My Politics

“because politics are too important to leave to the politicians” - John F. Kennedy, Jr.

After kick-starting a 'independent' student magazine in Australia with a circulation (then) of about 4,000 called UniVerse, I harboured ambitions of starting up my own magazine when I came back to Malaysia. I dubbed it mypolitics.com, as it was supposed to be an online Malaysian political commentary modelled after 'George', which was discontinued after JFK Jr's tragic death in 1999.

I had no political leanings then, unless you call my obsession with the Asian Renaissance at one point a form of leaning. I still don't, not really. This by the way, is becoming a mini-crisis as my first shot at voting at the General Elections looms and I'm left with no one to vote for.

I never really attempted to classify what these leanings would be. Yes, I have opinions on certain things, but I can't seem to find a grouping that I truly belong to within the current Malaysian political framework, although if I really had to classify myself, I would think I was a left-liberal (see below for explanation).

Thank God Jikon put up this post on the World's Smallest Political Quiz. No wonder we get along so well, we're the same! :P

For I too am a Centrist.

Centrists favor selective government intervention and emphasize practical solutions to current problems. They tend to keep an open mind on new issues. Many centrists feel that government serves as a check on excessive liberty.

Your Personal Self-Government Score is 70%.
Your Economic Self-Government Score is 50%.

Scores falling on the centrist border are counted as centrist.

1,922,648 users have taken the quiz so far. Results are renewed after each submission.

Libertarian 35.64 %
Left-liberal 18.63 %
Centrist 30.09 %
Right-Conservative 7.17 %
Authoritarian 8.47 %

The red dot is me. To be more accurate, I'm a left-liberal leaning centrist.

I was curious about how this sample would look like among the readers of my blog. So if you have the time, please take the quiz here and then answer my mini-poll (definitions courtesy of Advocates for Self-Government):

1. Are you a Centrist (for explanation, see above)? ()

2. Are you a Libertarian? ()
Libertarians are self-governors in both personal and economic matters. They believe government's only purpose is to protect people from coercion and violence. They value individual responsibility, and tolerate economic and social diversity.

3. Are you a Left-Liberal? ()
Left-Liberals prefer self-government in personal matters and central decision-making on economics. They want government to serve the disadvantaged in the name of fairness. Leftists tolerate social diversity, but work for economic equality.

4. Are you a Conservative? ()
Right-conservatives prefer self-government on economic issues, but want official standards in personal matters. They want the government to defend the community from threats to its moral fiber.

5. Are you an Authoritarian? ()
Authoritarians want government to advance society and individuals through expert central planning. They often doubt whether self-government is practical. Left-authoritarians are also called socialists, while fascists are right-authoritarians.

Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2003年07月20日 18:27 | TrackBack