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About the Political Compass
In the introduction, we explained the inadequacies of the traditional leftright
line.
If we recognise that this is essentially an economic line it's fine, as far as it
[Link],forexample,Stalin,MaoTseTungandPolPot,withtheir
commitment to a totally controlled economy, on the hard left. Socialists like
Mahatma Gandhi and Robert Mugabe would occupy a less extreme leftist
[Link],butfurtherrightstill
wouldbesomeonelikethatultimatefreemarketeer,GeneralPinochet.
That deals with economics, but the social dimension is also important in
politics. That's the one that the mere leftright scale doesn't adequately
address. So we've added one, ranging in positions from extreme authoritarian
toextremelibertarian.
Bothaneconomicdimensionandasocialdimensionareimportantfactorsfora
proper political analysis. By adding the social dimension you can show that
Stalin was an authoritarian leftist (ie the state is more important than the
individual) and that Gandhi, believing in the supreme value of each individual,
is a liberal leftist. While the former involves stateimposed arbitrary
collectivism in the extreme top left, on the extreme bottom left is voluntary
collectivism at regional level, with no state involved. Hundreds of such
anarchistcommunitiesexistedinSpainduringthecivilwarperiod
You can also put Pinochet, who was prepared to sanction mass killing for the
sake of the free market, on the far right as well as in a hardcore authoritarian
position. On the nonsocialist side you can distinguish someone like Milton
Friedman, who is antistate for fiscal rather than social reasons, from Hitler,
whowantedtomakethestatestronger,evenifhewipedouthalfofhumanityin
theprocess.
The chart also makes clear that, despite popular perceptions, the opposite of
fascism is not communism but anarchism (ie liberal socialism), and that the
opposite of communism ( i.e. an entirely stateplanned economy) is neo
liberalism([Link])
The usual understanding of anarchism as a left wing ideology does not take
intoaccounttheneoliberal"anarchism"championedbythelikesofAyn Rand,
Milton Friedman and America's Libertarian Party, which couples social
Darwinian rightwing economics with liberal positions on most social issues.
Oftentheirlibertarianimpulsesstopshortofoppositiontostronglawandorder
positions,andaremoreeconomicinsubstance(ienotaxes)sotheyarenotas
extremely libertarian as they are extremely right wing. On the other hand, the
classicallibertariancollectivismofanarchosyndicalism ( libertarian socialism)
belongsinthebottomlefthandcorner.
Inourhomepagewedemolishedthemyththatauthoritarianismisnecessarily
"rightwing",withtheexamplesofRobertMugabe,[Link]
Hitler, on an economic scale, was not an extreme rightwinger. His economic
policies were broadly Keynesian, and to the left of some of today's Labour
parties. If you could get Hitler and Stalin to sit down together and avoid
economics,thetwodiehardauthoritarianswouldfindplentyofcommonground.
AWordaboutNeoconsandNeolibs
U.S. neoconservatives, with their commitment to high military spending and
theglobalassertionofnationalvalues,tendtobemoreauthoritarianthanhard
right. By contrast, neoliberals, opposed to such moral leadership and, more
especially,theensuingdemandsonthetaxpayer,belongtoafurtherrightbut
[Link],the"freemarket",inneoconparlance,
also allows for the largescale subsidy of the militaryindustrial complex, a
considerable degree of corporate welfare, and protectionism when deemed in
the national interest. These are viewed by neolibs as impediments to the
unfetteredmarketforcesthattheychampion.
YourPoliticalCompass
EconomicLeft/Right:0.75
SocialLibertarian/Authoritarian:3.13
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