• Pfhorrest
    4.6k
    One thing I found interesting about the results of this poll is that while only the smallest group identified their views as "right", nearly half identified their views as something other than "left".

    I'm guessing that it's mostly American-style right-libertarians (who often hate being called "right-libertarians") who are identifying themselves in the "neither" (second largest) or "both" (second smallest) groups. They see themselves as centrist, unaware of how right-skewed their idea of the center is, and so of course complain that a population almost evenly distributed between the self-identified "left" and the complement of that set (the not-left) is "skewed left".

    My takeaway is that "right" is seen as more of a "dirty word" than "left" is. Those who knowingly push things leftward are proud of that fact, even though (per the results on the non-ideologically-labeled axes of the poll) they only want things to be somewhat left (liberty and equality and change), not maximally, presumably toward what they see as a balanced position. Those who are resisting that movement don't want to be identified as "right", and think that the (as we leftists see it) rightward bias of the mainstream worldview is really "centrist".

    I am surprised that 9% chose "maximum hierarchy". I'm intrigued by this.Kenosha Kid

    I'm also intrigued by that, and would be interested to hear from not only them, but anyone who voted one of the last two options of the first three questions ("somewhat" or "maximal" authority, hierarchy, or stasis).
  • Kenosha Kid
    3.2k
    I'm also intrigued by that, and would be interested to hear from not only themPfhorrest

    I'd particularly like to know if this is independent of where in the hierarchy they'd end up.

    anyone who voted one of the last two options of the first three questions ("somewhat" or "maximal" authority, hierarchy, or stasis).Pfhorrest

    I confess the stasis option is the only one that made no sense to me. I kind of read this as 'gradual progress' but I didn't answer 'maximal change' as 'instanaeous transformation to what I currently think of as the perfect society'.
  • ssu
    8k
    I'm guessing that it's mostly American-style right-libertarians (who often hate being called "right-libertarians") who are identifying themselves in the "neither" (second largest) or "both" (second smallest) groups.Pfhorrest
    I'm guessing that those who identify themselves "neither" think that because they don't agree with leftist anarchists / antifa-types or with the alternative right / Trump & QAnon-types, they think they aren't left or right.

    Do notice that the option "centrist" was missing from the questionnaire. That despised and vilified option by both the left and the right.
  • Pfhorrest
    4.6k
    I confess the stasis option is the only one that made no sense to me. I kind of read this as 'gradual progress' but I didn't answer 'maximal change' as 'instanaeous transformation to what I currently think of as the perfect society'.Kenosha Kid

    I'm having a little difficulty parsing your sentence here, but I hope this answers the implied question:

    - "maximal change" was to mean you want rapid and radical change from the status quo (so if you only want very small changes, wanting them very quickly isn't "maximal change")

    - "maximal stasis" on the other hand was to mean that you want things to be very similar if not identical to how they are now and any changes from that to happen very slowly and carefully.

    - "somewhat limited change" was to mean that you think things definitely need to change and quickly, but not nearly everything, and we can be cautious in our pace.

    - "somewhat limited stasis" was to mean that you think things are mostly fine as they are now, but there are some little improvements that can be made here or there, carefully.

    - "an equal balance of change and stasis" was to mean that you find the status quo about halfway acceptable, a lot of things need to change but also a lot needs to stay the same, and we should be only as quick to make those changes as possible without compromising our due caution to protect what's already good.

    Do notice that the option "centrist" was missing from the questionnaire. That despised and vilified option by both the left and the right.ssu

    I didn't mean to exclude "centrist" out of any bias toward it (I consider myself a kind of "centrist" in the proper political spectrum, even if I'm "far left" by common standards). Rather, I meant "both" and "neither" to differentiate different possible kinds of "centrists". I think you're probably right that people who are equally "anti-woke" and "anti-MAGA" see themselves as "neither".
  • Kenosha Kid
    3.2k
    I didn't mean to exclude "centrist" out of any bias toward it (I consider myself a kind of "centrist" in the proper political spectrum, even if I'm "far left" by common standards). Rather, I meant "both" and "neither" to differentiate different possible kinds of "centrists". I think you're probably right that people who are equally "anti-woke" and "anti-MAGA" see themselves as "neither".Pfhorrest

    I think that was apt. There's a big difference between being on the centre-ground of most things and being leftist on some, right on the others. Some of my views are considered conservative or authoritarian (I am pro DNA databases, for instance); I am probably centre on nothing, and extreme on very little.

    - "an equal balance of change and stasis" was to mean that you find the status quo about halfway acceptable, a lot of things need to change but also a lot needs to stay the same, and we should be only as quick to make those changes as possible without compromising our due caution to protect what's already good.Pfhorrest

    Thanks. Sorry for the badly worded question.
  • Cobra
    160
    I want to know who voted what so I can start blocking the authorians.
  • baker
    5.6k
    which do you favorPfhorrest
    This assumes that one believes that one's preferences in political things somehow matter.
    What about those people who have altogether lost hope in politics, and who therefore have no preferences about it?

    And then there are those whose political preferences may be completely unrealistic/utopian/dystopian (and they know them to be such), but who refuse to settle for any of the options given in the poll?
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