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[primroseburrows]

You are a Social Liberal (86% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (0% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

I'm not sure if this is completely accurate, but I'm definitely not surprised. I've never seriously thought of myself as a socialist, but I'm pretty sure if I had to give myself a label that social democrat wouldn't be too far off. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I define myself politically and I realise I've never really thought beyond 'liberal', which is way too broad a term to really define anyone's political ideology.

Comments

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I dunno. The strict definition of socialism is too rigid for me. I definitely believe in public programs, but I don't think I stretch so far as to be for universal public ownership of property.

Britannica's definition of socialism:

[a]social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.


The Wikipedia definition of social democrat:

In general, contemporary social democrats support:

* A mixed economy consisting mainly of private enterprise, but with government owned or subsidized programs of education, healthcare, child care and related services for all citizens.
* Government bodies that regulate private enterprise in the interests of workers, consumers and fair competition.
* Advocacy of fair trade over free trade.
* An extensive system of social security (although usually not to the extent advocated by democratic socialists or other socialist groups), with the stated goal of counteracting the effects of poverty and insuring the citizens against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement.
* Moderate to high levels of taxation (through a value-added and/or progressive taxation system) to fund government expenditure.

Social democrats also tend to support:

* Environmental protection laws (although not always to the extent advocated by Greens), such as combating global warming and increasing alternative energy funding.
* Support for immigration and multiculturalism.
* A secular and progressive social policy, although this varies markedly in degree.
* A foreign policy supporting the promotion of democracy, the protection of human rights and where possible, effective multilateralism.
* As well as human rights, social democrats also support social rights, civil rights and civil liberties.

They also list Nelson Mandela, Tommy Douglas, and Dennis Kucinich as social democrats--all people I've pretty much agreed with politically. And social democrats are all about Thomas Paine (although he lived way before social dems existed and his political ideas spanned more than one philosophy), whom I adore.

Now if "You are an IDEALIST" was one of the results, I'd be all over that.

[peacey.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I bow to your self-knowledge. :)

I did a bit of research and I'd say I'm a radical centrist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_center_(politics)) with definite Libertarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian) leanings. Especially when they say things like this: We should never define Libertarian positions in terms coined by liberals or conservatives – nor as some variant of their positions. We are not fiscally conservative and socially liberal. We are Libertarians, who believe in individual liberty and personal responsibility on all issues at all times. You can depend on us to treat government as the problem, not the solution. -Harry Browne

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Hey, I didn't know most of that until I looked it up. ;)

I looked at the Third Way philosophy (which I think is similar to radical centrist--something I didn't know existed, actually) and a lot of it makes sense.

I figured you for Libertarian leanings. It's another philosophy that I agree with in part (I like a lot of the Libertarian attitude towards drug laws, for instance) even though I can't get my head around a bunch of it. But because I agree with some Libertarian stuff, I don't think I could be classified as a socialist (not that I'd be upset if I were, it's a valid category of political thought).