Political Profile

On Tuesday, I posted something about the multi-dimensionality of ideological profiles. It's something worth following up, because I didn't really describe myself. Maybe this can be turned into a quiz (as if people actually want and need more Internet tests). Anyway, these would be my answers:

-Idealist or Realist: realist
-Liberal and Conservative (in philsophy and religion): liberal; I have a very open mind as to theories and possibilities. I do appreciate those conservative Christians who are skeptical of the State.
-Centralist or Localist: localist
-Collectivist or individualist: individualist
-Nationalist or egalitarian: egalitarian
-Internationalist or isolationist: isolationist
-Moralist or civil libertarian: civil libertarian
-Capitalist or geoist: geoist
-Strict constructionist or activist: strict constructionist
-Revolutionary or radical: radical

I would add something else: government-cutter or reformer: government-cutter. This means, I'm against expanding the government's power or budget in the name of fairness, or even in the name of greater liberty, always seeking instead to slash it.

Two more points. I believe it is best to a have sense of life, and of politics, motivated by love of the right instead of hatred of the wrong. In a year like we've had in the USA (Raich, National ID, Katrina etc.) it is easy to get distracted by the wrong. But we must fight for the right; if we only fight against the wrong, we will lose focus and direction.

Secondly, I strive for a sense of charity instead of condemnation. It is best to avoid an "Us vs. Them" mentality that rejoices not in our own victories, but only in the defeat or misery of our opponents. Again, this is very hard to do; political discourse is not nearly civil enough and often I just do not understand how and why people come up with their dangerous and coercive ideas. But hatreds can derail any movement, and the "Us vs. Them" mentality is what creates and sustains the State in the first place.

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