Jeff & Konnor's Blog

Here’s a graph with everyone who’s taken the Political Compass so far, with a better explanation following.

[Edited: The graph has been updated and is in a post above, or can be seen by clicking here]

The left-to-right scale measures economic opinion. The more toward the left you are, the more “economically left” (or in the extreme, communist) you are. You are more likely to believe in things like heavy regulation of corporations, high taxes on the rich especially on items like dividends and interest, universal health care, welfare programs, and abolishing private ownership of property.

The more toward the right you are, the more “economically right” or “pure free market” you are. You are more likely to believe that everything should be bought and sold in a market, everything should be owned privately, corporations should not be regulated, taxes should be flat and absolutely minimal, and there should not be government welfare programs.

The up-to-down scale measures social opinion. The more toward the bottom you are, the more “libertarian” you are, meaning that you advocate maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state. You are more likely to question authority, question your government, and resist use of power. You do not believe that the government should regulate behavior. Someone at the extreme bottom would reject all forms of coercive control and authority, including the government, which is seen as oppressive.

The more toward the top you are, the more “authoritarian” you are, and the more often you are supportive of government’s power to control. You believe that it is acceptable for the government to encroach on civil liberties. You believe that an orderly society depends on following authority, and that it is appropriate for the government to regulate behavior. Someone at the extreme top would favor absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom, and expect unquestioning obedience.

The descriptions above are our own interpretations, and we borrowed from Dictionary.com for some definitional help.

Check out the site’s estimation of the 2004 political candidates here. Jeff voted for Michael Badnarik, an especially easy choice considering that Living in Utah + Electoral College = Your Vote Doesn’t Count.

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