Where are you on a political map?

[CCitizen]

Here is the chart we used to keep updated: http://thepoliticalforums.com/thread...olitical-Chart

Thank you. My coordinates:

Economic Left/Right -8.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -3.44

Picture does not load.

[Retirednsmilin308]

No rat fink. If you google “57 chevy truck rat rod” and click images, mine is on the first page. How it got there, I don’t know. I think maybe someone took a picture of it at a local show.

Tea with lemon and orange? Oh no... What’s next? Are you going to move on to lemon drops?

...when God gives you lemons...you squeeze em' in your sweet tea.

Actually, some lemon in the brewing process helps extract out the good stuff from the kratom and makes it stronger.
The orange extract I put in all my sweet tea.

[CenterField]

Here is the chart we used to keep updated: http://thepoliticalforums.com/thread...olitical-Chart

Seems like this forum has been through a very big membership shift because in my short observation here, I'd expect that most currently very active members would be on the Right/Authoritarian side of that Political Chart, while at the time when you did that, there was a strong confluence of Left/Libertarian types.

If we browse the list of new threads, there is a huge predominance of right-wing-themed threads/OPs, with the rare and odd left-wing one.

I'm actually a little disappointed in this, because I'd like to see a more balanced debate. What happened to the leftist posters? Where they chased out? Got frustrated and left?

I see only a few representatives of mostly leftist views (Leanne, Trish, TheLiquidGuy, Green Arrow, Mini Me, a few others) while there are numerous representatives of mostly rightist views.

[Chris]

The point of the OP chart is to make a statement about how the extremes of any political position, there left and right, converge on tyranny.

[CenterField]

The point of the OP chart is to make a statement about how the extremes of any political position, there left and right, converge on tyranny.

I agree that they do converge like this, as we can see in History. I dislike all extremes.

[Cotton1]

Libertarian
Fiscal Conservative

I used to be centrist. However, the past 12 years the left has pushed me further and further away from the left. I am at odds with everything they believe in.
Just when I thought I could not be pushed any further away along 2020. Their politicization of Covid 19 even up to the point of street riots =ok/ trump rallies= not ok. Their attempt to use it in a push for socialism turned my stomach.
The false narratives of the left are hard to even look at.
The advantage the left tries to gain by preying upon the poor, the ignorant, illegals is immoral 110%.
The left and their use of the race card is pathetic.
Their PC bs is off the charts
Abortion issue to them is a belief that sugar coating the murderous slaughter of innocent babies with the " fetus" word makes me want to vomit
Bottom line fetus=unwanted baby. Baby = wanted baby
The war against Christianity while embracing Islam is treason
The war against our Confederate heroes is atrocious but at least exposes their cowardice
Their promotion of xenosexualism mskes me want to vomit

[CenterField]

I can't vote because the four options don't describe me. I'm more towards the center. I dislike all extremes and I believe that extremes to the right or to the left are equally wrong (people of course have a right to their opinions and I'm perfectly fine with them expressing them - peacefully out there in the world, and with civility here on tPF - but I also have a right to considering their opinions to be the wrong model for America). So, neo Nazis? Nope, don't like them. Antifa? Nope, don't like them either.

On single issues I can have a more rightist or a more leftist idea, not really in the middle. For example, I am strongly against illegal immigration and for border controls and deportations, which are positions commonly associated with the Right. I also am for energy independence so I put the need to obtain fossil fuels without relying on unfriendly countries, ahead of environmental concerns (so I support drilling and fracking in the USA) which is definitely a position associated with the right. I'm for a free market, capitalist economy. I think that overly strong unions and too many regulations often smother the economy. I'm for a strong foreign policy and well-funded armed forces. I'm definitely against the idea of "defunding the police" and I prefer law and order to anarchy, riots, looting, and arson. I'm a gun owner and I support the 2nd Amendment. I think that China is our current #1 geopolitical enemy.

So, if one only looked at the above, one would say I'm a rightist.

But in many other (mostly domestic) matters I am more of a leftist. For example, I have absolutely nothing against gay marriage. I am for expanding health care access to all Americans (not to illegal aliens like Bernie Sanders wanted, of course, but to all Americans) and would favor measures such as expanding Medicaid in certain states, enhancing the Affordable Care Act again after it got eroded by the current administration, and regulations for employer-based and self-pay health insurance plans to protect people with pre-existing conditions. I'm not necessarily for Medicare for All because I believe it's a boneheaded plan destined to failure especially the way Sanders and Warren proposed it, but I'd like to see our hybrid system slowly growing into a universal healthcare system, over the years (several of them; no abrupt overhaul will work without very serious unintended consequences). Even though I'm very much against illegal immigration I'm for absorbing the Dreamers into citizenship (they were brought here for no fault of their own). On abortion, while my wife and I would never endorse it and she would never have one (it is against our moral and religious beliefs) and fortunately my daughter also never had to face this kind of issue, I have no desire to impose my standards on other people and I think that each individual woman or couple should feel free to exercise their own judgment on this, so I'm not for legislation restricting abortion. On this issue and many others such as gay marriage, I'm of the "live and let live" persuasion, thinking that what people do to/with their bodies in sexual and reproductive matters is none of my business, as long as laws are not being broken. Oh, and I don't have a single racist fiber in me. I believe that the value of human beings resides in aspects other than skin color, hair texture, and eye/nose shape. I think that racism is the hallmark of a small mind. I'd love to see the racial divide in the US, being bridged.

On the hot potato topic of the day, the COVID-19, I also have positions that people would alternatively consider to be rightist or leftist. I do not blame Trump for the virus being here and give little importance to an initial delay in response, because I think that if his Warp Speed initiative pays off, he'll have saved many more lives than the ones lost due to some delay in initially responding and some initial confusion with testing. I also appreciate his actions to secure a large supply of remdesivir for the use of Americans, and most importantly, his idea of private/public partnerships by propping up substantial HHS grants, companies like Moderna, Inovo, and AstraZeneca, in order to expedite a vaccine. Bravo Mr. President, and thank you! I'm also perfectly aware that we can't blame Trump for states opening up too soon; that's on governors.

On the other hand, I hate it when the president minimizes the virus, undermines mask use by not leading by example, says that testing should be restrained, states that 99% of cases are totally harmless (which is medically not true since the virus does kill only about 1% of the infected, but also leaves severe consequences in terms of permanent organ damage, in an additional 5% of patients), and touts ineffective treatments like hydroxychloroquine with words like "you have nothing to lose; take it" (he should leave the dispensing of medical advice to licensed physicians).

So how will I vote in November? It's hard, because I trust Trump more with the economy (although I worry about the deficit) and with the control of the border, but I trust him less in healthcare and in the role of trying to unify the races. As of now I'm more inclined to vote for Trump since I'm very upset at Biden's immigration platform which is only a little bit less generous than the absurd Bernie Sanders immigration platform. That could change depending on how Trump handles the pandemic until November.

[CCitizen]

If we browse the list of new threads, there is a huge predominance of right-wing-themed threads/OPs, with the rare and odd left-wing one.

I'm actually a little disappointed in this, because I'd like to see a more balanced debate. What happened to the leftist posters? Where they chased out? Got frustrated and left?

I see only a few representatives of mostly leftist views (Leanne, Trish, TheLiquidGuy, Green Arrow, Mini Me, a few others) while there are numerous representatives of mostly rightist views.

To a large degree the forum experienced an influx of cyberrefugees banned from forums such as StraightDope and DebatePolitics.

[carolina73]

The map is here:

I don'y see a place on the chart and it makes some sense but is too simple and therefore contradictory. I am a Tea Party Republican. Enemy of the neocons and enemy of the left wing.

[Peter1469]

I don'y see a place on the chart and it makes some sense but is too simple and therefore contradictory. I am a Tea Party Republican. Enemy of the neocons and enemy of the left wing.

The Nolan Chart is better.