Saturday, January 06, 2007

I've Become More Conservative Over Time

THIS is the test I took years ago and on which I scored 25. 0 is a Jesse Jackson Liberal, 20 is Colin Powell, and 40 is a Ronald Reagan conservative.

25 is George Bush the Dad, and I was happy to be in that company. However, I just scored 32 on this test (between Jack Kemp's 30 and Bob Dole's 35), still in great company. I suspect that my increased conservative score comes from a stronger support for the 2nd Amendment than I had in the past.

However, I'm not convinced that a linear representation is the best for identifying political affiliation. The libertarians have a 2x2 array for political affiliation, one in which I was identified as a centrist but leaning right. In the comments on that post are links to other internet quizzes, and on one of of those I scored

The Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 4.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.82

These appear to be 10-point scales each way; I'm 4.38 units right, and .82 units towards libertarian.

I'm in the same quadrant as Milton Friedman, so I have good company. Again, this is about where I expect to be--distance-wise, not too far from the center.


So we'll take these quizzes with a grain of salt. But when we have many grains put together, and they're all white, perhaps we have the contents of a shaker.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Commie. I got a 37.

Anonymous said...

I scored a 12.

Can I still visit and comment on your blog? (chuckle)

Darren said...

I'm not too hip on this one-dimensional score. Try a couple of two-dimensional quizzes; URLs are in the comments in the link.

Anonymous said...

I'm a 39! I'll try the two-dimensionals and get back to you.

Anonymous said...

I scored 13 -- Right between the two Clintons. Hmm.

Darren said...

I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be less. Ewwwwwwww!

Anonymous said...

just to prove to you that i still read your blog, i'm a 19

evan

Anonymous said...

I scored a 29 between Geo. Bush I and Jack Kemp which I would say is pretty accurate. I am glad to see that living in California hasn't softened your resolve. I was actually pretty surprised I scored that conservative, but then again, I am pretty much a traditionalist on family and social views.

Anonymous said...

The quiz didn't cover education, diversity, and affirmative action enough.

I scored a 20, but I think if the above issues were covered, I would score much higher.

Anonymous said...

"I'm a 39!"

I tip my hat to you, sir.

La Maestra said...

Whew. 14 (between the two Clintons) on the first one, and Economic Left/Right: -3.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.08 on the second one.

I've been agreeing with you an inordinate amount lately--just wanted to make sure I wasn't somehow becoming a conservative. :-)

Darren said...

La Maestra, the fact that you've been agreeing with me lately tells me two things:

1. I'm right to be suspicious of this one-dimensional quiz, and
2. You're a very smart person =)

Anonymous said...

I'm a 32, between Kemp and Dole...