> I just went through the test, clicking random
> options, and got Hitler. Not rigged. Guess
> everyone in this forum is like Gandhi.

Not me. I'm not even in the same quadrant as he is (he's in III and I'm in IV*). I'm almost halfway from the middle line to the right (4.75), which, on the "The UK Political Compass of Today", is about the same (economically) as Ann Widdecombe, William Hague, Kenneth Clarke, and Michael Portillo.

My Authoritarian/Libertarian score was -1.95, which means I'm technically in the Libertarian sector, but I'm not very far from the middle line. I'm about the same there as "Friedman" (whoever that is) and a little less Libertarian than Ghandi. No one in The UK Political Compass of Today (or of 1996) is in the same place on the Y axis as I am.

And I think people here are saying that they are "like Ghandi" or "the same as Ghandi" based on what quadrant they fall in and not on how close they actually are to him. If I had been two points in the other direction on the Libertarian/Authoritarian scale I would be in the same quadrant as Hitler, but I still would not be close to him or "like" him. Also, I think it's important to note that left and right (and probably authoritarian and libertarian as well) are not absolutes but based on context. In pre-WWII Germany, a Socialist economic stance like Hitler's was considered right-wing, but today it would be considered very left-wing. This test was apparently made by British people and, I'd assume, for British people, so the results are, at least for some people, probably a little different from how they'd classify themselves.

I have to ask, though, what does your opinion on the validity of abstract art have to do with your politics?

-Eric "And who the heck is Friedman?" Sleator
Mon 3 Sep A.D. 2001


*On the Cartesian plane, going on what I remember from math class two years ago. The quadrant of the chart with Hitler and Thatcher is I, the one with Stalin is II, the one with Ghandi is III, and the one with Friedman is IV.