It tells me that I am 61% Social Liberal and 83% Economic Conservative and can be best described as a Capitalist, although if you look at the chart I am a borderline Libertarian (hence the post title "Capitarian"):
I really like the attempt to split up the political spectrum into more than right/left and authoratarian/libertarian, like the traditional political compass which I took in June 2003 (and which, intrestingly enough, I still score at pretty much the same place as I did back then). Although I fail to see how you can fall between Fascist and Totalitarian and still be a Republican, any more than you can fall between Socialist and Totalitarian and still be a Democrat.
Another feature I like is the "who you are like" image, which puts me in some guy's hair or on Ted Nugent's neck:
One last feature is a chart showing how the nearly 85,000 people who have taken the test voted in the last election. I am ludicrously near the blue area:
Anybody recognize which founding father is over there by the unibomber?
Ah well, go take the OK Cupid Politics Test for yourself. Then you can take their death test to see when you'll meet your maker. I get to live to be 78. Whoopie! Sorry Baby, I'm cancelling the life insurance and buying a Porche!
Eight months of blogging has taken its toll, as I am now a full-blown, 100%, true-blue, through-and-through Neoconservative:
Neoconservatives…
Well, I couldn't ask to be in better company.
The Christian Science Monitor has a pretty good online test with ten questions to help determine if you are an Isolationist, Liberal, Realist or Neoconservative. If you decide to take it be prepared to think a little (I found myself wanting to pick two answers on a couple of questions).
According to the quiz, I am a Realist:
Realists…
- Are guided more by practical considerations than ideological vision
- Believe US power is crucial to successful diplomacy - and vice versa
- Don't want US policy options unduly limited by world opinion or ethical considerations
- Believe strong alliances are important to US interests
- Weigh the political costs of foreign action
- Believe foreign intervention must be dictated by compelling national interest
Historical realist: President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Modern realist: Secretary of State Colin Powell
Hat tip to No Left Turns
I mentioned that I might go see Pirates of the Caribbean after Johnny Depp recanted his poisonous anti-American remarks were published in a German magazine, and someone calling him/herself "c" made this comment:
so you would not watch a movie based on one of the actors own personal politics? thats pretty lame.did you stop listening to the dixie chicks as well?
To which I have one reply. The single, most important vote that you can make is cast every time that you reach for your wallet, your purse, or your checkbook.
Each and every one of us vote nearly every day, over and over again. Whether you intend it or not, each dollar that you spend is a vote for or against some position that you may or may not care about.
Every time you spend a dollar at WalMart, you cast a vote for sending manufacturing jobs to China.
Each time you buy a Hallmark card or a Disney toy, you cast several votes towards the erosion of the Second Amendment.
Every time you buy a Gateway computer, you cast hundreds (or thousands) of votes for the Democrat agenda. When you buy a Dell, you cast those votes for the Republican agenda.
So yes, "c", I deliberately do not go to movies that have anti-American stars, producers or directors, nor do I buy the DVD. I do not listen to music of, much less buy CDs of, musicians that parrot moronic cliches about how stupid our president is. This is a choice that I make.
I don't care about their personal politics, but when an uneducated, uninformed, limousine liberal loudmouth misuses their position of having ready access to the American psyche, then I choose not to aid them in retaining that platform. I work hard for my money and value the votes that it represents. If you want any fragment of the fruits of my American dream, then be supportive of our president in time of war.
But as you can tell from the list above, it goes further than this. I choose to use my money to support a variety of positions, and withhold my support from those with whom I disagree. For instance, I do my best to avoid purchasing anything made in China because I know that a portion of the dollar that I spend will help fund missles pointed at California or direct-ascent anti-satellite systems.
It seems that everything is made in China these days. Can you really boycott a whole country? I admit, it's hard. Sometimes we actually do without buying something because we can only find one (whatever it is) that was manufactured in China (or France). Other times you may have to spend a few dollars more for one that was manufactured somewhere else. But you would be surprised at how many choices you have if you just take the trouble to look around a little:
Can you always do this? No, of course not. For instance, it is impossible to buy a computer that does not have some parts made in China. You can only do what you can. But China has lost hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars a year just from my household alone.
What will my not buying Chinese goods do? Nothing but give me piece of mind. But if Americans reduced their China purchases just 10%, it would erase 10 billion dollars going to China each year, and that would hurt. If just half of America refused to buy Chinese goods, it would cost them over 50 billion dollars per year, and that would hurt enough to make them rectify some of the human rights abuses that take place over there each and every day. In addition, it would drive dollars to other countries - who are hopefully more deserving of our dollars.
Do boycotts work? Ask Smith & Wesson or Kmart. Ask the people of Georgia and South Carolina. Ask Jesse Jackson's victims, like GE, Anheuser-Busch and Toyota. Ask the French wineries. Yes, "c", boycotts work.
And if you think that American reaction to the Dixie Chicks didn't have anything to do with Depp's hasty retraction of the comments attributed to him, then you are a very challenged person indeed. But you should be able to remember this one, irrefutable fact:
The single, most important vote that you can make is cast every time that you reach for your wallet, your purse, or your checkbook.
They are your votes. Use them wisely.
Let me start off by saying that I am sure that both Mr. and Mrs. Bubba are fine, gracious people. I am certain that they would make me feel welcome in their home and Mrs. AlphaPatriot and I could spend an enjoyable evening of BBQ, beer, and stimulating conversation. I say all this because I feel compelled to answer Mrs. Bubba's post and I do not wish to appear less than respectful of someone who is undoubtedly a wonderful person.
However, I also know the feeling of listening to "many things I find insulting and with which I disagree".
I believe that the most important vote that one can make is made every time you take out your wallet. Virtually every dollar spent goes in some small part to support an ideology. Buy a Gateway computer and give money to the DNC. Buy a Dell and give it to the RNC. Buy a Hallmark card, go to Disney on vacation, or use Monster.com to get a job and give aid to those who would strip us of our rights to defend ourselves. I love Freedom Fries and Australian wine. Boycotts work and the perfidious French have felt its power in spite of their early protestations to the contrary (although I hate that they hired Woody Allen as their spokesperson).
I love it when a woman tells me that because she has a uterus, she is able to divine that point in time that separates stopping a process from murder. I love it when I am labeled NeoCon because I support a strong foreign policy and a strong economy, and because I believe that businesses that hire people drive the economy better than wasteful government programs.
I love it when people say that "the people" means the people in the First, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Amendments, yet the same phrase means the state in the Second Amendment. I love it when people say prayer and religion should be removed from all aspects of public life. I love it when people say that they believe in giving people a helping hand up, yet fight to protect a welfare system that works to keep people down. I love it when people say we need to spend more money on schools, rather than giving loving and concerned parents the choice of removing a good child from a failing environment. I love it when people want to give tax cuts to people who don't pay taxes.
I love it when people proclaim Clinton a hero for using a degraded and neglected military (for which he showed eight years of contempt) in every hotspot around the world, as long as it did not serve any American interests. I love it when people tell me that Bush manipulated America into attacking Iraq as part of his war on terror, even as Saddam sent checks to families of terrorists in Palestine and maintained terrorist training camps on his soil. I love it when they claim Bosnia and Kosovo were worthy causes, but didn't see the need to remove a man whose sons fed people into plastic shredders and acted as official rapists.
I love it when people say that perjury is fine for the Commander in Chief, even though the same offense would send any soldier to Levenworth. I love it when people suggest that a president that has restored honor and integrity to the White House was responsible for 9-11. I love it when people wail that our President waged an unjust war because there are no weapons of mass destruction, yet when those weapons are found they will be the first to say that they were planted. I love it when people attacked Bush for acting "unilaterally" (with a huge coalition) in Iraq, yet berated him for not acting unilaterally in confronting Korea.
Turning sarcasm off, I love it when honorable and truthful men and women are elected to public office, because these are the people to whom we entrust the lives of our children and to spend our money wisely. These people should be held to a higher standard, and if they do not measure up then they are not worthy to serve. We are simultaneously their customer and their employer, and we should demand better.
I do love my President, because he is a man that says what he means and stands by what he says. I love that the Saudi's and Egyptians and even the "Arab street" are finally "getting it", and are therefore taking him seriously. This president will try to bring peace to the Middle East and he will probably fail. But it will not be because he lacks conviction or stature. And when he wearily turns over the reigns to the next president, we will be much further along the road to peace and history will recognize that he laid the groundwork which will eventually make it possible.
Mrs. Bubba, I hope I never descend to calling you names (and if I call Mr. Bubba names, rest assured that it will be in good-natured fun because I know he can take it and will return it in kind). I love that idealists come in liberal and conservative flavors, because one side is never totally right and there is a need for discussion and balance. I love that this country allows you and I to both express our opinions, and hope that the same is true a hundred years from now.
God Bless America.