What's your political orientation?

[jfrost]

I am a socialist libertarian (or perhaps a libertarian socialist). My socio-political views fit pretty well with the ideals of the Democratic party, but I differ widely when it comes to practice.

I believe in individual liberties but also in regulation and government-provided services.

I think you fit better in the Progressive, or left-liberal, label. Libertarian socialism is commonly associated with the leftish strands of anarchism.

[Killette]

I lean toward the way that I feel is most right, I could care less what political party they are from. Isn't it our goal to choose the best leaders, not the best party? I just want to be able to live in peace and enjoy life playing video games, surfing the net, and watching movies

[Octopod]

I just want to be able to live in peace and enjoy life playing video games, surfing the net, and watching movies

I think this is what everyone wants...basically, you know. The thing is some people want this for everyone and some people only care if they get it for themselves.

[jfrost]

I just want to be able to live in peace and enjoy life playing video games, surfing the net, and watching movies

I think this is what everyone wants...basically, you know. The thing is some people want this for everyone and some people only care if they get it for themselves.

Or they think getting it for everyone is the best way of securing it for themselves.

[Octopod]

I just want to be able to live in peace and enjoy life playing video games, surfing the net, and watching movies

I think this is what everyone wants...basically, you know. The thing is some people want this for everyone and some people only care if they get it for themselves.

Or they think getting it for everyone is the best way of securing it for themselves.

Never thought of that to be honest. Ive personally never met anyone like that...ofcourse that doesnt mean anything. I have however met a shit ton of people who only care about their own ass. I come from Texas afterall.

[Limewater]

I think this is what everyone wants...basically, you know. The thing is some people want this for everyone and some people only care if they get it for themselves.

Or they think getting it for everyone is the best way of securing it for themselves.

Additionally, there are those who don't believe that government is the correct way to secure these things for themselves or others.

[J T]

I'm pretty liberal for the most part. I usually vote democrat or green. But I hate how everyone assumes you belong to either the Right or the Left and that you must believe in everything one of those sides supposedly believes in. I see no obvious relationship between gay rights, abortion, gun laws, environmentalism, welfare, etc. They are all separate issues and you should make decisions about them separately, but for some reason this country has become so politically polarized that people believe that if you think two men should have a right to marry each other, then you also must want the government to take away everyone's guns. It's ridiculous. So, just because I say I'm a liberal democratic, don't think you know what I'm all about. If you want to know my thoughts on any particular issue, ask me.

[dsheinem]

It's good to see that most of the people posting so far have nuanced their own political position and haven't fallen prey to the strict party/ideological affiliations that seems to permeate so much of America's political discourse. Unfortunately most people in this country DO have trouble articulating their own political beliefs because they never hear the very language they need to in order to describe them - certainly these shades of gray are rarely expressed in a clear way in the mainstream media, in conversations with others, or from most politicians.

So kudos to those who have gone the extra mile to think through their stance and why they believe it/ act on it.

As for the apathetic folks, though, you should know that apathy comes at a price. For one, it allows the current political climate to persist. The belief that either A) politics don't matter or B) nothing can change is, frankly, ignorant of human history. If the system bums you out or turns you off, you would be better served to turn that apathy into active political dissent.

As for me, I lean left on most issues but am probably more post-structuralist than anything else.

[Original_Name]

I am a socialist libertarian (or perhaps a libertarian socialist). My socio-political views fit pretty well with the ideals of the Democratic party, but I differ widely when it comes to practice.

I believe in individual liberties but also in regulation and government-provided services.

In general I'm socialist when it comes to matters of economics and business, especially big business. For example, I think market capitalism needs regulation or it becomes economic Darwinianism: only the strong survive. The problem is that consumers are weak. Without regulation the consumer would ALWAYS lose. That doesn't mean I necessarily agree with current market and economic regulation. Bad regulations can be worse than none. I also think globalization is over-rated. Nothing wrong with a little market protectionism here and there. I'm not a big fan of unions right now, however, because it seems most of them have gone awry. With proper market controls unions aren't necessary anyway.

People like to say government is inefficient, but it isn't always. I think the government can, with proper legislative backing, do a lot of things well. It's all about economies of scale, y'see.

Socially I'm libertarian. People should be able to do what they want, by and large, so long as it doesn't pose a risk to others. Drink, smoke, do drugs, I don't care, so long as DUIs put people away in prison longer. I'm all for tort reform and such as well. I also have problems with current are-based stuff, like 18 to smoke but 21 to drink, and complicated laws concerning age and consensual sex. Thank goodness I'm not a teenager anymore. Good grief...

I very much align myself with Marurun here. I sympathize with Objectivists and Socialists equally, but I don't align myself with either of them in practice. At my heart I hate big corporations, but I'm iffy on the notion of the government being the one to control them. Ideally, I'd want a society in which people were largely educated in ways that measured cognitive ability more than mnemonic ability, as well as with an intention to teach not only free will, but social and economic responsibility. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and Objectivism CANNOT work when the people are not properly educated; it will ALWAYS lead to a Bourgeois screwing over the Proletariat, which I don't feel is right. Economic Darwinism is less evil than Socialism if the consumer is as powerful as the business, but the current socio-political climate doesn't allow for such a circumstance, thus Anarcho-Capitalism, while the lesser of two evils, is outright irresponsible in our current times. Thing is, many don't care that it's responsible and say, "Survival of the Fittest" and I can sympathize with that... however, I also sympathize with Socialists who are horrified by such a mentality, since that's my initial reaction as well... I just don't believe it's the government's job to regulate such a thing. But for now it seems like it has to be.

Capitalism is worthless if it fails to maintain the ability to freely enter the market and to innovate. Case in point, I don't know of any Mom n' Pop Hardware stores. It's all Home Depot, Lowe's, and chains like Wal*Mart. There used to be some, but then the huge corporations moved in and killed them. One guy tried, but he got run out by them. I loved and supported that store, too; they had things you couldn't find at the latter stores and at cheaper prices, but he still got run out by both the muscle of the larger corporations and socio-economic irresponsibility on the part of the people.

[Erik_Twice]

According to http://www.politicalcompass.org, this:


It also mapped out a bunch of historic political leaders, where it said my views most resemble Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama, and I'm the exact political opposite of George W. Bush!

I got almost exactly the same score as you.