Libertarian Purity Test - Page 2

David Floyd · December 22, 2002, 19:27

All soft-core libertarian means is that you happen to support some of the things libertarians do - you could be a Republican, a Democrat, or whatever, but you're certainly not a Libertarian.

Sonic · December 22, 2002, 19:27

57 (moderate liberitarian)

Imran Siddiqui · December 22, 2002, 19:29

On the F test I'm a Liberal Airheard

.

I couldn't get the Lib Purity test to work though

.

*End Is Forever* · December 22, 2002, 19:30

Quote:

Originally posted by David Floyd
Well, things like Social Security, welfare, etc., exist outside the US, just not called as such. The general gist of it seems clear, though.

No.. (rant coming up).

The taxation questions for a start are ludicrous. It depends completely on where the level of taxation is to start with. Also, it suggests that tax-cutting is a political belief, which it isn't unless you're a nutter. You can believe in a certain level of taxation (say, "low tax") but holding a belief in cutting tax is ludicrous - what happens when you reach the "correct" level of taxation?

The only person who can answer "yes" to the taxation questions correctly is someone who does not believe in taxation at all.

Skanky Burns · December 22, 2002, 19:39

Exactly. The test isn't that well thought-out, and the bias is rather overt.

David Floyd · December 22, 2002, 19:40

Quote:

The taxation questions for a start are ludicrous. It depends completely on where the level of taxation is to start with.

Not at all, it simply depends on whether someone agrees with taxes, or if they believe in high taxes. That is of course specific to your region, but it's still a valid question.

Quote:

Also, it suggests that tax-cutting is a political belief, which it isn't unless you're a nutter. You can believe in a certain level of taxation (say, "low tax") but holding a belief in cutting tax is ludicrous - what happens when you reach the "correct" level of taxation?

What's the "correct level of taxation"? If you mean the correct level according to your political ideology, then again, it's specific to the person, and certainly a political question.

If by "correct" you mean the best level from an economics standpoint, that's irrelevant to the question. Right and wrong don't necessarily have much to do with efficiency.

Quote:

The only person who can answer "yes" to the taxation questions correctly is someone who does not believe in taxation at all.

Of course. I answered "yes" to all those questions, because I don't believe in taxes. Hence I'm a hardcore Libertarian.

So you may disagree with the author of the test in terms of the "right" answer, but I don't see how you can question the validity of the questions themselves - it's a yes or no answer.

chequita guevara · December 22, 2002, 19:41

Hmmm, 44 an obvious libertarian. (all that anti-military and abolishing the state

)

According to the Socialist selector my #1 match is anarchist, which just shows how off they are.

My Fscore is 1.4, I'm a whining rotter.

Shi Huangdi · December 22, 2002, 19:51

24, soft-core libertarian. Liberal Airhead on the F-Scale test.

chequita guevara · December 22, 2002, 19:56

I'm more libertarian than you!

SnowFire · December 22, 2002, 20:09

30, putting me in the gigantic pile of soft-core libertarians.

Dr Strangelove · December 22, 2002, 20:31

I scored "9" on the libertarian test, 3.3 on the fascist test and "Libertarian socialist" on the socialist test.

I'm despicable, but you all knew that to begin with didn't you?

mrmitchell · December 22, 2002, 20:36

Your score is...

40
-
31-50 points: Your libertarian credentials are obvious. Doubtlessly you will become more extreme as time goes on.

Sikander · December 22, 2002, 20:42

51 on the Lib test.

Berzerker · December 22, 2002, 21:22

F 3.3 - a TRUE AMERICAN

I went back and answered each question "most" and "least" instead of more moderate answers and got a 3.83, a TRUE AMERICAN

Drogue · December 22, 2002, 21:38

Is it just me or has the test completely taken away the idea of being Libertarian left? I am a liberal, and I believe the Government should have no say in peoples private lives, but I do not want to privatise schools, police, or anything else really.

I got 24 btw.

David Floyd · December 22, 2002, 21:43

Quote:

Is it just me or has the test completely taken away the idea of being Libertarian left? I am a liberal, and I believe the Government should have no say in peoples private lives, but I do not want to privatise schools, police, or anything else really.

Then you are not a libertarian, nor are you consistent. Government involvement in education, for example, is an intrusion into your private life, based upon the simple fact that such involvement requires heavy taxation on your property. Various other intrusions involve heavy taxes on your income.

Drogue · December 22, 2002, 21:55

I disagree, there are many thinkers who are Libertarian and Left (Keynes, Galbraith, Ghandi, most of our Liberal Democrat Party etc.) You can believe in a Libertarian state, and have libertarian social values, while still having leftist economic values. Left and right does not measure Libertarianism. Since right can be both authoritarian and liberal (Fascist and economically liberal, such as Milton Friedman) why can't left?

I don't see why tax has that much to do with libertarianism. Just because you are taxed, may take away some freedom, but not freedom of speech, thought, action etc. I may have less money, but I have not had my liberties diminished. I guess it's different in America.

Apocalypse · December 22, 2002, 23:23

93.

Not bad.

St Leo · December 23, 2002, 00:18

31

I am sorry, but everyone who are against public education should be rounded up and gassed.

Apocalypse · December 23, 2002, 00:48

Actually the public education is where I really disagree with Libertarians. I'm all for total standardization until your 18 or some other arbitrary age.

Sava · December 23, 2002, 00:56

16, most of that stuff is plain stupid... I'm sorry, but if you believe in privatization of law, then you have problems.

Sava · December 23, 2002, 01:01

on the socialist test

Your results are below...
#1 Shachtmanite
#2 Progressive
#3 Anarchist
#4 Libertarian Socialist
#5 Democratic Marxist
#6 Social Democrat
#7 Bookchinite
#8 Democratic Socialist
#9 Kimist
#10 Stalinist/Maoist
#11 DeLeonist
#12 Leninist-Trotskyist
#13 Christian Socialist
#14 Castroist

Sava · December 23, 2002, 01:06

on the fascist one...
2.36666R
I'm a liberal airhead

Hobbes · December 23, 2002, 01:08

53, hoy-ah!

David Floyd · December 23, 2002, 03:08

Quote:

I disagree, there are many thinkers who are Libertarian and Left (Keynes, Galbraith, Ghandi, most of our Liberal Democrat Party etc.) You can believe in a Libertarian state, and have libertarian social values, while still having leftist economic values. Left and right does not measure Libertarianism. Since right can be both authoritarian and liberal (Fascist and economically liberal, such as Milton Friedman) why can't left?

I'm sorry, but if you do not believe in Libertarian values of freedom, across the board, you are not a Libertarian. You see, Libertarianism is not primarily concerned with "economic policy" or "social policy" or "foreign policy". It is concerned primarily with freedom. Policies that encourage and promote freedom are good, while those that do not, are bad. That's a bit of a rough definition, but it'll do. In that sense, it is impossible to call yourself a Libertarian if you only believe in SOME freedom.

Quote:

I don't see why tax has that much to do with libertarianism. Just because you are taxed, may take away some freedom, but not freedom of speech, thought, action etc. I may have less money, but I have not had my liberties diminished. I guess it's different in America.

Your liberty to use your money as you please has certainly been diminished.

Mad Bomber · December 23, 2002, 03:35

13 in the Libertarian (some leaning on Libertarian ideas)
Socialist test indicated that I was a progressive
The Nazi test said that I was a Liberal Airhead (2.72)

pretty much a moderate or centrist person, though the Republicans really piss me off (due to their warmongering and partisan politics) Thought about voting for Nader in the last election, but Ohio was going Republican no matter.....

SnowFire · December 23, 2002, 03:43

Hmm, I didn't quite imagine you as the arbiter of all things language DF. While you might be correct in that Libertarianism is mostly concerned about securing rights and freedom for people, you surely admit that there are possible degrees to that belief? There are anarcho-capatialists who might call themselves Libertarians as well as anarcho-socialists, and they probably have the most radical views on personal freedom of all, but they don't seem to try and monopolize the term. There are soft-core Libertarians who might just want a smaller government but not some of the more utopian provisions. There are Libertarians who seem Libertarian in most ways except for 1 or 2 issues that seem decidly statist to others (perhaps on abortion- the fetus's right to live overrides the mother's right to choose; or perhaps in education- they believe that public schools are invaluable for protecting freedom for the lesser priveleged.). Regardless of your disagreements on those issues, it would seem reasonable that they could still call themselves "Libertarians" with a clean conscience.

Now I can't say I know Drogue that well from 2 posts, but I'm sure he knows himself well, and I'm more inclined to agree with his assessment of himself than one gained from two posts. I know that your main concern is ideological purity and all that DF, but if you want to sell Libertarianism to the mainstream, you have to start somewhere- and wanting to privatize the police, highways, the FDA, etc. right off is not going to sit well with most people. I think it's perfectly fine to be a "moderate" Libertarian who might dramatically reduce government (especially as it interferes with private affairs) but not immediately privatize the whole shebang, myself.

Dis · December 23, 2002, 04:15

Your Libertarian Purity Score

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your score is...

48

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What Your Score Means
0 points: You are not a libertarian by any stretch of the imagination. You are probably not even a liberal or a conservative. Just some Nazi nut, I guess.

1-5 points: You have a few libertarian notions, but overall you're a statist.

6-15 points: You are starting to have libertarian leanings. Explore them.

16-30 points: You are a soft-core libertarian. With effort, you may harden and become pure.

31-50 points: Your libertarian credentials are obvious. Doubtlessly you will become more extreme as time goes on.

51-90 points: You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much.

91-130 points: You have entered the heady realm of hard-core libertarianism. Now doesn't that make you feel worse that you didn't get a perfect score?

131-159 points: You are nearly a perfect libertarian, with a tiny number of blind spots. Think about them, then take the test over again. On the other hand, if you scored this high, you probably have a good libertarian objection to my suggested libertarian answer. :-)

160 points: Perfect! The world needs more like you.

Ramo · December 23, 2002, 04:20

In the Lib test, I'm 77 (medium-core). It probably would be more than that, but I voted different choices for a few questions because the wording is stupid (for instance, the anti-discrimination law question; I don't know if that was intentional or non-intentional, but the guy who made the poll ****ed up IMO).

aaglo · December 23, 2002, 04:28

39... so what...?