We have a very interesting banker. He’s been our banker for a number of years, but it was just this year that I learned he is the age of the son we lost on New Year’s Eve. I’d never given any thought to how “young” Joe is. He’s good at what he does, and brings a wealth of experience to the table.
Today, he guided me through the steps to accomplish something that our business required, and then we drifted into more general conversation. It lead to the fact that we are both dissatisfied with the options we have in the voting booth. I started to say that I felt the welfare system needs to be overhauled, but he felt that it needed to be closed down! We frequently see things alike, but it turns out that he is a Libertarian, while I am a Centrist.
I know this because he sent me to take The World’s Smallest Political Test. This is a Libertarian site, but the test is interesting, and will give you an idea where you stand in relationship to the Libertarians. If you have a couple of minutes, go take the test. You’ll see it in a turquoise box on the right side of the site.
CENTRISTS espouse a “middle ground” regarding government
control of the economy and personal behavior. Depending on
the issue, they sometimes favor government intervention
and sometimes support individual freedom of choice.
Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind,
tend to oppose “political extremes,” and emphasize what
they describe as “practical” solutions to problems.
Arrrgh!!!
It's just my state of mind!
But you didn’t break down your score by “personal” and “economic” issues. Oh, well, I like you just the way you are–whatever that is!
NO….I didn’t. I went back to take the test a second time and found that I had moved closer to the line between the conservatives and the libertarians. I don’t know what I changed, and I didn’t have time to play with it to see what I was waffling on.
I know that I could publish my answers to the questions, but I’m not well prepared to hold my own in a political brawl, so maybe I’ll give that a bit more thought. I’d like to have more than my opinion to back up my words.
And…..it’s nice to know that you accept me for who I am. *S* That’s more important than our political beliefs.
It is probably better that we not flaunt our test “scores” on these types of things. Some passerby may assign more meaning to scores than is warranted. I was just tweaking you!
Hey, thanks for the link. Will have to go over and take the test.
How could anybody possibly find fault with someone who takes the “middle ground?” What about that line, “Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind…” Somebody sure needs to do so this day and age.
joared, Cop Car has a valid point. By stating my position, I’ve opened myself to all those who feel differently and might want to try to change my mind. I really don’t want to have a deep political discussion here, or if I did, I’d do it one issue at a time.
My family taught me that politics and religion are two subjects that you want to be really careful about raising. We had a wonderful discussion about the Bible this morning that I’d like to comment on, but I need to think about how I want to present it. It could be another hot topic!
For what it’s worth, I definitely agree with Cop Car about not being any more specific. Didn’t mean to imply otherwise. Agree, religion and politics, especially some issues within each, can be very volatile for some people.
Volatile….the perfect word for the situation! There are certain issues that are important to me where I doubt you could sway my opinion. Others, I might be pursuaded to shift, if the reasoning made a lot of sense. And others, I don’t give a fig for.
Generally, I’m looking for CALM in my life, and I don’t want the political free-for-all that many blogs seem to encourage. So my readership is low….so what! Still….every now and then the subject comes up, and you have to hope that it doesn’t draw the crazies.
Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts, joared!
It is one thing to have a discussion on a “volatile” subject with one or two or three people–interesting points/counterpoints may be raised and participants may actually benefit from the exchange. My observation (and I keep in mind that I’ve been wrong once or twice *g*) is that volatile subjects on blogs can quickly progress to incendiary–adding much heat but not light. If that is what the blog owner grooves on, OK, it’s their blog and we are free to participate or not.
Also: 1) with the multiplicity of quizzes that are available, many of them are not well designed (thus, cannot really mean anything), and 2) some commenters/bloggers are prone to “one-upsmanship” in their scores. Having once posted a score, I’ve decided it is better for me to keep mum on them. I don’t want to bug someone by bragging about a “better” score and I don’t hurt my own feelings by publicizing a “worse” score! (Of course, I don’t know what is “better” or “worse” than a centrist! *s*)
I totally agree, Cop Car. I’m not looking for the firefight, and I don’t really want to have to deal with an inordinate amount of mail, although the blog bogie sent us to with hundreds of responses to no entry was pretty funny.
I’m not just a Centrist politically, but in most aspects of my life. I’m pretty easy going, and don’t feel that everything has to be done my way (unless I’m the one in charge of Easter dinner for 45 people). There are a few subjects I feel strongly about and I may just list them in a blog and get all the “incendiary” stuff over with in one fell swoop. Otherwise, give me a good reason to join your side, and I might!
Cop Car came up with another good word, incendiary. When volatile goes to incendiary, that’s when you really have to beware.
You’re both “old” hands — no, I’m not being ageist! 😉 — communicating on these blogs, so try to take my cues from you and others as to what is being said, how it’s said or not said.
Communicating sometimes can seem harder with just printed words, especially if I’m trying to be facetious, with people who don’t even know me, or have never interacted with me face-to-face, so they don’t know I have such a wry sense of humor (wierd at times, I guess) and never intend harm.
Hopefully, if anyone ever wonders about my intent, they’ll ask so I can reassure them, clarify what I’ve said that may have been mis-interpreted. I do try to take extra care, but may mess up sometimes without realizing it.
Ah, Joared, we are all in the same boat. You are quite good at communicating through the written word; but, for all of us, such communications are difficult. (But not as hard for us phonophobes as picking up a telephone to make a call.) Buffy introduced me to using *g*, *s*, etcetera to help explain my state of mind during writing. Such devices really help me.
I took the quiz. I am not as political aware as I once was. Things have changed dramatically, so I was not sure how I wanted to answer some of the questions. I went with my first impression. I ended up being a Centrist, scoring in the upper right quadrant favoring conservatist-libertarian. Twenty years ago I wouldn’t have scored so near the Libertian viewpoint. Now, I think government (or rather, now I see that government) has really screwed things up!
I believe that you should be able to state your opinion of things as long as you can do that reasonably and respectfully. I want to know what others think about things. Frequently, it helps me see other perspectives that I missed. If someone is just “whack”, I’m likely to dismiss their opinions. I dismiss opinions that support things that aren’t “for the greater good”, or that aren’t based on facts, or haven’t done a lick of research. I also tend to ignore parrots – people who simply repeat what someone else has said without questioning credibility.
I don’t mind that someone disagrees with me. I just hate to be subjected to people who run their mouths just to hear themselves talk.
I did the quiz and found I was categorized as “LIBERTARIAN”
Your PERSONAL issues Score is 60%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 80%.
I don’t think it matters if you post your answers or not. One sould do as they feel comfortable on this matter.
Who would have thought this little post would encourage so many comments??
Joared, it takes a little while to take someone’s measure when you only know them through the computer. You get clues from the subjects they respond to, and from the blogs they read. Still, it’s possible to misinterpret something, so if I respond oddly to your comments, don’t hesitate to set me straight.
I came to the Internet first as a chatter. Those who chat use all sorts of shorthand to help reinforce the intent of their messages, and I probably use that shorthand more than many bloggers. I also have a dry sense of humor and it doesn’t always come across as humor, so I use the shorthand to be sure that what I have written will be taken the right way.
So…if something has gone right past me, or if I’m out in left field, TELL ME! *G* (Ya know, I probably wouldn’t have to blog if Cop Car would just pick up her darned phone!)
Nancy, I would have said that years ago you were more conservative than I, in political persuasion. I wonder if we are moving toward a similar stand as we “mature.” It would make Dad glad! He wasn’t thrilled about my liberal tendencies when I was young. *G*
I agree that we should be able to state our opinions, and it really ticks me off that others abuse the forum. I’m sick of spammers and those whose comments need to be deleted. I’d like the perfect world Cop Car described where a few friends get together to talk about an issue….the Internet equivalent of a book chat.
Desiree, it would be interesting to chat to see where we agree and where we diverge. I’ll have to go back to the test to see what my scores were.
Buffy–Nyah…nyah…you know it ain’t going to happen (my picking up a phone to call.) As you may recall, I did phone you once…and had to pay for the 15 extra minutes it took for you to recover from the shock. It’s better for your health that I stick to my normal behavior. *g*
BTW: Carol Doak was our speaker at guild meeting, yesterday. Talk about a hoot! She was a marvelous speaker–so, I rewarded her by buying a couple of her books. I need to post about the meeting on my blog.
Hey girl, second quiz today! :_)
Now, THERE’S someone I would have like to hear speak. I have several o Carol’s books. I don’t do a huge amount of paper piecing, but I like her designs and the presentation of the instructions. I’m glad you enjoyed the guild meeting.
Yeah….I think I was inducted into the Cop Car family AFTER I learned about the NO PHONE CALLS rule. Maybe I’ll just call and talk to your answering machine! At least IT’S friendly!
Ouch! Get that dagger outta my heart! *snicker*
(GRINS)