July 01, 2006

The Political Spectrum



It has been brought to my attention that some of us may need a refresher course on understanding the political spectrum. While I am aware that there are numerous schools of thought when it comes to charting a political spectrum, I tend to go along with the two dimensional model seen above. I believe it to be a useful tool.

This site gives a quick, free, and objective quiz used to determine how right or left and how authoritarian or libertarian the test taker may be considered to be.

My results come back with a location in the spectrum three out of eight notches to the right and one notch of ten down (to the libertarian side of things).

13 comments:

Progressive Pinhead said...

It is interesting that many great left wing thinkers and leaders where omitted from this chart. Do we need a list?

Anonymous said...

Jesus, both Roosevelts, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. pretty much the same as the other list. How many great right wing thinkers can you name?

JasMars said...

Charles Krauthammer, Thomas Sowell, Fred Barnes, John McLaughlin, Rich Lowry, David Gergen, Robert Novak, William F. Buckley, Jr., George Will, Antonin Scalia, Bill Krystal, William Safire, Pat Buchanan, Jonathon Alter, Joe Klein, Robert J. Samuelson, James Kilpatrick…

Kent said...

Activist...Teddy Roosevelt was not a Lefty. As for Jesus...I think you're limiting Him by attempting to ascribe a political label, which says a great deal about you.

Jaz...Gergen, Alter and Klein are all Liberals and none of them is particularly bright.

Here's my contribution to the right wing thinkers list: Phyllis Schlafly, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Margaret Thatcher, Hugh Hewiit, Rush Limbaugh and Paul Gigot...all brilliant.

I would also include FDR and Truman on my right wing list because of the way both men prosecuted WWII. There's not a Liberal politician alive today with the same courage.

Kent said...

Ooops. Sorry for the typo above: Hugh Hewitt deserves his name to be spelled correctly.

Kent said...

More additions to my list: C.S. Lewis, William Bennett, Shelby Steele, our Founding Fathers, President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush for brilliantly recognizing, like FDR, the wisdom of waging a multiple front war.

JasMars said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
JasMars said...

C’mon can’t these three (Gergen, Klein, and Alter) be considered centrists at least?

Gergen worked for both Presidents Nixon and Ronald Reagan, hardly the resume of a lefty.

The other two have been under assault in the liberal blogopshere. They certainly do not seem to me to be friendly to leftist causes.

But perhaps, like you said, none are particularly bright, I’ll defer to you on that one.

I would also add Karl Rove to the list of brilliant conservatives.

Kent said...

While I was trying to limit my list to politicians and writers, I would certainly agree that Rove qualifies as 'a thinker.'

Working for Clinton proved that Gergen is a whore, like Dick Morris, although Morris runs circles around Gergen.

Jon Alter had (or perhaps still has) cancer and has softened his hard Left views of late. Poor guy. It just goes to show you how phony the game of Liberal punditry actually is. His views couldn't have been that sincere if he changes sides that easily.

Joe Klein has always been all over the place. He's always been good at identifying the phony politicians. Remember he wrote 'Primary Colors,' which mocked the Clinton's '92 campaign.

Progressive Pinhead said...

COuld you please find domeone who made a positive contribution to society and who is no longer controversial? Otherwise your list is rubbish.

Kent said...

An absurd comment from 'young activist.' Eliminating controversial thinkers disqualifies everyone from consideration.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who argued that FDR was a conservative

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

"And he moved the tyranny and suppression of freedom to his own country, and they called it the Patriot Act under the disguise of fighting terrorism"
Osoma bin Laden

"Allah is on our side. That is why we will beat the aggressor"
Saddam Hussein
Does that sound anything like Bush's rhetoric?

Kent said...

Because of all your typos, Activist, I'm inclined to call you an idiot.

As to my list, I assume Limbaugh is the person identified as 'a drug addict.' Classy. What a 'tolerant' Liberal you are.

I am, however, curious about the identity of the others from my 'desperate' list that you deride as 'people aren't even conservative, extreme liberals, idiots, and activist judges.'

As to FDR, read my earlier comment...I included them on a list of Right thinkers based upon 'the way both men prosecuted WWII.'

Anyway, work on your typos and your punctuation, brush up on my earlier comments and try to muster an intelligent response to my query.