Don't Be a Sucker

My Place on the Political Spectrum

I've been bored today, so I decided to waste time on taking several online quizzes that tell you where you stand on the political spectrum. Rather than the do the oversimplified "Are you a Democratic or a Republican?" quizzes that one can find on Quizilla and the like, I went for ones that have the four-quadrant political compass- liberal and conservative, authoritarian and libertarian.


As you can see, not much of change in any of them. They all seem to point to the idea that I'm a Liberal Libertarian. These types of quiz tend to be of better use and have a little more credibility than tests that only tell you whether your a Democrat or a Republican. I don't know if the majority of the country knows this, but there is such a thing as a Third Party. And surveys like this can help find a party or candidate that actually fits their point of view.

To find out more about how the old "liberal vs. conservative" spectrum doesn't work, watch this. I am not a self-proclaimed Libertarian like the dude in the video, but he could probably explain the spectrum much better than I could.

Bill Maher Nails It on the Fuckin' Head

First off, for the record, I did not vote for either Obama or McCain during the 2008 Presidential Election. That does not mean that I didn't vote at all, but voting for one of two men that are essentially representing the same things seemed a bit pointless. Instead, I voted for Ralph Nader. I know that a lot of people don't give Nader enough credit or respect and don't take him seriously, but I find that he fits my political philosophy better than a Democrat ever will.
To me, voting for Obama would have been too conformist. I have nothing against anyone who did support Obama, because I totally get why after eight years of Bush and his neo-con fascist regime (fuck yeah, I said it) the public would want a black man in the White House; it's refreshing and a new direction. But once every limousine liberal says they support Obama, it becomes more of a bandwagon fad than actual sincere support.
Now that Obama has been in office for almost seven months now, at least one person that supported Obama in 2008 has called El Presidente on his bullshit. That man, is Bill Maher:


(The point I'm referring to starts around 2:00)

Although you could count Bill as a limousine liberal, he still has a point. The 'liberal' that is suppose to put our country on the right track is hypocritically pandering to big business, just as you would expect the Right to do. Can we ever get the person we vote for? With Obama the public expected better healthcare, withdrawal from Iraq, gay rights, better work conditions, a more stable welfare plan, legalized marijuana (we're still waiting...), and a bunch of other liberal 'agendas'. But not much has changed since Bush, and the voters haven't got what they wanted. But being the pessimist that I am, I never expected any of these things to be carried out, hence my vote for Nader. I didn't vote for Obama, so I can complain.
A lot of Americans are still under the impression that you are either a Democrat or Republican, and there is no alternative. But if people actually did their research on other candidates, then maybe third party candidates like Nader won't be marginalized from the media.