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I'm thinking of adding a series of political questions to profiles and want to get your suggestions as to which ones to ask. There is an impressive political website at [isidewith.com] which has tons of questions. Would you mind going through their list and pick the top 10-15 questions you think are most useful for expressive your political views and to learn the views of others? Thanks!

Admin 9 Oct 20
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12

You just love opening cans of worms, don't you? 😛

bingst Level 8 Oct 20, 2018

Yeah my goal is to help people see that others are multifaceted... that they may agree with most things and only different in one or two.

@Admin great social experiment

@helionoftroy -- @Admin -- with the level of angst and paranoia displayed here, I'm beginning to wonder about what attitudes are driving many of the responses. This thread, where the question/idea is merely presented, has turned into a social experiment on its own.

10

I prefer the non-political quiz that identifies your likely political affiliation: [chartsme.com].

But there's also the Pew Research quiz with only 11 questions: [people-press.org]

Either way, I end up Socialist or Extremely Liberal. ?

I took the test expecting to answer every question with a liberal mindset but I ended up solidly liberal. A few answers went right I guess.

@GinaMaria

Thank you for posting the Pew Research quiz with 11 questions. That's what I recommend.

I best fit in with Solid Liberals.

@LiterateHiker Solid Liberal here also. But that was to be expected by me.

In the Political Typology poll, I scored Solid Liberal. I found the ChartsMe poll somewhat strange & narrowly focused on things that either experiences & geography, i.e.: where one has lived, such as inner city or on a farm, would alter the answer in many cases. A very odd questionnaire, all-in-all. It only gave me a 57% Liberal, & my reaction to a urine smell in a tunnel really has no bearing, imo, on my social/political leanings. Live in a large city for a few years & one's reaction will differ significantly from one that has experienced little else than the 'burbs!

@LiterateHiker
Here's mine. ?

@phxbillcee

I agree that your life experiences shape your responses, but that also corresponds with my journey from conservative to liberal. Here's how the ChartsMe quiz is supposed to work:

@GinaMaria Then, tho I think in the back of my mind that I was aware of this or a similar study, actually confuses me more. Most of my disgust responses were mostly mild, or absent, yet I still rated less liberal than I would have expected. Curious.

I am seriously a moderate type of person.

@phxbillcee
I don't think it's particularly accurate as a tool for determining the degree to which you are liberal or conservative, just which direction you lean.

Solid Liberal on the Pew quiz. No surprise.

I ended up Solid Liberal in the Pew Research Quiz.

@phxbillcee -- ChartsMe gave me 80% liberal. I was raised on a farm in very rural Oregon in the 40s.

& here's from the PoliticalCompass Test (link above)
Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.69

7

Politics are extremely important to me as well as finding some one who shares my interests and values. The first thing I ask a potential partner if it is not already stated in their profile is "How do you lean politically?" I will happily participate in this. My answers are below...Thank you.

  1. More Government spending on mental health care
  2. Universal or single-payer health care for all.
  3. Pro-choice Pro planned parenthood.
  4. Marriage equality
  5. Everyone should be automatically registered to vote at age 18 and voting should be easy, transportation provided or by mail.
  6. Gender Equality
  7. Strict gun laws, gun control
  8. Focus on environmental issues now, Ban plastics, step away from fossil fuels. Re-enter the Paris Climate agreement.
  9. Labor Unions and a livable minimum age.
  10. Free college and erase student debt, which brings me to...
  11. Tax the rich.
  12. Affordable housing.

@CaroleKay You just described the Scandinavian countries.

@Stig Yeah, go figure. ♥

@CaroleKay I've lived in Scandinavia, Germany and the US - all more than 10 years of my adult life in each place. Both Germany and the US suffer from not being willing to look outside their nation for ideas on how to improve their own. It's like the "Not invented here" syndrome - "therefore not acceptable here".

6

It's a good idea! Politics speaks to the core of a person's values.

5

Just 15?
Electoral College
Student Loans
Charter Schools
GMO labels
Mandatory Vaccinations
Police Body Cams
Prison Overcrowding
Private Prisons
NATO
Torture
Military Spending
Lobbyists
Criminal Politicians
Campaign Finance
Candidate Transparency
Climate Change
Alternative Energy
Fracking
DAPL
Pension Reform
Welfare
Minimum Wage
Paid Sick Leave
Equal Pay
Labor Unions
Single Payer Health Care
Medicare Drug Prices
Marijuana
Social Security
Gun Control
Gerrymandering

And I could go on......

Too US specific ?

@Spongebob I would agree, but as I am an American from the US, that is what concerns me right now.

5

Thanks for the feedback on this idea. Seems like the overall take is that it might just be better to ask some generic "How important are political issues to you" questions instead of positions on them. That's why I post these ideas 🙂

Admin Level 9 Oct 20, 2018

I agree, keep it general.

5

I'm burned out on politics. For me, this is a dead end.

Yeah, I agree that it's easy to get burned out of politics.

@resserts -- @Admin -- Oftentimes one's political positions, leanings, positions, and attitudes say a lot about their personality that would not be said in general profile questions.

@evidentialist I expressed my own feelings on it, that's all. I have no interest in being more political here or elsewhere in my life, and I'm not especially interested in others' views on politics anymore.

@resserts -- Understood, my friend.

5
  1. Climate Change
  2. Alternate Energy
  3. Abortion
  4. Gay Marriage
  5. Marital Rape
  6. Religious Freedom Act
  7. Gender Identity
  8. Death Penalty
  9. Euthanasia
  10. First Amendment
  11. Immigration
  12. Border Wall
  13. Gun Control
  14. Gun Liability
  15. Single-Payer Healthcare
5

Its very US centric. How divided you all are.

@Amisja -- Perhaps because the site is US based. I suggest that anyone outside the US could easily provide regionally important questions for addition to the list. It is also possible, though complicated, that @Admin could tailor content based on membership location in some way.

@evidentialist I realise that. I am totally sick to the backteeth of British and EU politics at the moment. Human beings are such incredibly stupid creatures...

@Amisja -- Absolutely no argument with that, Amisja. No argument whatsoever. 🙂

I should add that there appears to be a gradual increase in stupidity density as one approaches political institutions.

This is why I posted a link to the Political Compass, which is not UScentric. [politicalcompass.org]

From the site: "The enduring appeal of The Political Compass lies in its universality, and the fact that it’s not a fly-by-night election-time survey, but a continually accessible profile of a political personality applicable to all democracies."

@ailurophile -- I found the Political Compass interesting, but I think it may have exaggerated my position regarding Libertarian leaning a bit.

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -6.0
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.21

@evidentialist How are you defining "libertarian"?

5

Great idea.

With that dataset, It would be really nice to allow users to employ an anti - (pro-trump) filter to automatically eliminate (block) any user that supports trump.

Seriously, I don't have enough free time to wade through their delusional assertions and get really annoyed when Trump supporters assert, "You (not trump supporters) are (insert long list of add hominem attacks) as those that assert that position are really not worth my time to respond.

@Veteran229 Tragically, nearly half of the US population (the tRumplicans) are delusional and are happily plunging a once democratic country into the foulest of rule of fascism by a plutocracy.

@NoMagicCookie Great job, you just showed how correct Gurahl was about you people... how pathetic.. ?

@NoMagicCookie, @Gurahl THANK YOU!!!

@Captain_Feelgood You are referencing a fictitious werebear. Not sure I trust your relationship with reality. Based on this observation, I kind of get the feeling you may be a tRumpster as many of them do not reflect an appreciation for the real world.

@NoMagicCookie Ahh, but as one who actually references the fictitious werebear, (l literally had to look it up to find it is a character from the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons.. l kid you not) l find you a bit ironic and distrust your relationship with reality even more so now than before. Hence your inability to even spell ad hominem correctly doesn't surprise me in the least.. I strongly suggest you get back down into your mother's basement, take another bong hit, and get back to your online gaming.
Tootles

4

I think, for the sake of global inclusivity, if you did you should not make any of them USA specific.

4

I’m very politically active, my position is obvious... I don’t need to answer questions but for those that want that I’m not offended in the least... as long as it is optional I’m ok with whatever you all want... however, as divided as the country is I think I am able to pick up on peoples politics... soon as someone calls me snowflake I know how they vote.

roflmao! +1

Do you really read minds? Please teach me.

@FrayedBear some people let you know what they think through behavior, I pay attention. I don’t teach it but I recamend it.

4

Seems reasonable to me. Political questions are useful in for compatibility matching.

4

Bad idea. This will ruin this website.

Could you elaborate? Even if they are optional and have "how important is this issue to you" for each?

@SleeplessInTexas -- Yes, please explain. If we can't have civil discourse on our attitudes, which is what our politics happens to reflect more accurately than what one thinks of lasagna, then what can we discuss?

@evidentialist How come one can't have civil discourse about attitudes?

@Admin 2 things I don't talk about in relationships: Religion & Politics. I think it's a good idea to promote going to the polls to vote, but that's it.

3

Pretty comprehensive list and one could come up with more than 10. For me anything dealing with population stabilization and environmental protections have to be addressed first.

3

my political compass result:

Here's mine...Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.69

@phxbillcee, so mine would spell approximately: economic left/right -8.3, & social libertarian/authoritarian -7. forgot to look at the exact data.

@walklightly Seems pretty close.

@phxbillcee Seem to be quite a few of us here in that quadrant of the chart....my chart

@RPardoe We seem to be fairly close.

@phxbillcee Indeed....In the past, I was more centrist on the Economic Left/Right scale, but suspect the current political climate is driving me more towards the economic left these days. The social scale has always been very heavily weighted to the libertarian / anti-authoritarian end of the axis.

3

If you are using these to tweak the compatibility ratings here are some suggestions that would matter to me:
Diet e.g. I often have high percent ratings with vegetarians/vegans, for me, this should be 0 as it's a dealbreaker to as far as any hope of an intimate relationship. I am not even kidding. I see it as a zealoty form of religion masquerading as environmentalism.

Feminism:
LGBT:
Political identity:
Pets: This is another deal breaker to me. If someone is not ok with animals nopety nope nope

3

Immigrants tax responsibility, space exploration, education, legalizing all drugs, pressure on Congress to put caps on medicine prices, take the sales tax off of autos they are no longer a luxury, push for less oil dependency, Free wifi in major cities, get the outrageous ATM fees reduced, make it illegal for any large scale murder to get any publicity, in other words, report the incident and keep the assailants name out of the news. Well, some might not be issues they ought to be.

Luxury? Ee lad if we had rope sandals on our feet that were luxury!
Rope sandals! If we had socks that were luxury!
Sox? When we lived in't cardboard box in't gutter we used to pinch empty canvas bags of passing coal wagon to wrap round our feet to stop chilblains!
Canvas bags! Luxury lad. If we were lucky we'd catch a passing brown paper bag to wrap ower feet in and think ourseln lucky if we didn't hop into a puddle whilst wearing it!
Brahn paper bag! Luxury lad. We had to grease ouwer feet wi' dripping and hope it didn't melt or t'cockroaches eat it afore we got where we were goin'.
Drippin'! Drippin'. Luxury lad. We only got smell o' dripping an' that was fer breakfast, lunch an' tea! We 'ad to piggy back each other in't bare feet so as one could keep feet warm in't turns. Luxury, luxury, ... stagger out with hunched back and blue bare feet apart from bright shiny chilblains.

3

Politics weigh too heavily on Agnostic.com already . I'd love to see less .

@Cast1es -- An innocent but pointed question.

Suppose you were to encounter someone you think would be an individual with whom you'd like to spend time. Perhaps even intimate time. To arrive even at that level of interest means you have spent some energy in contemplation and maybe a little planning. You commit to meet this person.

Before I go on, I have to tell you that I have come to some conclusions about you and your personality based upon what posts I have read, some of your responses to my comments and posts, and your published biography. I feel justified to some extent in assuming that those opinions are probably correct to the extent that they can be in a venue such as this.

So, you enter the coffee shop and see a face that is the same as the one in the picture he sent you. As you approach the table you see that he has a large, bold swastika tattooed on his forearm. Hanging from a heavy chain around his neck is an Iron Cross with skull and crossbones. On the other arm is a burning cross. What do you suppose you'd be thinking at this point?

I suggest to you that a person's political thinking is rather important early on.

@evidentialist I've been , " single , " long enough that I easily pick up on a lot of things long before , I ever agree to meet with anyone . including several scammers , on this particular site . I was contacted by three gentlemen on a different dating site some years back , and dropped all three , as scammers . Several months later, AARP ,did an in depth expose' , and included the same photographs I had received , from these gentlemen . Politics , and most politicians make me sick . By this . I mean ulcers . I fully admit to being paranoid . The agency I worked for , for over forty years , routinely gave us classes , to sensitize our senses of distrust . The men in my life , with very few exceptions , gave me no reason to think other wise . I routinely see posts about Trump on here . He may have fooled some of the populace , but I don't see many on here supporting him , or his cronies . There are already a lot of political postings here . We reallly don't need to see more .

Isnt that more correctly referring to American members?

3

There are so many.
My preferences would include
Environmental including renewable, oil , and fracking.
Plastic polution
Monsanto /bayer. Everything poisonous.
Separation of powers
Separation of church and state
VA privatization
Voting rights/ cheating, gerrymandering)
Lobbying ( the buying of our politicians)

3

I suggest using the Pew Research quiz with only 11 questions.

[people-press.org]

Link doesn't seem active.

@phxbillcee
Follow the link on my post, then. It's the same quiz.

@phxbillcee

Here you go! [people-press.org]

3
  1. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Other

  2. If Other, please explain. ___

  3. Do you volunteer to help a candidate?

  4. Do you volunteer to help a party?

  5. Do you contribute money to campaigns?

  6. Have you run for office. If so, have you been elected? What office?

2

While I have been rather outspoken about my political opinions on this site, I feel strongly that this should be completely voluntary. This is an agnostic/atheist site and should be about topics related to religion. I don't think it's helpful necessarily to make political orientation a mandatory part of the site.

Aren't the questions asked in one's profile already completely voluntary to answer? I think that's what Admin has in mind.

@ailurophile ok. Whatever. My opinion on this isn't red hot.

Yep, IF we do something, it would be opt-in only

@Admin cool.

2

Agnostic.com is open to people from all over the world. Thus, questions ought not be US-centric. My go-to political quiz/test is the Political Compass: [politicalcompass.org]

I like it because it's more nuanced than Liberal<>Conservative. An analysis of the test: [politicalcompass.org]

If people don't want to read or answer the political questions, then they wouldn't have to... much like all the other questions.

@ailurophile -- I do like their approach, though it showed me more toward the Libertarian side than I expected, but my left leaning tendency appeared just about right.

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -6.0
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.21

My results. I was surprised, as I think of myself as a solid Centrist.

@LetzGetReal You're welcome.

I suspect they're using the term "libertarian" in its older sense, not in the US Libertarian Party sense. I was right there with Emma Goldman.

Economic Left/Right: -8.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -9.69

@ailurophile Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.69

Yep, I'm a centrist

Fancier graphic... nice.

@Admin But in the left/libertarian quadrant 🙂

2

This may sound grim and rather gloomy, but I think the only way for us as a whole to come together in humanist values we may have to do away with politics, otherwise total understanding and acceptance is a mere dream in my opinion. As long as we have two extremes at odds with each other, the dehumanizing shall continue on, as most people will feel compelled to pick and stick with one side over the other. Just another quick thought there...

@Halfempty Enlightenment era values are best, I agree. Perhaps not do away with politics totally, but rather do away with political parties. I've long felt that what a politician has to offer/will do for the citizens is far more important than what political party he/she associates with. Identity politics are what hurt us I think.

@Halfempty I appreciate the sentiment you both have expressed above. If you have a look at most European countries there are multiple parties - not just two. This brings a much better balance to the political system because the have to speak to their values and policies knowing they compete with multiple others. This makes it much less of a dogfight and much less about individuals and away from the type boxing match you see in the US.

@Stig In the US we used to have a good party that was for the citizens, it was called the Federalist Party, but the current two party monopoly pushed them into extinction unfortunately.

@SpikeTalon Thanks for education me in that. I truely understand the sentiment of getting rid of politics - but its how we organize our society so we have to deal with it. I'm very sad to see how it's developed in the US during my lifetime.

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