It seems I haven't changed much. You are a center-right social libertarian. Right: 1.97, Libertarian: 4.6
far left folks will find this interesting "But just as I did not choose to be gay, I did not choose to be conservative. My political evolution happened over time as I came to realize that I valued truth and reason over narrative and emotion. I became an outspoken voice on the right because I felt I had no other choice than to speak up and shout the truth, despite overwhelming pressure from the media. "The left has become empowered to actively stamp out our voices. Not just that, but they feel fully justified in doing so. But just as I realized at 16 with my sexuality, I embrace today with my political worldview: I can no more deny what I know to be objective truth than I could deny my feelings about my own sexuality then. "Today I feel the same nervousness and obligation not to hide when I speak about gender or science to the left as I did deciding to go to the prom with a man. When I hesitate to speak honestly about a topic that could get me banned from Twitter, I think back to how it felt to risk public humiliation and judgment as a teenager speaking the truth about who I was inside. Intolerance has no political affiliation." http://thefederalist.com/2018/12/11/stigma-conservative-politics-worse-stigma-gay/ more at the link
Yes, but the stigma was created by Republicans themselves. I used to be proud to call myself a Republican. Then came Sarah Palin. Then came the Tea Party. And then the final death blow.....Trump (and all the sellouts who supported him after he got elected). Yes, I'm intolerant. Intolerant of having an unqualified buffoon in the White House. With an R by his name, no less. As a Republican since 1994, that's just flat out embarrassing. So yeah, the "stigma" is self-inflicted.
I think there's a difference between being a "conservative" and being a "Republican." While there's some overlap (obviously), there is no reason to suppose that these terms are coterminous. Trump himself was a Democrat for much of his adult life, no? and there is a lot of evidence of him having simply "adopted" the party that he was most likely to capture in a run for the Presidency. At any rate I think the essay was more about the writer's conservativism rather than his party affiliation.
I am largely a minarchist. That said center libertarian. Funny how most people are libertarians, but the party can't get off the ground. Then you look at Gary Johnson and you know why.
The reason for that is that there is pretty massive differences between the views of libertarians across the right/left spectrum and that gets in the way of libertarian unity. You'll also find that people who are pretty close on the left/right spectrum will end up agreeing more closely with those who are more authoritarian than they are than those who are further to the right or left of them. Essentially when taken to the extreme anarcho communists agree more with other more authoritarian communists than they do with an anarcho capitalist.
Horseshoe theory? Eh maybe. Not sure if the left and right part really works. I largely maintain that left and right is an ever shifting set of terms and honestly the world is far more complicated than that. That is why in general I reject those terms. Especially since the main political issues already have shifted to a new paradigm since that quiz was made. The one thing that is constant is the tendancy of people to become jack boot lickers at the snap of a finger. I bet a few of the people I argue with on this board wouldn't mind being a guard at a concentration camp and would feel pride in their work if they were given the proper moral justification. This is based on people's tendancy to drift toward authoritarian methods as solutions because they do not trust in liberty.
I always love these tests with their simple questions...here's one I'm supposed to answer: What set of hobbies sound most appealing to you? Reading, writing, and drawing. Hunting, fishing, and camping. TV shows, movies, and video games. Sports, martial arts, and working out. Crafts, building projects, and repair/restoration work. I get to pick one. Other than drawing, video games and martial arts, these are all things I do weekly.
I haven't taken the quiz and don't post here as much as I used to but I feel like I've gotten more conservative in recent years. I've become much more interested in the textual language of the Constitution and also the views of the Framers including the Enlightenment philosophy behind them. I've become more amenable to limited government, federalism and the separation of powers. Part of this is as I get older seeing how political winds change and understanding how the framework of the Constitution checks those winds and protects political minority viewpoints. The other reason why is as that what is considered the current Conservative movement has been hijacked first by the Tea Party and now by Trump. It has become unmoored from it's original philosophy and is now a movement without principles. Conservative ideology going back to Edmund Burke to Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan wasn't the Nativist, Protectionist, cult of personality that it is now. It wasn't about fear of immigrants or childish quarelling with "Libs". It most definitely wasn't about personal loyalty to a demagogue running the country like a clannish cabal. This country needs an active and principled conservative movement. If the political alternatives of this country are between Nativism of Trump and the Tea Party and a vague and misdefined "Social Democrats" we are in very big trouble.
So you mean you've become more educated and critical, and actually more "liberal" in the original sense of the word. Modern liberals are far from what they were 15 years ago, and light years from the original term when this county was founded. You sound like another independent left to the wind.
Yeah, I don't think these tests are that accurate at times...but I guess I'd put myself in that general area.
bumping this thread to complement this more recent one: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/are-you-more-liberal-or-more-conservative.297337/ not sure the chart jump ship posted works for many people here
