarian / fascist vs libertarian / anarchist).
The idea behind the test is that the normal binary axis (left/right, liberal/conservative) is not sufficient to encompass both social/market ends and governmental means. As the site notes, both Stalin and Ghandi were leftists, but both were quite dissimilar in other significant ways. (More on the axes here; (the site recommends not studying this material before taking the test.)
To me, as interesting as the test, is the question of how I’ve changed (or not) over the decade I’ve been doing it (as recorded on this blog). And, in fact, it’s been a few years. So … without further ado …
The scores are typically given as (economic, social)
12/2001: -1.13, -3.13
5/2003: -2.13, -3.54
8/2004: -0.75, -3.13
7/2007: -3.00, -4.00
11/2011: -6.12, -4.82
The red dot is my current score, based on taking the test tonight. I’ve inserted my scores from the previous tests onto the chart.
It’s interesting to me, though not surprising, that while I’ve edged south a little bit toward a more civil libertarian view (as issues of homeland security and governmental control have loomed on one hand, and imposition of religious and/or corporate authoritarianism have loomed on the other), my biggest change in the last four years has been on the economic front.
For that I “blame” a combination of the current OWS unrest in the news, the business-inflicted economic crisis of the past few years, and the growing political power of the über-wealthy and the corporations. Even just reading those words I wrote feels odd, because I remain in favor of business competition and innovation as great rules of thumb for a successful economy. My concern / shift stems more from where I see corporate power stifling not just competition and innovation, but strangling our very political system, our environment, and our society.
A free market is not an end to itself. It’s a powerfully useful means to that end, but when free markets turn into Darwinian oligarchies, something’s broken in the system.
And, no, for the record, I don’t plan on starting to wear a Che shirt, or handing out copies of Mao’s Little Red Book, or other stuff of that sort. Nor do I plan to move to a commune, or quit my job and join the OWS protests. Nor do I hate America, nor do I hate Jesus, nor do I think a centrally controlled economy is a great idea. I do think that restrictions on the sizes and influence of corporations, and attention to how they help or hurt not just their shareholders but the society in which they operate and profit, are all worthwhile elements to a healthy nation. And while I encourage personal responsibility, I feel we also need to understand that sometimes shit happens, and we have a communal responsibility, both moral and pragmatic, to see that those who are hungry are fed, those who are sick are treated, etc.
Here’s one of those cases where I’d love to sit down with the me of a decade ago and discuss our differences.