I don't know why, but I have this insatiable thirst to understand myself. It sounds a little odd, as I read that back...but, whatever! In the political sphere, I suppose we all need reassurance from time to time as to where we fall and why. After getting no sleep last night, I was sitting here this morning contemplating what to write about. I must have gotten bored surfing the internet and found myself on openpolitics.ca. I decided to take their test and find out where I am on the spectrum, from their opinion. So, I answered all 60 questions in trying to figure out where my ever "evolving" point of view now lies on the political spectrum.
To my sheer terror, my result came up that I am an Independence Democrat! What??? I am SO far off from a Democrat. Just seeing that word appear sent a shiver up my spine; had I been Chris Wallace, it would have been up my leg... I about fell out of my chair. I also contemplated throwing my computer out the window, but I like my Mac so I decided against it. I was just about to close out the browser when the thought occurred to me; maybe I should read all the other crap, and not just the label given. After all, in today's world, we have a LOT of political terms misused; God knows, I misuse them in the traditional sense. Hmmm, another idea to write about....but, I digress. As I began to read about being an Independence Democrat, I realized that it was pretty close to what I thought of myself.
Left Libertarian politics combines economic freedoms with reformist democratic institutions - small state, anti-corporate, civil liberties.
Now we are getting somewhere! That is me in a nutshell, however, I don't get the "anti-corporate" thing. I swear, I must have answered some question incorrectly in my half-dazed and under rested state this morning. But, when looking at the spectrum (which is not in the order one would expect (Liberal towards Libertarian, in my mind), I became more comfortable with the "me":
| ACRONYM | Nickname | Description | Philosophy |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBILN | American Liberal | American Liberals combine social freedoms, economic freedoms and civil liberties within the framework of a generous social safety net. | Liberal Democrat |
| DBILW | Internationalist | A “democracy without borders” point of view that promotes human rights and seeks a just and progressive world order. | Liberal Democrat |
| DBIRN | Modernist Democrat | Democratic modernists support the evolution of a wide variety of government institutions and programs with enhanced democratic participation. | Liberal Democrat |
| DBIRW | Rousseau Democrat | Rousseau was the original proponent of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, and the intellectual architect of the French revolution. Poor for most of his life, his was the original statement of radical egalitarianism. | Liberal Democrat |
| DBCLN | Social Democrat | This kind of post-revolutionary socialism tends to focus on the bread and butter issues of families, jobs, and hot button social issues. | Socialism |
| DBCLW | "Hippie" Socialist | This kind of egalitarian is focuses on building collective institutions as the bedrock of society, be they religious or secular. Can include intentional and religious communities. | Socialism |
| DBCRN | Marxist | Marx's socialism combines anti-capitalism with material well being of the people in a state controlled by them. | Socialism |
| DBCRW | "Swedish" Socialism | The prototypical socialist state combines high taxes, state enterprises, atheism, social planning and internationalism. | Socialism |
| DSILN | Town Hall Democrat | These independent minded social and economic freedom lovers prefer local control rather than distant bureaucracies, even if it means a less extensive social safety net. | Independence Democrat |
| DSILW | Cultural Libertarian | Globalist minded, economically independent, democratic social creatives. | Independence Democrat |
| DSIRN | Left Libertarian | Left Libertarian politics combines economic freedoms with reformist democratic institutions - small state, anti-corporate, civil liberties. | Independence Democrat |
| DSIRW | Anti-nationalist | Not anarchists but something like it, anti-nationalists are largely willing to make do without state power, or take a transformative view of government. | Independence Democrat |
| DSCLN | "New York" Republican | View the state mainly as a means for collective security, protecting their homes and communities, mostly free market economics with flexible attitudes about social progress. | Communitarianism |
| DSCLW | Classical Utopian | Utopians of the 19th century established dozens, if not hundreds of self sufficient, egalitarian, democratic communities. | Communitarianism |
| DSCRN | Federalist | A Federalist advocates for a democratic state with taxing and spending powers distributed among all levels of government. | Communitarianism |
| DSCRW | Syndicalist | A syndicalist seeks to disperse most or all state power to a community of communities. | Communitarianism |
| ABILN | Nationalist | This type generally seeks the expansion of the collective (private and public) power of the state, a pragmatic mix of economic and military development. | Corporatist |
| ABILW | "Hollywood" Republican | Strong, even "visionary" leadership with a populist bent, this type tends to spend more on public services and safety, without playing to a socially conservative agenda. | Corporatist |
| ABIRN | Taylorist | This kind of technocrat serves the common good in by an incremental series of centrally planned and controlled steps. Named after Fredric Winslow Taylor, who was an industrial manager rather than a political theorist, became famous for his “time and motion” studies which sought to manage the smallest movements of workers under his management to optimize production. | Corporatist |
| ABIRW | Brettonist | This combination of political beliefs advocates for scientifically based social planning on a wider scale. This is the mindset of the World Bank or IMF, who advocate a comprehensive set of fiscal and monetary policies based on the “best practices” known in the economic or individualist paradigm. | Corporatist |
| ABCLN | Traditional Communitarian | A traditionalist who seeks to strengthen society by regulating social life as well as the economic order, focusing on “community values” as opposed to individualism. | Statist |
| ABCLW | Fundamentalist | Fundamentalism combines a strong leadership with a firm committment to an overarching ideology, either religious, or nationalist, or ideological. | Statist |
| ABCRN | Bolshevists | Bolshevists such as V. I. Lenin promoted what became the model for the Soviet Socialist Republic, a centralized state which planned economic and social progress. | Statist |
| ABCRW | Internationalist | This is the mindset of an ambitious social planner, perhaps aware of the problems of ""too much liberty", who seeks to design systems of behavior, as well as, or instead of individualistic or atomistic economic policies. | Statist |
| ASILN | Hamiltonian | Hamilton, co author of the Federalist Papers, who helped frame the US constitution and the US financial system, stood for economic and social liberties under one big powerful government. | Libertarian |
| ASIRN | Blue Tory | Classical Liberals or Blue Tories are “tax cut” conservatives first and foremost, with the view that a minimalist state and maximum economic freedoms contribute to prosperity and social stability. | Libertarian |
| ASIRW | Smithian | Followers of Adam Smith are fiscal conservatives with a drive for reform - less tolerant of inequality, pork-barrelling and monopolists. | Libertarian |
| ASILW | English Victorians | Combining a recognition of hierarchy with self dependence as a moral imperative, English Victorians combined classism with the need to “keep a stiff upper lip”, relying on charitable works rather than a social safety net. | Social conservatism |
| ASCLN | Modern Whig | Whigs are conservatives who are very concerned with preserving cultural traditions and the established social order. | Social conservatism |
| ASCLW | Social Conservative | This is the archetype of social conservatives, upholding a traditional social view, and favoring tough love approaches to economic and social issues. | Social conservatism |
| ASCRN | Patrician | The Patricians were the aristocratic families who controlled the ancient Roman Senate. This kind of conservatism values duty and loyalty most highly, Patricians are socially traditional without being morally so. | Social conservatism |
| ASCRW | Owenite | Robert Owen a successful industrialist, was an early “socialist without the class struggle” his planned communities combined education with strict social order. | Social conservatism |
Next were my supposed likes and dislikes. I think it is really hard to pinpoint a person's political perspective into a simple Liberal or Conservative circle. And, given the wide range in the above table, I was willing to review this section. My supposed likes and dislikes:
So, now I am relieved; I am not a Democrat in the terms used today. Thank God! I am a Independence Democrat who believes in a small government and freedom for individuals from a large government. I have labeled myself a Conservative Libertarian for quite some time now....maybe I should change that? Nah, I would confuse the hell out of the left if I started calling myself and Independence Democrat. They have a hard enough time with terms like Budget, Fiscal Responsibility, and Freedom.
like:
- feel less accountable to the social standards of others
- tolerate experimenting with drugs and alcohol
- people who "make do" on their own
- working to get a “wise decision” even if it takes longer.
dislike:
- worrying about being popular or fashionable.
- subsidies for industry
- secrecy and the withholding of information.
I, most certainly, agreed with my likes. I am definitely me, take it or leave it. That is not to say I am disrespectful, I just don't feel the need to be someone who I am not. I am much more comfortable giving my honest opinions and viewpoints without sugar-coating the crap out of it. I also believe that we are what we make of ourselves. If you are too lazy, impatient, or not driven to continually grow, that is not my problem; it's yours and only yours. It is because of this approach that I don't care if I am wearing the latest fashion or being popular; if people like me for who I am, great! If people don't, then nothing is lost and they found out about me quickly, and not wasting their life trying to grow a friendship they would not enjoy.
I now understood being "anti-corporate" as well. I think this is related to my hatred for all things subsidy; this is not limited to people and includes industry and corporations as well. If a company cannot make a good product or service, why should we bail them out? They are a failure; end of story.
I now understood being "anti-corporate" as well. I think this is related to my hatred for all things subsidy; this is not limited to people and includes industry and corporations as well. If a company cannot make a good product or service, why should we bail them out? They are a failure; end of story.
So, now I am relieved; I am not a Democrat in the terms used today. Thank God! I am a Independence Democrat who believes in a small government and freedom for individuals from a large government. I have labeled myself a Conservative Libertarian for quite some time now....maybe I should change that? Nah, I would confuse the hell out of the left if I started calling myself and Independence Democrat. They have a hard enough time with terms like Budget, Fiscal Responsibility, and Freedom.
I would recommend doing this, if only for some amusement. No, you don't need to write a huge article on it. But, I truly believe it will help you, and I, form our arguments better if we understand where we are coming from. What is that old saying?
"You have to love yourself before you can love someone else."
The same is true in political discourse; we need to understand ourselves before we can understand and argue with the other side of the aisle. In our quest to inform, the best way to form arguments is using our strengths of beliefs. If you can back your beliefs with the facts, you will, hopefully, be right every time. Maybe right isn't the right word in my case; I will be Left Libertarian? Nope, it just doesn't sound right, it sounds left....
Related articles
- Why not left-libertarianism? (stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com)
- Beware of liberals in libertarian drag (wnd.com)
- Some Thoughts on the Distinction Between "Economic Freedom" and "Social Freedom" (c4ss.org)
- Defending left-libertarianism (stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com)
- Memo to Republicans: Go Libertarian...or Go Home! (reason.com)
- The Real Reason Libertarians Aren't Settling For Conservatism (againstcronycapitalism.org)
- Poll: 22 percent of Americans lean libertarian (washingtonpost.com)
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