Where do you consider yourself on the political spectrum?

[Jamaal510]

40 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Conservative
	0 (0%)
	Moderate Conservative
	1 (3%)
	Moderate
	4 (10%)
	Moderate Liberal
	8 (20%)
	Liberal
	27 (68%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Loudly]

1. You need a few more on the left to capture me.

I like Castro and Chavez.

They are motivating me to learn Spanish.

[white_wolf]

2. You need a "socialist' or "other" option. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

14. Yep.

There is nothing there to describe me.

[99Forever]

42. Yes it does. n/t

After hearing the RW crap spewed by some calling themselves "liberal," I don't want to be called that anymore.

Socialist, VERY Socialist here.

[mike_c]

51. +1

Socialist.

[amandabeech]

3. How about "mixed"?

My positions on economics are more in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders. My positions on one or two other issues are a bit right of center. The rest of my positions are somewhere in between, but mostly left-of-center to liberal.

Surely there are other DUers who are like me.

[NaturalHigh]

7. I'll go with mixed too.

Economic - slightly left.

Social issues - definitely more conservative than most people at DU.

For the most part, I don't get the radical hatred on either side of the political spectrum.

[amandabeech]

8. I get the radical hatred on my Bernie Sanders issues,

but I'm more mellow on the others where I'm not a left wing-nut.

[roody]

4. Socialist here

[Brother Buzz]

5. Where's the Nazi, commie, fascist, tree-hugging, bed-wetting pinko, progressive option?

[Throd]

6. Bomb throwing moderate.

[intheflow]

9. None of the above. I'm progressive, way left of liberal. n/t

[CheapShotArtist]

11. I thought progressive and liberal were synonymous.

[Luminous Animal]

15. That's what I think. When the reactionaries were successful in their campaign to demonize

the liberal label (and liberals too stupid to fight to retain it) they "rebranded" with the progressive label.

[intheflow]

19. I think they share some basic ideology, but they differ in focus.

I think liberals focus on policy issues and progressives focus on social justice issues. These are not exclusive of each other, policy can be used to better society, and social justice can be brought about by policy. But liberal policy doesn't necessarily serve social justice - for instance, NAFTA and the repeal of Glass-Steagal both happened under liberal President Clinton's administration. True progressives could probably not make it in American politics - almost certainly not on the Democratic ticket. We are viewed as too extreme. I think some modern progressives might include Michael Moore and Amy Goodman. The closest we get in Congress are maybe Elizabeth Warren (we'll see how she does inside the beltway) and Alan Grayson.

[Selatius]

21. Actually, outside the United States, "liberal" typically means right wing. FDR changed it all.

In Australia, for instance, the Liberal Party is the right-wing party.

Prior to the 1930s, "liberal" in the United States meant no government regulation of the markets or of industry, the freedom to run a business or enterprise as one saw fit. The term typically could also be used to describe somebody who was socially liberal as well, such as anti-Prohibitionists.

During the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt appropriated the term "liberal" from right-wing elements of the Republican Party and turned the definition into one that meant more freedom for workers to a decent wage and a decent living.

It appears that the appropriation of the term was so successful that since FDR, the term "liberal" took on, essentially, the current meaning within the United States. It is outside of the United States that the word largely maintained its old definition.

So whenever you're in Europe and you see a left-wing protester mention that "liberals" are no friends of labor, they mean laissez-faire economic policy or deregulators. In the United States, we've invented the term "neoliberal" to describe somebody who is pro-free trade and pro-deregulation as result to describe the same thing.

Personally, I prefer giving "liberal" back to the Republicans. They're champions of the notion that businessmen should be entirely free to run their enterprises however they saw fit. Instead, I prefer to use the original descriptor of the left in the United States: Progressive.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Ditto.

[Raine]

23. That is what I consider myself ... a Progressive. nt

[Betsy Ross]

10. I fell off the left end. nt

[0rganism]

13. anarcho-syndicalist, to be precise...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-syndicalism

[Luminous Animal]

17. Cheers comrade!

[lonestarnot]

16. You left off extremely liberal. Abstain.

[Resonance_Chamber]

24. Extremely Liberal aka REAL Liberal or Real Democrat

unlike so many faux dems who claim to be liberal yet are more akin to moderate pubs.

[SmileyRose]

18. conservative but

my conservative is pay as you go for the general welfare. their's is the word with no meaning behind it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

20. EVERYWHERE in the Western Democratic world - liberal means being in the center

it means being the middle force between right and left - but here on this poll on a liberal forum - it is designated as the farthest to the left one can go.

[Selatius]

22. I'm a proponent of market socialism.

I favor splitting the economy in half: One for the traditional private sector, one for the new co-op sector of the economy.

All business taxes would be eliminated, and in its place, a flat use-tax would be imposed as a percentage of capital an enterprise uses up to maintain operations. The larger the enterprise, the larger nominal value of the tax. Enterprises would maintain depreciation funds to replace value lost as a result of depreciation of equipment, etc. and would be used to replace the equipment with newer equipment.

The tax itself would represent societal ownership of resources. The revenue generated from the tax would be placed into a public bank, with national, regional, state, and local branches. Each branch would receive funds on a per capita basis.

The public bank would be chartered to help start-up, fund, buy-out, and advise workers and enterprises on the establishment of employee-owned enterprises or labor co-ops. Private firms can choose to be bought-out by this bank as well, which would then reorganize the enterprise into a labor co-op and relaunch it.

The hope is that with a large segment of the economy dominated by labor co-ops, workers would then have the true freedom to join a labor co-op and collectively enjoy the fruits of their labor or sell their labor to a traditional enterprise for whatever wage they can get from their employer. Labor co-ops and private enterprises would be competing with each other to deliver products and services to people at a price the market would choose.

This is basically the broad blueprint of the idea. It's stylized and simplified for easy understanding, but it's built upon several workable ideas that were already tried in other countries.

[ellisonz]

25. No Marxist-Leninist option?

[Great Caesars Ghost]

26. I couldn't find Stalinist, so had to mark liberal. lol

[bluestate10]

46. Do you really know what the fuck "Stalinist" means to many people?

May be you should do a web search for the term and do some reading before you use it again. Socialist or Radical Socialist would be more appropriate terms for what you envision yourself as.

[Great Caesars Ghost]

63. It was a joke goddamnit!!!!!!!

[bluestate10]

70. Ok. I apologize. I didn't notice a sarcasm notice.

[Sherman A1]

27. I would be to the left of Dennis Kucinich

perhaps not very far left, but still some.

[xchrom]

28. progressive. nt

[ForgoTheConsequence]

29. Generally I'm center-left.

But after spending the last 4 years in Nebraska you'd think I was Stalin himself by comparison.

[Prometheus_unbound]

30. So...

The spectrum goes right-to-center now?
Give social democrats some love.

[bluestate10]

48. Welcome to DU. I was surprised that 2 people chose right of center, there is a big gap

between right of center and center, IMO. It would be interesting to understand what issues those 2 posters consider themselves M-C on.

[NaturalHigh]

73. I was one of the M-Cs.

Most likely, I would not fit neatly into any of these categories, but I chose it as the (to paraphrase another poster) "mixed" option. I'm left on some issues and moderate on most social issues, which puts me right of center on DU.

[tblue]

31. Democratic Socialist

a la Bernie Sanders.

[a la izquierda]

33. Me too.

[Chan790]

43. Another.

Though a bit more organized as such than Senator Sanders.

[graham4anything]

32. A liberal but not necessarily a Progressive (as I want to actually achieve and not just bloviate)

I think that's the difference
JFK
LBJ
RFK
Carter
Obama
Jerry Brown
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton and especially
Teddy Kennedy

are liberals and want to actually achieve something, some gain some 10% of forward movement

instead of like my definition of progressives is wanting 100% or else, and getting nothing

Liberals are smart
Progressives are too smart for themselves

Winners move forward
Smart asses who overwant get nothing and go backwards

[intheflow]

36. That's unfair.

I consider myself a progressive and also a realist. The two are not mutually exclusive of each other. I can hold progressive ideals and still understand that most people in politics don't share those same ideals to the same extent, and also that compromise is a necessary evil in politics.

FWIW, this progressive thinks liberals are too smug in their power over the rest of the left, which is certainly what you're modeling in this post. Doesn't mean I'm not going to work with you to kick Republican ass.

[graham4anything]

41. I think I am indeed onto something at least here at DU

It sure sounds like 1968 all over again, perhaps the single worst fracture of our party ever

I saw it on a number of threads, including the Charlie Crist threads(inc. the one I myself started but there were others).

And though I hate to mention it though I have being an anti-gun person, venturing into the pro-gun forums, mention the name of Michael Bloomberg (the person as opposed to the one shackled by the title "mayor".)

It is my IMHO only, conjuncture that Mr. Bloomberg the private citizen is by far one of the most liberal people on earth ON SOCIAL ISSUES but people here mistake his other hats for being (*#&$&&*) on military issues, or security issues and they are blind to his liberalism

I myself am a social issue person over the foreign military issues and even the economic day to day up and downs. MY OWN OPINION here.

I would also say Bloomberg is far more liberal on social issues than both Kucinich and Sanders
and in overall all issues, more liberal than say 20 of the senators in office.

Being a 70s liberal is not mean rightwing.
But there is no one liberal all the way across the board (or is it progressive?)


and it is what ruined 1968 and enabled Nixon/Reagan/Ford/Bush/Bush and maybe Jeb
when LBJ was tossed over the war, instead of remembering just how liberal (the most liberal ever perhaps) President on social issues and in moving the entire country forward
(without wanting to argue the war).

Using that coalition that won in 2012 and 2008, and moving forward to 16 and 20 and 24 and 28, etc. we could control everything.

but not if those % means the other side ends up winning because it is not moving quick enough or enough at one time.

IMHO.
(let the other side be the absolute no compromise stand their ground then when they don't get it whine side).

just my opinion.

[bluestate10]

54. I don't agree with you on every thing, but you do make some valid points.

There are some on DU that use their "Progressive" status to beat everyone that does not measure of to their self defined standards over the head.

I personally could match my social liberalism with anyone posting on DU. When push comes to shove, I know what my heart is, I don't have to put on a show and put other people down constantly to buttress my social liberalism.

But I am results oriented and fiscally moderate when the issue of spending public commonwealth comes up. My values there is spend money when it needs to be spent and don't come up with phony reasons for not spending it, but make sure that every penny is well spent. I am one of the DU members that has been aggressive in defending the use of Drones to kill terrorists where-ever one that pose a danger to innocent americans is found. The fact that I am ok with Drone strikes doesn't mean that I am ok when innocent people near the strike get killed - if I could stand face to face with military people that give the strike order, I would demand that they exercise patience and wait until the target is either alone, or with people that ARE dangers to innocent americans.

I don't and won't apologize to anyone for what me beliefs and values are.

[graham4anything]

60. I agree just about all of this, including

the part about drones. I feel they are alot better than the alternative in all ways

(and there was an article by Richard Clarke the other day saying they create much less collateral than any other form used, and if saving untold deaths from the person(s) who the drone is intended, it it is acceptable to me.)

(wish we had that option in the past)

(and one also needs to expand that thought to realize that most of the innocent collateral killed would statistically be likely to have died in the war differently, but died anyhow either on the side of the ones we are fighting, or by the ones we are fighting themselves.)

imho.

[Puzzledtraveller]

45. A good assessment

[Odin2005]

34. Where's Socialist?

[hobbit709]

35. Out and out socialist

[hack89]

37. Liberal on social issues and civil rights

moderate on economic issues.

[bemildred]

38. You need a commie/pinko/anarchist with chattel corporations option.

[JaneyVee]

39. Do the moderate conservatives know we can see their user names?

[Puzzledtraveller]

49. What are you implying?

I chose moderate, a very easy pick for me, very liberal on social issues but more conservative on economic issues, perhaps those people believed one of their more conservative stances warranted the choice they made.

[snooper2]

50. LOL

"Makin' a list, he's checking it twice"


She sings for YOU!

[NaturalHigh]

71. Yes...and?

Moderate conservative here. No, I'm not ashamed. I'm not taking it back or begging for forgiveness. I realize that almost anyone with any views not vetted by the great anointed left has been purged from DU, but a few who dare to disagree from time to time are still around.

Have a nice evening.

[datasuspect]

40. above it

looking down at it.

[srican69]

44. where is the category for.."too damn uninterested to actually vote in midterms"

That is a real category my friend

[bluestate10]

56. Look where that got us. Battles in Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

Not voting in mid-terms is a senseless tactic, it only insures bigger, more costly battles after the mid-terms. Some on DU love the idea of street protests, posts abound on that subject and particular DU members seem to especially love street "revolution". But my question is why go into the street and get beaten up or pepper sprayed when you gave up a chance to make a real difference at the ballot box? Exercising the right to vote in ALL elections is what throws deadly fear in political assholes, getting pepper sprayed in the street just makes them laugh at you.

[Aristus]

47. I'm so far to the left,

I'm about to fall off!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

52. Democratic Socialist -

Not one of your options.

[hunter]

53. I'm a radical social justice leftist.

Feed the hungry, shelter the poor, care for the sick, educate the children and tax the wealthy to do it.

I also think certain types of mega-corporations ought to be nationalized or highly regulated, for example, public utilities, health care corporations and insurance companies, banks, oil companies...

"Liberal" doesn't mean anything if it's not bringing hammer down on fascists.

[Nye Bevan]

55. You really need to separate this between "social" and "economic" positions.

For example, I am socially a liberal but economically more of a centrist.

[NoOneMan]

57. I don't find any of these labels significantly relevant anymore

Politics is about facilitating conflict resolution between opposing entities, such that market places are secure and the velocity of energy & capital are maximized. Despite whatever your approach is at maximizing production and goods distribution, it is production itself--under any flag--that is killing the planet. Any and all those labels equally endorse the civilized paradigm of infinite cultivation and growth, and thereby, the destruction of the environment.

The pedantic political debates of the 20th Century are all but solved and are growing increasing irrelevant as our ecosystem deteriorates.

[Iggo]

58. Progressive.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

59. Moderate leftist

I don't think all corporations are evil or that wealthy people are evil. I don't think all who receive public assistance are angels who don't take advantage of the system. I believe in freedom of and from religion, in the right of women to make choices regarding their reproductive systems. I believe that it is in the best interests of a democracy to ensure its citizens are in good health, receive a good solid education and get help when needed.

I strongly believe our immigration system needs to be revised and updated. We are losing brains to other countries because the process to obtain permanent residence via employment has now become so lengthy that many foreign workers are no longer deciding to wait and other countries are more than happy to get them. We must continue to enforce existing laws that penalize employers who knowingly employ unauthorized workers. We must find a way to resolve the issue of the children of those who illegally entered the U.S. and who have no status, but not at the detriment of those who did follow the rules. In the endless debate over illegal immigration, we often forget that there are millions of people who are playing by the rules and yet their concerns go unheard.

[JackRiddler]

61. I would not want any part on this particular political spectrum.

These general terms are

a) generally meaningless
b) largely removed from any meaning they may have once had
c) long-ago perverted into attack terms with strawman definitions
d) obfuscatory
e) imposed by an ideological hegemony that seeks to limit debate
f) generally placed in false opposition and relation to each other
g) barely if ever correspondant to the most important conflicts and issues in society
h) generally without stable referents in reality
i) a frightened rabbit's way of avoiding left and right.

But other than that...

Your particular listing of it might as well come from Gallup or some such.

In particular, "moderate" might be the biggest bullshit term in the galaxy.

I support the status quo, perhaps with small modifications, therefore I am "moderate."

Or else: My views are an average of two points I have arbitrarily chosen and define as extreme. Therefore I am "moderate."

Or else: I want to win this debate. Therefore I choose to call myself something reassuring, which is "moderate."

Or else: I don't know very much, so I choose "moderate."

Or else: I don't have strong opinions and "don't like politics," not like those fanatics who actually stand for something, therefore I am moderate.

[H2O Man]

62. Other.

Very limited choices, which do not represent reality.

[4_TN_TITANS]

64. Hanging off the left side by my fingernails...

[obnoxiousdrunk]

65. a Naxalite...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

66. Moderate on social issues, liberal on economic and foriegn policy issues.

Does that make me a moderate liberal? I don't know.

[narnian60]

67. Am I alone when I say I truly don't know???

[Spider Jerusalem]

68. Social democrat.

From Wikipedia:

Social democracy is a political ideology that considers itself to be a form of reformist democratic socialism.[1] It advocates for a peaceful, evolutionary transition of society from capitalism to socialism.[2] It asserts that the only acceptable constitutional form of government is representative democracy under the rule of law.[3] It promotes extending democratic decision-making beyond political democracy to include economic democracy to guarantee employees and other economic stakeholders sufficient rights of co-determination.[4] Common social democratic policies include advocacy of universal social rights to attain universally-accessible public services such as: education, health care, workers' compensation, and other services including child care and care for the elderly.[5] Social democracy is connected with the trade union labour movement and supports collective bargaining rights for workers.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

[Dirty Socialist]

69. Where is "Dirty Socialist"???

I consider myself moderate liberal. In SW Ohio, that means "Dirty Socialist" and worse.

[baldguy]

72. socialist

[NCTraveler]

74. Somewhere between...

Prosense and Third Way Manny.