[CLUE-Talk] Political compass

[Matt Gushee]

On Wed, Nov 05, 2003 at 05:48:03PM -0700, Sean LeBlanc wrote:

> > Here's an interesting anonymous survey to determine
> > where you stand in the political arena.  Good
> > questions, designed to evoke responses.  It plots your
> 
> Heh. I gotta wonder about this test. First of all, I *really* wonder what
> the question about attention span, and how they perceived that as putting
> someone to the right or left or libertarian/authoritarian. I mean, is that
> really a left vs. right thing? I've seen both the far left (Chomsky) and the
> far right (numerous talk show hosts) decry just that very thing.

Ah, but do they frame the issue in exactly the same way? I suspect not.
Maybe I'm reading too much into the question, but part of the problem
seems to be the relative importance of personal responsibility vs.
societal influences: if I have a short attention span, is that because
the media are irresponsible or evil, because my parents didn't raise me
right, because my character is flawed, or because America has turned
away from God?

Anyway, even if the test is bogus, I think the idea of describing
people's political orientation on two axes is a valuable contribution.
In all too many cases, Left vs. Right just doesn't cut it.

P.S.: I think the proposition Sean is referring to is:

  The growing fusion between information and entertainment is a worrying
  contribution to the public's shrinking attention span.

-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)