Your Politics

[Relayer1]

Bollocks. It was firmly on the centre-left of the British political spectrum, and introduced much social reform, including the minimum wage, expanded the welfare state and public investment, workplace and social rights... Compared to the (actually centre-right) Conservative government it replaced, it was like night and day. Yes, it wasn't perfect by a long distance, and did a lot wrong while in power, but calling it "centre-right" while in power is absurd.

(People need to realise that what Blair did to the Labour Party basically happened to nearly all other similar social-democratic parties across Europe, North America and Australasia around the same time, incidentally.)

I agree about all the things they did, but they did those in conjunction with a laissez faire, deregulated free market. Blair has said that he admired Thatcher and aped her economic policy. I remember both parties arguing about whether the sweeping deregulation (which contributed to the banking crash) had gone far enough !

New Labour were an economically neoliberal party like the Conservatives - albeit one with more of a social conscience.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

(People need to realise that what Blair did to the Labour Party basically happened to nearly all other similar social-democratic parties across Europe, North America and Australasia around the same time, incidentally.)

That's true, but that doesn't change the fact that Labour (and all those other social-democratic parties in other countries) moved to the right when that happened.

In Germany, the SPD became so unpopular over this that they rarely get over 25 percent in any election since, having to fight to be junior partner in a coalition with Angela Merkel's conservative party, and indirectly (by not offering a real alternative to Merkel) giving rise to both the democratic socialist party The Left and the alt-right party AfD.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Left. Always will be left. I believe that everyone should be given the same chances and options as everyone else in life regardless of circumstance or privilege, or social status.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Bollocks. It was firmly on the centre-left of the British political spectrum, and introduced much social reform, including the minimum wage, expanded the welfare state and public investment, workplace and social rights... Compared to the (actually centre-right) Conservative government it replaced, it was like night and day. Yes, it wasn't perfect by a long distance, and did a lot wrong while in power, but calling it "centre-right" while in power is absurd.

(People need to realise that what Blair did to the Labour Party basically happened to nearly all other similar social-democratic parties across Europe, North America and Australasia around the same time, incidentally.)

I find that very curious, it's as if all these countries had followed some kind of draft that they'd all adopt the same, or similar policies and direction. Of course I could be totally wrong........

 

[Sgt_G]

Left. Always will be left. I believe that everyone should be given the same chances and options as everyone else in life regardless of circumstance or privilege, or social status.

I don't see how that's a "left" thing. I'm center / just-right of center, and I feel much the same way.

I don't care what your skin color is or anything else. People are people. Everyone should have the same options. I believe that if we help people make themselves better, we make society as a whole better.

Now, I do feel you have to earn it or pay for it yourself. Want to go to college? If it's on your dime, you can party all night and slip by with a 1.5 grade average. I don't care, except you're wasting time and space someone more worthy could have. Can't pay for school? I'm all for passing out grants and scholarships. But you have to earn (keeping) it by maintaining a certain grade point. Sorry, but "free" isn't free. Someone has to pay for it. If I'm the one investing in you, my return on said investment is for you to do something worthy with your life if only to get a better paying job (and thus pay more taxes back into the system), and if you can't do that, I need to invest in someone else who can.

Want a job? I don't care who you are / where you came from. Do you know how to do the job? You're hired. Don't know how to do it but are willing and able to learn? Great. I'll teach you. Know how to do the job but won't sit your butt down and do it? You're fired. I'd rather have someone who's just okay but willing to work than the best technician who's always out on a break or is otherwise too busy with whatever side project to do the job I hired them to do. I'm willing to take a chance on anyone and give them time to prove they're worth my trust. If they are, I'll keep them. If not, there's the door.

I just don't get how that could be a left-right idea. On the other side, for someone to say, "I don't want to hire that person because he/she is a ______," well, that's not left-right but rather just plain stupid.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm what they used to call a "flaming liberal" back in the day. I don't affiliate with any political ideology or party.

 

[Nyotarules]

I just don't get how that could be a left-right idea. On the other side, for someone to say, "I don't want to hire that person because he/she is a ______," well, that's not left-right but rather just plain stupid.

Well then there is a lot of stupid people on the right blaming ________ for their lot in life but don't worry Trump/Brexit is going to save em!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I don't see how that's a "left" thing. I'm center / just-right of center, and I feel much the same way.

I don't care what your skin color is or anything else. People are people. Everyone should have the same options. I believe that if we help people make themselves better, we make society as a whole better.

Now, I do feel you have to earn it or pay for it yourself. Want to go to college? If it's on your dime, you can party all night and slip by with a 1.5 grade average. I don't care, except you're wasting time and space someone more worthy could have. Can't pay for school? I'm all for passing out grants and scholarships. But you have to earn (keeping) it by maintaining a certain grade point. Sorry, but "free" isn't free. Someone has to pay for it. If I'm the one investing in you, my return on said investment is for you to do something worthy with your life if only to get a better paying job (and thus pay more taxes back into the system), and if you can't do that, I need to invest in someone else who can.

Want a job? I don't care who you are / where you came from. Do you know how to do the job? You're hired. Don't know how to do it but are willing and able to learn? Great. I'll teach you. Know how to do the job but won't sit your butt down and do it? You're fired. I'd rather have someone who's just okay but willing to work than the best technician who's always out on a break or is otherwise too busy with whatever side project to do the job I hired them to do. I'm willing to take a chance on anyone and give them time to prove they're worth my trust. If they are, I'll keep them. If not, there's the door.

I just don't get how that could be a left-right idea. On the other side, for someone to say, "I don't want to hire that person because he/she is a ______," well, that's not left-right but rather just plain stupid.

I wonder why you seemingly tied the qualities of wanting to get paid the same without working as hard or getting a free education without having the grades (both non-evidence-based arguments) to a commentary that started out talking about skin color, as if that is reflective of what is actually happening with people of color? Who are getting a completely free college education just for partying and without getting a passing grade point average (state programs that offer free or partial tuition are also open to students of any skin color) or getting paid to sit around and do nothing at work, and how widespread do you think these things are? Did you not intend to link the skin color argument to the rest of your point, in which case it's still not based on anything that's happening in any significant numbers but at least doesn't have the squicky racial overtones?

 

[suarezguy]

As an aside, the Political Compass sucks if you try to use it as a serious measure of political positions. It was designed by libertarians to, in essence, make leftists think they are actually libertarians.

That said, I always end up near the lower right corner.

It seems that not many people end up very low are but most people, especially those who already feel they're leftist, end up solidly or extremely left so it at least doesn't seem to succeeding in distorting views or self-perceptions.

The Political Compass questions do a lot of leading to point you to the "right" answer that will give you a libertarian leaning. That's basically the point of the test, to make you think you're a libertarian.

Placing the interests of humanity against those of international corporations seems loaded for heavily regulating international trade unless you're supposed to select the other option due to being offended at how loaded the question is.

Lots of people vote against parties and candidates, and the single-issue voter is absolutely a thing. So someone might support universal healthcare, gay marriage, high taxes on the wealthy, and more education funding, but abortion is an absolute dealbreaker for them... so they vote Republican.

Some issues that's probably true, especially gun rights, but someone obsessed with banning abortion is probably pretty conservative in general and wouldn't have a lot of support for increasing taxes or government health care.

This goes a long way to explaining what otherwise look like very strange voting habits in the US. Polls show Americans support all kinds of liberal/progressive ideas, but the second you turn them into political questions that signal identifiable party planks or individual politicians, partisan sorting kicks in

I think it's more likely that they lose support for those ideas when they realize how expensive and tax increase-requiring they will be. Anything can sound really good and worthwhile until you consider having to pay for it.

 

[publiusr]

I consider myself a centrist (don't we all?)

I support embryonic stem cell and animal testing (ticking off both sides of the spectrum there) and support gov't funding of research--so the libertarians don't like me either.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I consider myself a centrist (don't we all?)

No, we don't. Quite a few of us here have described ourselves as various forms of not-center.

 

[MacLeod]

Bollocks. It was firmly on the centre-left of the British political spectrum, and introduced much social reform, including the minimum wage, expanded the welfare state and public investment, workplace and social rights... Compared to the (actually centre-right) Conservative government it replaced, it was like night and day. Yes, it wasn't perfect by a long distance, and did a lot wrong while in power, but calling it "centre-right" while in power is absurd.

(People need to realise that what Blair did to the Labour Party basically happened to nearly all other similar social-democratic parties across Europe, North America and Australasia around the same time, incidentally.)

But did Blair movie New Labour from a left of centre to a centre-left party? And did the Conservatives at the same time move from a centre-right to a right of centre party? It seems as if under Corbyn Labour is moving to a more left of centre party. SO it would seem that in order to win the General Election in the UK your party needs to be seen as the one closest to the centre be it centre-right or centre-left.[/QUOTE]

 

[Green Lantern]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I was curious to find an official thread about peoples politics on this forum seeing as to my eye, a lot of the user base are tilted quite significantly to the left in my experience...and judging from this I seem to be right.
The poll's bad as there should really be a centre option. For quite a while I identified pretty much as a radical centrist, but lately I've seen more of a tilt to the right in me.

Still fairly moderate, although this is the most moderate I've been in a few months, previously been at least twice as economically to the right.

Also my latest 8values.
Basic summary of my views, I'm fairy centre-right economically I think, I believe in lowering taxes generally but don't want to go to extremes. I'm not at all really an internationalist, although I do believe in free trade. Very Eurosceptic for various reasons. Socially I'm quite moderate really, but generally speaking I classify myself as quite an individualist. I try to avoid getting caught up in the dogma of ideology.

So yeah from the looks of it, I'm one of the more conservative forum members here, a lot of you seem borderline communist judging from your compass results.

 

[Amaris]

I think most of the people that frequent TBBS (or at least this thread) are on the left side of politics. As for myself, I voted "far left" when this thread was started, and since then I've moved farther left. My most recent 8values test ranked like this:

The only reason it's not further left is because some of the questions don't allow for nuance.

 

[UncleRogi]

I realise that the political spectrum is often more complicated than left or right so why dont you tell us how you define yourself, in more detail, once you have voted in the poll


This thread could be a bad idea but I like to live life on the edge!!

....

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Alright, I'm game (as in, I have nothing better to do at the moment), so I took the 8values test.

Yep, still far left.

 

[UncleRogi]

Personally, I vote for the side my shit stains my underwear that day...

That's what it's worth...

 

[ichab]

Left. Always will be left. I believe that everyone should be given the same chances and options as everyone else in life regardless of circumstance or privilege, or social status.

Majority of people on both sides of the spectrum believe in that.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Majority of people on both sides of the spectrum believe in that.

I know I posted that back in 2016.

But really I'm not sure where I am on that compass sometimes I lean a bit to the right depending on what the issue at the time is. I'd say I'm hovering right around the centre of the compass in all 4 quadrants.

 

[ichab]

Oh wow. I didnt realize this was a necro thread.