What's your political leaning?

JustV

Title says it. Curious what the balance is on the community.

If you don't know what your political leaning is, here's a simple diagram:

AislingDM

Love this thread, think it's really cool to see the balance on here I'd say somewhere between centre and far left (but closer to far left), just because I would never purport to be an expert on the specifics of economic stuff!

Former Member

@Mike This is a really interesting thread, thanks so much!

I'm similar to @AislingDM between far left and centre left. I don't know enough about certain areas to be completely in one lane

Former Member

Seemingly I'm centre right. I think people that work for their money have earned it, so why should they be taxed heavier to "even" the playing field, when some people literally choose to cheat the benefits system to be lazy.

It's funny though because I despise the Tories and I personally vote SNP.

Interesting.

This is why I don't like politics

JustV

Anch0r33 wrote: »

It's funny though because I despise the Tories and I personally vote SNP.

Interesting.

This is why I don't like politics

I find there's usually a difference between one's ideology and the politicians they support.

Thanks guys - super interesting. I like that you all mentioned economics, and it's worth highlighting that your social and economic alignment can be different. For example, you can be socially liberal but fiscally more conservative. Wish there was an easy way to capture that in a poll!

Azziman

Mike wrote: »

Anch0r33 wrote: »

It's funny though because I despise the Tories and I personally vote SNP.

Interesting.

This is why I don't like politics

I find there's usually a difference between one's ideology and the politicians they support.

Thanks guys - super interesting. I like that you all mentioned economics, and it's worth highlighting that your social and economic alignment can be different. For example, you can be socially liberal but fiscally more conservative. Wish there was an easy way to capture that in a poll!

Yeah I think there's the political compass that tries to do that, to differentiate these - e.g. Stalin and Gandhi were both left, but the former was very authoritarian whereas the latter wasn't. Though that test has it's own methodological issues.

I think they did a poll on British people - from memory, most Brits are slightly left of centre, centrist, or right of centre, and slightly authoritarian. Interesting insights for sure

Former Member

@Mike I agree completely. I actually have a communist friend (she supports the ideology not the people) and she was speaking to me about this. I would have to say that I am a left-wing liberal but an open to change. I also wanted to say how happy I am that this is a thread, it is good to have healthy discussion.

JustV

Azziman wrote: »

Yeah I think there's the political compass that tries to do that, to differentiate these - e.g. Stalin and Gandhi were both left, but the former was very authoritarian whereas the latter wasn't. Though that test has it's own methodological issues.

Ah, like this @Azziman?

Azziman wrote: »

I think they did a poll on British people - from memory, most Brits are slightly left of centre, centrist, or right of centre, and slightly authoritarian. Interesting insights for sure

Interesting. Do you know if it was a recent poll? I wonder if that's changed lately.

maryam852 wrote: »

@Mike I agree completely. I actually have a communist friend (she supports the ideology not the people) and she was speaking to me about this. I would have to say that I am a left-wing liberal but an open to change. I also wanted to say how happy I am that this is a thread, it is good to have healthy discussion.

Good on you for being open to new ideas @maryam852. It's interesting when you get into the more 'extreme' ideologies - I know people who are advocates of communism too but they tend to caveat it with the understanding that it tends not to work in practice. I wonder if there's a difference between supporting something in theory or in some utopian ideal, but then needing to confront realities and looking at things in a more grounded way and having to compromise?

maryam852 wrote: »

(she supports the ideology not the people)

Would be interested to hear more about this. Is it that your friend doesn't support real-world communist figures, but sees merits in the principles of communism?

Former Member

Something I find interesting about the political compass is that there isn't really a true centre for political beliefs, everything is relative. For example believing in public healthcare in the UK isn't considered to be especially left wing, it's the norm, but in the US it would be.

Also kind of interesting is how the centre can shift. There is a concept called the "Overton Window" which refers to how left or right you can be of centre and have it be socially acceptable. People in power can shift this window by deliberately going outside of it. If a prime minister or president is to say something that is far more right wing than what's accepted things that are slightly less right wing than that seem more reasonable in comparison and are therefore more likely to be accepted due to the fact that it's better than what the person in power believes. Not that relevant really I just find that interesting

JustV

Think this is a really good point @Apollo. The healthcare example you used is one of the biggest cases of that I think. It really does depend on where you live and the surrounding context.

Apollo wrote: »

Also kind of interesting is how the centre can shift. There is a concept called the "Overton Window" which refers to how left or right you can be of centre and have it be socially acceptable. People in power can shift this window by deliberately going outside of it. If a prime minister or president is to say something that is far more right wing than what's accepted things that are slightly less right wing than that seem more reasonable in comparison and are therefore more likely to be accepted due to the fact that it's better than what the person in power believes. Not that relevant really I just find that interesting

I didn't know about this, but that's so interesting! I can really see how that would play out. Really shows how everything is so relativistic when you're talking about politics and societal views.

Former Member

This was really interesting, thank you. I think I am more center left or center-leaning, but I'm not sure, I find it really difficult to find the right political stance to take. I do believe all people are equal however there are disadvantages in society and economics that creates inequality...however I am not sure what is the best way to solve this XD

Skive

I find such visualisations and spectrums quite restrictive and limiting, but if I had to label myself I would say I'm a democratic socialist, which would generally put me well on the left.

Former Member

@Mike Exactly! She sees its merits but agrees how badly it's gone in practice. In fact, she goes as far to say that the communism we have seen in action doesn't follow the principles of communism at all!

Azziman

Mike wrote: »

Azziman wrote: »

Yeah I think there's the political compass that tries to do that, to differentiate these - e.g. Stalin and Gandhi were both left, but the former was very authoritarian whereas the latter wasn't. Though that test has it's own methodological issues.

Ah, like this @Azziman?



yep that's the one! but as @Apollo says, it is relative, as is our concept of centre, left, right, depending on which country/culture you are from. Some British people think Macron's LREM is left-wing, but then some Americans think that Boris' Conservatives are left-wing. Perspective is important.

AislingDM

i am loving this thread and learning from everyone so thank you. Ultimately, I'd say the name I give to myself / my stance is less important to me, the way I make friends and work out who I feel supported by is based on the specifics of issues, as one person could be self-described 'far-left' and do something I think is harmful, so I reckon when it comes to personal relationships I try to focus on specific issues? xx

Former Member

That image categorises things so simple.
But I don't see everything as a simple continumn like that haha.
I'd take aspects of different things. I've done the political compass thing b4 too but i heard it is skewed in a way. Also not all conservatives are about the individuals I think traditional conservatism was more focussed on the family structure. And liberal has several different meanings..
Honestly I don't see the point categorising myself i'll side with whatever I want to lol

Former Member

i don't see the politics simple what if you were a mixture like me? But I still lean more towards socialism