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Surprise Quiz! And No Peeking.
After reading Ricochet posts for a couple of years, I’ve figured out what goes into the makeup of an ideal Ricochet conservative. So I’ve devised a true/false test to see just how pure of a Ricochet conservative you are. So mark either a True or a False next to each of the numbered statements below.
You can check what your score means at the end of the test. (Though modest by nature, I will tell you that I did very well.)
- You think that Trump is egotistical, has a tenuous relationship with the truth, and is about a half-bubble off plumb. But you agree with almost everything he’s helped to accomplish and you’ll be voting for him if he runs again.
- You’re a practicing Jew or Christian and you bring up (or brought up) your children in a church or temple. If you belong to a mainline Protestant congregation, you probably feel out of step at times.
- You’re a strong supporter of the free enterprise system — with reasonable limitations, of course. For instance, you have nothing against the FDA overseeing the safety testing of drugs and other products.
- You have a general distaste for regulations and you agree with Trump’s efforts to reduce their number.
- You think that AOC, Bernie Sanders, and fellow socialists haven’t learned from history.
- You strongly support the First Amendment. Let the ideas fly, you say, and let us sort them out rather than let the government sort them out before they reach our ears.
- You strongly support the Second Amendment. In fact, you would allow firearms all the way up through the semi-automatic, combat-looking AK 47 to be legally sold. You also think that all adults — with the exception of convicted felons and the certifiably insane — should be able to buy those legal firearms. You probably have a firearm in your home.
- You think that colleges, especially the humanities, have become too political and left-wing partisan.
- You’re a proponent of limited government and suspicious of central planning.
- You’re respectful of the Founding Fathers and thankful for the blessings you received by growing up in America. And you’re not too shy to say so.
- You’re a strong supporter of property rights. And that means you believe that a person has the right to sell his stuff to whomever he wishes. That stuff includes wedding cakes. You also believe that a person has the right to rent his property to whomever he wishes. What goes on in your mind as you accept or turn away a prospective renter is none of the government’s business.
- Following the lead of the greatest conservative of them all, Edmund Burke, you think that long-established laws and habits have stood the test of time and therefore are probably based on human nature itself. So you’re cautious about change and innovation.
- You believe that life begins at conception and you, therefore, consider abortion murder.
- You believe in the work ethic, and you’ve probably shown up for work a bit sick — sniffles, sneezy, runny nose, tired, achy — more than once.
- You think that children need heroes so you disapprove of those who focus on the flaws of the American past. You would rather students hear stories of American greatness. It doesn’t even particularly bother you if children in the lower grades are told fictional, uplifting stories like Washington and the cherry tree. Truth comes in many forms, you believe, and some of those forms are mythic and legendary.
- You lead a conservative lifestyle. You invest conservatively, live modestly, and you even look conservative. You’re not a clotheshorse and you keep your hair neatly trimmed or styled.
- It saddens you that the mainstream media have moved away from objectivity and toward left-wing partisanship.
- You think that reducing taxes is good for the economy.
- You think that the policies of big-city mayors and the welfare state have helped to undermine the well-being of urban minorities.
- “Live and let live” is one of your mottos.
Here are your scores in the number of statements that you have marked false.
0 to 2: You’re conservative down to your toes. (This is what Bob the dog and my wife Marie scored.)
3 to 5: You’re conservative enough to annoy liberals. (This is what I scored.)
6 to 9: You’re flirting with liberalism, brothers and sisters. You’re still in the fold, but you need to back off just a bit before you fall off the conservative precipice and into the slough of left-wing despondency.
10 to 15: You watch CNN and believe everything you see and hear there. You miss dreadfully the professorial and sonorous intonation patterns that you remember coming from Obama’s mouth. “Orange man bad” is your mantra when you meditate.
16 to 20: You’re a Commie and report back regularly to your comrades in the Kremlin.
There were two items that I’d quibble with, so at least I’m not pure.
Am I that obvious? This test wasn’t even a little bit hard. Thanks, Kent. I scored a 1.
I’m with Bob-the-dog.
3-5. I annoy liberals.
I’d say you were as pure as the driven snow.
I sometimes let my hair grow out of control, what little I have, but I do admire consistency in a barber’s work. (I go to a barber with a pole, not a hair stylist.) I’m something of an agnostic, but I still hope there is a God and I sing in my daughter’s, the church music director’s, choir on holidays. I like Trump’s faults. I have my own and I’ve grown to love them. I appreciate a good renegade.
(I may even be a zero.)
I wonder what a CNN devotee would score on this test. I think it would be in the neighborhood of sixteen or seventeen Falses.
There seems to be a vast chasm that separates liberals from conservatives.
I’m with Jim McConnell.
Stina, they need to be annoyed, so you’re only doing the job for the rest of us.
I scored a .5
Haven’t cut my hair since the early 80’s…
Yeah… I’m failing at that one, too. After this quiz, I went looking for style tips for my hair. Basically it boils down to “cut your hair until nothing is left”.
Stina, I worry about my hair. I used to have great hair. But time has not treated it kindly. Now what there is left of it sticks out all over the place. I don’t want to look like Bernie Sanders, so I try to control it.
But then I grow tired of that until my wife tells me it looks like old man’s hair. I then pat it down with a moistened hand.
My hair has become a trial.
#21. You detest on-line quizzes.
Even when they’re conservatively oriented and done with a little bit tongue in cheek?
Though one of the things that makes Ricochet interesting is that there are here people who answer “false” to several of these statements. Yet they articulate their disagreements with reason and logic.
There are some members for whom I think it would be interesting if we could go back in time to compare their score today with what it would have been 3 or 4 years ago.
Uh…
Yeah. It hasn’t been that long for me, but it’s down to my lumbar.
You should have added “You love dogs and think they are the greatest creatures on earth (except for humans of course). How can you be a true conservative without loving dogs?? (I say loving, not owning, since I have no dog and am jealous of everyone who does.) BTW, I scored a “1”; surprised? ;-)
Arahant, I had you in mind when I wrote that question.
I should have done something with dogs. Don’t know how I missed out on that one. Perhaps I was afraid of Arahant the cat man.
Three. My hair’s a bit messy.
I scored a 6, but I take issue with a couple of questions that don’t go far enough, so I should get extra credit.
17. It saddens you….
No, it infuriates me. And they’ve never been objective and now they are more than partisans, they are activists!
15. I agree, but stop short at conflating this into trying to promote roll-model politicians or expecting our Commander in Chief to be a walking virtue-signaler like Romney.
19. “helped to” Try,created the problem singlehandedly and very possibly deliberately!
I have some quibbles with #1 but will address them later.
That said, Thanks !
Cats are much more conservative than dogs.
I don’t imagine that anyone will be surprised to hear that my total is zero. Zip, zilch, nada.
I guess this means that my conservatism goes past my toes, to the soles of my boots.
Not my problem. I don’t have very much left. There are still pictures floating around that were taken when I was a hippy with hair hanging to my shoulders. That was a very long time ago. It is kinda nice to roll out of bed without having to do a thing with my hair, but I still would kind of like to have that problem.
I had hippie hair in the early ’70’s. When I was a Sr. in high school I cut it, figured I could start to be less a target for the redneck crewcut types in my small town. Then within a year they all grew their hair long!
Kept it short(er) for about 10years. I never did the crew cut, just above the collar. Even had a curly hair perm for a while, at my girlfriends request. Everyone said I looked like Mr. Kotter ( Gabe Kaplan) Easy to take care of but OH! the smell. . .
I used to go spend over $50 plus tips ( this is pre 1980 dollars!) to get my hair cut, and every time I would get home, look in the mirror, and react with disgust at what was on my head.
So I just decided if I’m gonna look unkempt and goofy, I will do it for free, not pay someone to do it. I have never regretted it.
I’m starting to show a hint of a bald spot on my crown these days, so I have considered going with the total Kojak ( like my older brother) but haven’t pulled that trigger yet. Still won’t pay for haircuts tho, I can shave my own head!
My chiropractor does that. Were I to go bald, not sure if I’d go for the Kojak or the Ben Franklin. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to be a near-term problem, and I’m nearing the traditional border for old age.
I’m with Marie and Bob. :-)
I answered it like a daawwg.
Like Bob the daawwg?
I got a 4 and I also thought of Arahant with the hair question. He and I are the resident longhairs of Ricochet. I still need to get a cape, though.