A good place to begin is to briefly explain what it all means. In the media, you hear a lot about the left of politics and the right of politics. Those terms really refer to economic positions. The far left are the socialist approaches to economics - they are not in favor of free trade, and strongly favor social welfare. The far right are in favor of the free market, in everything including social welfare. Those who call themselves 'libertarians" (especially in the US, like the Tea Party) are economic libertarians on the far right.



What's interesting about this test is that they have mapped some world political leaders on the grid as well, so you can see where you sit. Kevin Rudd and Gordon Brown are still on the chart - but you get the general picture! I'm closest to the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. There are a lot of people who are like me, but look at where all of the politicans are - they are nowhere near us.
What's also important is the shift over the past few decades. The major parties have all shifted towards being more socially conservative and economically right. If you want to read more about the patterns, based on UK data click here.
So, this is the heart of my blog. Socially liberal, and economically rational people like myself and the Dalai Lama are not represented in our current democratic system.
Let me know what you think.
Mark S
Welcome to the Blogosphere. But on left/right as economics, where did National Socialism fit?
ReplyDeleteIf you take a look at this page, http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2, it suggests that Hitler was fairly centrist (a little to the right) economically - way left of the current Libs/Labor.
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