Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
August 30, 2011 at 1:41pm
Yes, I just wasted fifteen minutes of life I'll never get back taking the 2011 Pew Political Typology quiz. It told me that along with nine percent of the American people, I'm a libertarian.
Libertarians
9% OF THE PUBLIC
What They Believe
- Economically very conservative but moderate to liberal on social issues
- Highly critical of government
- Strongly pro-business
- Accepting of homosexuality
- Less religious than the average American
- Moderate views about immigrants compared to other GOP-oriented groups
Basically, I don't encourage you to take the quiz. You won't get the time back, ever, and it doesn't shed much light on anything. But if you're determined to ignore my advice, let me know how you score.
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May '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
I thought that my support of the wanton destruction of lovable fuzzy wildlife habitat pushed me into the staunch conservative category, but it turns out it is the fact that I can pay my bills. Sometimes I even surprise myself.
Mar '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
It only took two minutes to find out that I'm a "Staunch Conservative," which I already knew. Turns out being guided by a rigid ideology lacking in nuance saves time taking surveys!
Apr '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Robert Kelly: Here's another to try. Has more questions- a little more thorough.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/ · Aug 30 at 7:22am
I enjoyed taking this one a while back because I found that my views were almost exactly opposite of Joseph Stalin and to the right of Milton Friedman on economics. Context is everything.
May '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Claire is a wily fox. She put this out there just so all the non-liberals here at Ricochet would go there, take the poll and skew the results.
Pew won't know what to think now.
Aug '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Libertarian ... yawn. The questions lacked granularity. For example, believing that Diplomacy is superior to the use of military doesn't necessarily predict a "non-interventionist."
Where was my abortion question?
Jun '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Robert Kelly: Here's another to try. Has more questions- a little more thorough.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/ · Aug 30 at 7:22am
I took it, Robert. It was a pretty good poll, says me who knows little about these things. Here's how i stood.
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
I got staunch conservative too.
I don't know what my refusal to answer the gay question did to my score. Both statements were so inapposite to my position I couldn't bring myself to click either.
Government should "accept" or "discourage" homosexuality? Talk about a false choice.
Don't they see that giant swath of "ignore" in between?
Dec '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
But Claire, you've already admitted to being just like GM. Did your mom cut you off ;-)
Edited on August 30, 2011 at 7:34pmApr '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Staunch Conservative. I would have been a little less to the right if I could have chosen a middle ground on some of the questions, especially immigration and religion.
May '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Very disappointing. Pew had a political typography study/survey in 2005 called "Beyond Red vs. Blue" that I thought was actually very interesting. I thought they correctly identified the internal divisions in both parties at the time and had fairly accurate demographic information. For instance, they dispelled the notion that the Left was categorically "better educated" than the Right (in fact, certain segments of the Right were the most well-informed) and that the poor all vote Democrat and rich all vote Republican. It actually had me dead-on regarding race, sex, education, news consumption, and economics.
The latest is a lazy attempt at a political survey. It reads like Pew stole the survey from a Facebook survey. I should have listened, Claire.
Feb '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
It told me that I'm libertarian (I took the quiz because I'm weak). Sounds about right even though the questions were really too black and white.
Apr '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
I think I lost brain cells reading the questions, not even answering them. That's the last time I fail to heed warnings.
Jun '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Staunch Conservative. But I think of myself as Burkean Whig (minus the monarchist part).
Apr '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
The makers of the quiz weren't even polite enough to use the common sliding scale of 1-5, strongly disagree to strongly agree. In fact, all the statements are essentially either/or with nothing between.
It's accusing precisely conservatives like me of the sort of black & white thinking that liberals decry.
Mar '11
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
I should have heeded the Dantesque warning surmounting the gate to this post "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," but I didn't and so I join Homer in Pew Poll hell. As they say in Virginia, "That'll learn me." Apparently I'm part of the 9% of homophobic Americans who are racist xenophobes (i.e. Staunch Conservative). The only solace in this tragedy is at least I'm not a libertarian.
Jun '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
If you answer the questions the same way, but then indicate you are a strong democrat versus a strong republican, you get a different designation.
Moreover, as a staunch conservative, what makes me more likely to believe that Obama was born outside of the US? That's silly.
Might be more likely to say he was born outside of the US just to discredit him, but that's a different thing.
Jun '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
How can you separate the two? Good diplomacy requires military strength plus the credible threat of using it. If an adversary knows you can and will fight them if necessary, and further fears you are likely to win should that happen, they are far more likely to be willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith.
Oct '10
Re: Because We All Want to Know Where We Fit In ...
Calculate your PQ from Ricochet Guest Contributor Tim Gloseclose
http://www.timgroseclose.com/calculate-your-pq/