15

Where Do You Stand Politically?

L
iberal, Conservative, Right, Left, Libertarian? Where
do you stand? Take this fun quiz and fnd out where you
stand on The Political Map.
Worlds Smallest Political Quiz
Instructions: Read each statement one-by-one and consider
if you agree or disagree with it. Circle the A when you agree
with the statement. Circle the D when you disagree with the
statement. Circle the M for maybe when you are unsure if you
agree or disagree.
A. Personal Issues
1. Government should not censor speech, A M D
press, media or Internet.
2. Military service should be voluntary. A M D
There should be no draft.
3. There should be no laws regarding sex A M D
between consenting adults.
4. Laws prohibiting adult possession A M D
and use of drugs should be repealed.
5. There should be no National ID card. A M D
102 Beverly A. Potter
B. Economic Issues
1. End corporate welfare. No government A M D
handouts to business.
2. End government barriers to international A M D
free trade.
3. Let people control their own retirement: A M D
Privatize Social Security.
4. Replace government welfare with A M D
private charity.
5. Cut taxes and government spending A M D
by 50% or more.
Scoring:
Starting with the statements under Personal Issues, count the
number of As circled and multiply that number by 20. Multi-
ply the number of Ms circled by 10; and multiply the number
of Ds by 0 (zero). Then, add the total of the As, Ms and Ds
to get your PI score. Repeat the same process to obtain your
Economic Issues (EI) score. (Note: for both issues, the highest
possible score is 100 and the lowest is 0.)
Write your scores below:
PI score ______ Personal Issues
EI score _____ Economic Issues
Plot Your Position
Looking at The Political Map (page 99), notice the line on the
bottom left just above Personal Issues Score going from 0
(zero) to 100. Place an X where your PI score falls along this
line. Next, put an X where your EI score lies on the line that
goes from 0 (zero) to 100 on the lower-right side of the Map, just
above Economic Issues Score, Then going out from each mark,
follow the grid lines until they meet. Circle this intersection point.
The Patriots Handbook 103
The intersection point is where you standyour political
position. This is not a fxed position, rather the Quiz measures
tendencies, not absolutes. Your score shows who most agrees
with you in politics, and where you agree and disagree with
other political philosophies.
The Political Map
For years, politics has been represented as one-dimensional,
a choice between left (or liberal) and right (or conservative).
Growing numbers of thinkers agree this is far too narrow a
viewand excludes millions of people. The Political Map is
two-dimensional, which gives a more accurate representation
of the true, diverse political world.
104 Beverly A. Potter
Political Philosophies
Libertarians support a great deal of liberty and freedom of
choice in both personal and economic matters. They believe
governments only purpose is to protect people from coercion
and violence. They value individual responsibility, and tolerate
economic and social diversity.
Left-Liberals generally embrace feelings of choice in person-
al matters, but support central decision-making in economics.
They want the government to help the disadvantaged in the
name of fairness. Leftists tolerate social diversity, but work for
what might be described as economic equality.
Right-Conservatives favor freedom of choice on economic
issues, but want offcial standards in personal matters. They
tend to support the free market, but frequently want the gov-
ernment to defend the community from what they see as
threats to morality or to traditional family structure.
Centrists favor selective government intervention and empha-
size what they commonly describe as practical solutions to
current problems. They tend to keep an open mind on political
issues. Many centrists feel that government serves as a check
on excessive liberty.
Statists want government to have a great deal of control over
individuals and society. They support centralized planning,
and often doubt whether liberty and freedom of choice are
practical options. At the very bottom of The Political Map,
left-authoritarians are usually called socialists, while right-
authoritarians are generally called fascists.
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CREDIT:
The Worlds Smallest Political Quiz chart, political map, and description of polit-
ical philosophies at the beginning of the chapter are based upon the work of David
Nolan, cofounder of the Libertarian Party and reprinted by permission. Copyright
by Advocates for Self-Government, 269 Market Place Blvd., #106, Cartersville, GA
30121-2235, 800-932-1776, Email: Quiz@TheAdvocates.org., Fax: 770-386-8373.
Web: www.TheAdvocates.org.