[at-l] OT Non-partisan politcal link

[sblovedoves at bellsouth.net (SBLoveDoves)]

Thanks Mags!!!

That really was an interesting questionnaire!  But according to the
analysis, I'm sitting right next to Gandhi on the graph -- just a tiny bit
more libertarian.  That surprises me somewhat...

Cheryl / Swamp Blar

p.s.  I can't wait to read about your weekend backpacking trip and see the
pictures.  I'm especially interested in the igloo. :-)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Magnanti" <pmags@yahoo.com>
To: <at-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 12:49 PM
Subject: [at-l] OT Non-partisan politcal link


> So who went hiking this weekend? :-) Seems like too
> many of you watched political shows...
>
> I made an igloo myself for a winter backpacking trip.
> Pictures and trip report to follow tomorrow.
>
> But, in any case, here is a really interesting
> political link. I think it is safe to say that many of
> us can agree that the Left and Right designations for
> political thought are inadequate.
>
> To quote from the website whose link I am about to
> post:
>
> Welcome to The Political Compass.
> There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old
> one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' ,
> established for the seating arrangement of the French
> National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for
> today's complex political landscape. For example, who
> are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they
> the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who
> have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives
> like Margaret Thatcher ?
> On the standard left-right scale, how do you
> distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not
> sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left
> than Gandhi. There are fundamental political
> differences between them that the old categories on
> their own can't explain. Similarly, we generally
> describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet
> that leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe
> and Pol Pot off the hook.
>
> **********
>
> To sum this up, it rates people not only as
> CONSERVATIVE and LIBERAL, but also as AUTHORITARIAN
> and LIBERTARIAN.  Much more accurate guage of the
> political spectrum than saying Democrat or Republican.
>
> Anyway, a very interesting site:
> http://www.politicalcompass.org/
>
> Mags
> (moderatley liberal..strongly libertarian)