Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Monday, October 25. 2010

I am a "Centrist"

Anchoress linked this quick online test from 2008. Yes, I know online quizzes are dumb.


Some folks think we at Maggie's are being facetious when we term ourselves a Centrist website, but that's how I came out on the quiz: Socially Moderate, Economically Conservative - Centrist.


Most of my friends view me as a Conservative, but maybe Conservatives are Centrists nowadays.

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, Politics at 13:50 | Comments (14) | Trackbacks (0)

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Your true political self: You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an Economic Moderate (55% permissive).

You are best described as a: Centrist

Huh - how about that. Interesting.
#1 Tom Francis on 2010-10-25 14:25 (Reply)
I thought a lot of the questions were not fair because they allowed a lot of leeway in how to interpret them (maybe that was by design).

I came out:
Social Liberal (73% permissive)
Economic Conservative (83% permissive)
Libertarian

But I don't see myself quite that Libertarian - though I probably did at one point.

Social Liberal (73% permissive) seems misleading to me. I am pro life (there were no direct questions about abortion). One question asked if I thought people should be prohibited from having kids they could not afford - No, to me that implies sterilization, but should I be REQUIRED to support those children? No. I suspect my answer to that question may have added to my socially liberal label.

It was interesting to see the people I was grouped with (Thomas Jefferson and the Nuge), but the Unabomber wasn't far away. I take umbrage to that!

It was an interesting quiz, though. Quite often we explore the questions we are comfortable exploring and not those we are not. It's a good exercise to consider new unfamiliar questions.
#2 mudbug on 2010-10-25 14:32 (Reply)
Lousy, lousy quiz. Aside from the many leading questions (not to say goofball questions), they really need to have a "neither agree nor disagree" choice. Just because you force someone to agree or disagree, doesn't mean that they actually give a rat's posterior.

And the categories... Why Oh Why do they assume that "Capitalist" is distinct from either Republican or Libertarian? Or that Libertarian and Democrat are close to each other? Bah.

Oh, yes. Libertarian. Make that "libertarian" with a small "L", please.
#3 diane on 2010-10-25 17:24 (Reply)
I'm a social liberal and economic conservative. My friends all call me 'conservative', which I always laugh at.


I always point out that if they're judging me by my economic views alone, I'd accept that term - but it's so pathetically short sighted as to be useless. After all, most of the agree with me when I ask a few simple questions:
1. Does the market work, particularly with a minimal amount of government oversight? (Yes)
2. Has the government ever had a meaningfully effective economic program? (No - if yes, name it)
3. Has the government ever managed ANY business effectively? (No - if yes, name it)
4. Does the government provide a benefit to people in general or SHOULD it? (No and yes, it should but doesn't or can't)

Most people answer these questions overwhelmingly along the lines of what I'd expect. As such, if they agree with even 3 of the questions, I usually say "you're conservative"

BTW - some do answer yes to 2 or 3 and say "I can't think of one offhand". Those who do answer I have a response to each and every time. Amtrak? Are you kidding me?
Fannie Mae?
Freddie Mac?
Chrysler? It only worked because the Government FORCED government fleets to all buy Chrysler - so we "saved" Chrysler with tax dollars coming and going.
Savings and Loan bailout? After review, it didn't earn anything when inflation and other overlooked costs were factored in.
#4 Rick on 2010-10-25 17:26 (Reply)
I came out as a Centrist - Social Moderate and Economic Conservative. My husband thinks it's hysterical because his analysis is that I am a rabid conservative!

Lucky for me, he lets me tell him how to vote.
#5 eb knott on 2010-10-25 18:18 (Reply)
I was Social Liberal (63%) and Economic Conservative (65%), which I believe they called Libertarian.
I didn't like a lot of the questions, either.
#6 Gringo on 2010-10-25 18:29 (Reply)
I came out as Social Liberal, Economic Moderate as well. But again, there's a problem with the questions.

For example, and I'm paraphrasing "Do you think people have a right to life's necessities"?

Yes, I do. But I mean that in the sense that rights are defined in the Constitution. In that case, it would mean that you have to right to invoke the assistance of the State if someone attempts to prevent you from using your own resources to obtain life's necessities.

However, I rather suspect that the people who wrote the word "right" were in fact thinking "entitlement" - that what they mean is that if one is bereft of life's necessities and does not have the ability to pay for them, they are entitled to invoke the assistance of the State of taking your resources away from you so that they can obtain such. How, then, should I answer the question?
#7 RonF on 2010-10-25 18:35 (Reply)
The idea is to always paint yourself as centrist and then everyone else is some degree of unreasonable.
You're absolutely poised, balanced and just scandalized by those frightful extremists.
This has been the MSM's ploy from day one.

It's glorious to be an unapologetic wing-nut. I just wallow in it.
#8 Severely Ltd. on 2010-10-25 19:54 (Reply)
Yall have nailed Maggie's game between the blades, jolly well.

Ever curious where the animals here collected GED's?
#8.1 Leag on 2010-10-26 11:23 (Reply)
P.S. My dream is that the Tea Party pulls the country so far to the right that I end up authentically centrist.
#9 Severely Ltd. on 2010-10-25 19:59 (Reply)
I came out as a social and economic conservative.
I am a member of the Pedestrian Party.
I don't like biscuits and gravy.
#10 jappy on 2010-10-25 22:53 (Reply)
Ha-ha.
#10.1 XRayActual on 2010-10-26 11:42 (Reply)
I'm with some other commenters here re some of the questions were a bit ambiguous. The quiz says I'm a capitalist Republican which is fine with me but others that I've taken before identify me as a Libertarian which is how I like to think of myself. Although I vote Republican 99% of the time. Hmmm... maybe not so libertarian as I think.
#11 Dangerous Dan (Link) on 2010-10-26 22:07 (Reply)
Hard to take a quiz like that seriously when it can't even put Fascism in its proper place on the political spectrum.
#12 Clarence Beeks on 2010-10-27 04:27 (Reply)

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