Politically Lefty or Righty?

[Hyperluminal]

I got the idea for this thread from the other Lefty or Righty one, and started to wonder if there were more people on the left or right side of the "political spectrum" here. Of course, I'm not looking for an argument thread, in fact you'd probably be better off if you didn't even mention individual issues, just your political leanings. :D
*And yes, I know some people think you should have a four-pointed political scale, instead of left-right, but for the sake of simplicity, I'll leave it like this... :)

And I know there aren't any clear-cut definitions for each option, but it'd be kind of hard to do that, so take it as you will. ;)

FWIW, I'm a Republican/Libertarian, which I'd say makes me Moderate Right. :)

[Pat Logsdon]

I like to think of myself as a "fiscally conservative liberal", which puts me on the left about as much as on the right. I guess that on average, that makes me a "Centrist". :)

I'm not looking for an argument thread, in fact you'd probably be better off if you didn't even mention individual issues, just your political leanings. :D

Hear hear! Let's all be 8) , like the Fonz.

[Excalliber]

I wouldn't consider myself extreme, but given today's political system, that's how i'm going to have to vote. :wink: Left it is!

One more thing. The sig says it all :lol:

[Kati Compton]

It's interesting to me - again, without making this a heated discussion - the past 4 years have seen some noticeable "switching" of sides or leanings, with some conservatives being unhappy with the direction things are going, and some former liberals supporting/favoring the current administration. It's an effect that I certainly didn't see coming.

[dh]

Free Palestine

I agree, it should be returned to the Christian Byzantines. Hmmmm, wonder where they are, I guess the Greek Orthodox guys will be OK. :D

[ntractv]

Without tipping my hand, those of you who know longitudes/latitudes from my avatar location can guess from my response where I live and work and why I found this poll so intriging (sic). I selected centrist. There are good policies and bad policies in either parties. But, to me, there are some things (which I will not go into in depth), that I believe should not be placed in the political spectrum for debate. I firmly believe that whatever you practice in your personal life, as long as it does not affect others around you and has no impact on them, is your business. This may offend and infuriate some, but, because of where I live, I have lost all interests in taking part of the voting process. And that is because if the elected leaders to represent the government (who by the way do not live here) do not care for what limited decisions the populas approves, they can come and in say we are going to set that bill aside. So the people approved this bill and because they don't agree with it they have the power to say simply say "so what, Next".

No Thank You.

There are enough religions in the world to separate people, but, not one to bring all together.

[RickP in AZ]

Libertarian... And that sums it up...

(Ok, I guess that you could clarify it as "Conserva-tarian" but Libertarian is more readily understood... By a all too few. You could all it "Classic Liberalism" but that gets the social democrats upset.)

Umm... This thread could get really ugly, really quickly...

BTW a bit of US Libertarian Party trivia; there was a sizable contingent who wanted to use the penguin as the party mascot, not the current one.

[Duncan]

A culturally impossible question to answer.

From my humble English position it seem that what goes for 'left-wing' in the US would be pretty much right-wing in the UK.

I once heard Reagan descibed as a moderate Republican by an American friend. Since he was idolised and imitated by the most right-wing leader the UK ever had (Thatch) I can only hope my friend was kidding!

As a mild, 'tempered' Socialist I'm often somewhat amused by the assumption, from many in the States, that I mean Communist (entirely another thing and somewhat further to the left than I am!).

So - what you call left or right and what I call left or right are unlikely to be the same thing. To me left wing is synonymous with 'universal healthcare free at the point of use', 'universal welfare benefits', 'free education' etc.

Funnily enough - the most left wing of the main parties in the UK currently are probably the Liberals. Liberals in the US seem to be generally more to the right side of the spectrum.

All very confusing...!

[Kati Compton]

Funnily enough - the most left wing of the main parties in the UK currently are probably the Liberals. Liberals in the US seem to be generally more to the right side of the spectrum.
I thought that was in Canada...

But lately, that may be closer to true.

[RickP in AZ]

True Duncan but do you not think that labeling it as merely "Left and Right" are sufficient? Using the gauge of what those terms denote in the reader's own country is a good baseline. Plus I do believe that in most (if not all) Parliamentary and Representative Democracies the left side of the aisle is for the "liberals" (your free healthcare example) and the right side is for the "conservatives" (status quo technically, but universally accepted as "free business, big money, all the best in life. :lol: )

I still persist in my feeling that most people are really "Libertarian" but do not know what the label denotes or stands for. But what do I know? I'm just a "gun-totin', left-handed, Libertarian, Dad from Arizona, USA" (As my old email sig originally said before it puckered a few too many folk on the other sides of both oceans.)

[Sven Johannsen]

Card carrying Libertarian. Which is about as incongruous as a Bible thumping Lutheran, I guess.

[RickP in AZ]

Card carrying Libertarian. Which is about as incongruous as a Bible thumping Lutheran, I guess.

Best laugh I've had all day long!

[entropy1980]

Righty Tighty... :D

[rooks308]

God loving republican... 0X

What I found interesting is that when I took note of the % of liberal VS conservative numbers in christian churches I found an astounding number of conservatives and very very few liberals. I am not saying anything bad about liberals, please don't misunderstand. Just something that interested me at the time.

[Jacob]

God loving republican... 0X

What I found interesting is that when I took note of the % of liberal VS conservative numbers in christian churches I found an astounding number of conservatives and very very few liberals. I am not saying anything bad about liberals, please don't misunderstand. Just something that interested me at the time.

I don't see anything bad about liberals in that statement at all :D

[whydidnt]

A saying I picked up somewhere--

I'd just like to keep the Republicans out of my bedroom, and the Democrats out of my wallet!

I guess that probably makes me somewhere in middle, but normally when it comes time to vote, I vote with my wallet.

Interesting number of Libertarian responses here consider the relatively low number of posters.

Whydidnt

[Pat Logsdon]

What I found interesting is that when I took note of the % of liberal VS conservative numbers in christian churches I found an astounding number of conservatives and very very few liberals.
Depends on the denomination, I think. Episcopalians are generally liberal in my experience.

[rooks308]

:) Heh it seems that a few North of me are but I don't know many liberal members of the episcopal church over in the Tri-State area, but who knows maybe it IS due to geographic area{I am not episcapalien}. I am very sad for the episcapailiens in pain right now over the recent voting results. I expect full pews this sunday as I know several people who will leave if this issue goes all the way through. God heal thier wounds.

...Wow this is a dangerous thread... hehe I really hope I don't offend anyone, I know very well how touchy religion and politics both have become... so the best I can say is Cheers :D

LOL I need to relearn my geography hehe :(

[Roosterman]

I am with many others who have listed Libertarian. I want as little government interference as possible. Unfortunately, Liberatarians have little chance to be elected so I usually go Republican. I am a strong believer that very few people actually need all the "help" the government offers. The "help" is usually a way for politicians to get and hold power. Most people are very capable to fend for themselves and be great successes. The government just seems to get in the way, IMO.

[Hyperluminal]

I'm glad to see there are so many Libertarians here. :D

BTW, isn't it funny how, with the exception of "Right leaning Left" and "Other", the poll chart is symmetric?

[doogald]

I voted "moderate left" but I took a poll of those around me and they all decided that I shoulda said "extreme left". Can I change my vote? ;)

[Hyperluminal]

Hmm, a moderator could probably do that.. I know they can on vB.
Though we've been having problems with editing polls lately, so I'm not sure. Mods? :)

[doogald]

Not worth the bother; don't ruin the poll.

[Crystal Eitle]

I'm relieved and a bit surprised to see such an even balance. Occasionally people wander over to my blog from here and leave rather, ah, strident posts in my comments. Based on that, I assumed that PPCT readers were about 85% on the Right. Guess I was wrong. :mrgreen:

(I guess the people who wander over and agree with me are just nodding silently. Which of course, I can't see. :wink: )

[Kati Compton]

Wow. That's a surprisingly symmetrical poll result (at the moment anyway)...

[5] Extreme Right
[14] Moderate Right
[0] Right leaning towards Left
[2] Centrist
[2] Left leaning towards Right
[14] Moderate Left
[5] Extreme Left
[2] Other?

[Janak Parekh]

Wow. That's a surprisingly symmetrical poll result (at the moment anyway)...
I was going to say, it seems to almost perfectly fit a double-hump bell curve (or whatever that's called -- my statistics are rusty :()

--janak

[RickP in AZ]

For the record: as a Libertarian I voted as "Other."

[Hyperluminal]

Really? Not moderate/extreme right?
I added Other mainly for idealologies like fascism, communism, and anarchism, where it'd be at least debatable as to where they'd go on the regular scale...

[Kati Compton]

Really? Not moderate/extreme right?
Libertarians don't necessarily agree with what most people consider "right" (conservative republicanism)...

[Hyperluminal]

Really? Not moderate/extreme right?
Libertarians don't necessarily agree with what most people consider "right" (conservative republicanism)...
Oh. Maybe I should have added a Libertarian option, since being at least semi-Libertarian (I haven't decided if I agree with all their ideas), I'd like to know how many more there were... :D

[Busdriver]

I lean towards correct.