Early this year, I took a libertarian purity test put together by Professor Bryan Caplan at George Mason University.
The good news is that I got a 94. Sounds like a solid A, right?
Well, the bad news is that the test wasn’t on a 0-100 scale. The maximum grade was 160, so it seems I’m just a big-government squish!
In my defense, that still ranks me above the vast majority of people in Washington.
That being said, I’m jealous that my former grad school colleague Matt Kibbe (now head of FreedomWorks) got a higher score. Here’s a summary of the test put together by Ben Domenech.
So what’s the real story? Am I “a high priest of light tax, small state libertarianism,” as I was described by a left-wing British journalist?
Or am I a closet statist, as suggested by a critic from Canada?
I think I belong on the former category, but I have to confess that I just took a “social attitude” test that was sent to me by a friend in London and the results are a bit disconcerting.
I was horrified to learn that I got a score of 18.75 for socialism. To be sure, I don’t know if that’s 18.75 percent, or 18.75 on a scale of 0-1000.
Regardless, I’d much prefer to get a score of zero on any measure of coercive collectivism.
And what’s the deal with the 40.625 for tenderness? Makes me sound like some sort of new-age wimp who goes around trying to instigate group hugs.
Last but not least, what’s “radicalism”? Is it simply a measure of being outside the mainstream? Without any guidance, there’s no way of interpreting that score.
Even more irritating, the accompanying analysis says that I’m a “moderate” and “a centrist with few strong opinions.”
On the other hand, it also says that I’m a “laissez-faire capitalist” and that I “would generally be described as libertarian.”
My two cents, for what it’s worth, is that the analysis part of this exercise needs some work. But feel free to take the test and add your two cents to the discussion.
I’ll simply state that I can’t be a squish if my policy heroes are people like Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher.
[…] Here’s the quiz with the strangest […]
[…] orientation.Here are some previous examples, all of which made sense.But there was also a political quiz that pegged me as a “moderate,” which might be reasonable conclusion since libertarians have […]
[…] odd results. For instance, the Political Left/Right Test, put me exactly in the middle, and another political quiz pegged me as a […]
[…] there was also a political quiz that pegged me as a “moderate,” which might be reasonable conclusion since libertarians have […]
[…] But if we consider just red ink, here’s a spectrum showing how people view deficits. Maya and her group are in the deficits-are-horrible camp on one end, while the deficits-are-wonderful Keynesians are on the other end. And I put myself in the middle to represent the alleged voice of moderation. […]
[…] The worst political quiz I ever took was the one that pegged me as a “moderate” with “few strong […]
[…] The most inaccurate political quiz was the one that classified me as a “moderate” with “few strong […]
[…] The most inaccurate political quiz was the one that classified me as a “moderate” with “few strong […]
[…] I’m a sucker for these quizzes, even when they don’t make sense. […]
[…] percent liberal. I’m not sure what to think of the test, but it’s definitely better than the “social attitude test” I took last year, which concluded that I’m a “moderate” and “a centrist with few strong […]
[…] I’m not sure what to think of the test, but it’s definitely better than the “social attitude test” I took last year, which concluded that I’m a “moderate” and “a centrist with few […]
[…] this means I’m not a nice person (notwithstanding my high score for tenderness in a recent test), but I can’t help but be happy when I read bad news about fiscal policy in […]
I only ended up with:
Radicalism: 28
Socialism: 0
Tenderness: 62.5
Not sure the radicalism and tenderness are related. Either that or I’m one seriously non-radical, tender person. (Which seems a little unlikely.)
Radicalism 58.25
Socialism 6.25
Tenderness 46.875
These scores indicate that you are a moderate; this is the political profile one might associate with a regular person. It appears that you are moderate towards religion, and have a balanced attitude towards humanity in general.
Your attitudes towards economics appear laissez-faire capitalist, and combined with your social attitudes this creates the picture of someone who would generally be described as libertarian.
To round out the picture you appear to be, political preference aside, an egalitarian with primarily strong opinions.
I must admit, the whole thing is written very much like an opinion piece and with no context for the numbers its basically useless.
[…] this means I’m not a nice person (notwithstanding my high score for tenderness in a recent test), but I can’t help but be happy when I read bad news about fiscal policy in […]
[…] this means I’m not a nice person (notwithstanding my high score for tenderness in a recent test), but I can’t help but be happy when I read bad news about fiscal policy in […]
[…] « A “Moderate” Dan Mitchell with “Few Strong Opinions” for a Kinder, Gentler E… […]
Yes, Inés Coduri seems to be correct, the more radical, the more tender 🙂
Radicalism 74.75
Socialism 12.5
Tenderness 50
I am less radical, more tender, and just as socialist as Dan. Somehow that result doesn’t surprise me.
[…] about the libertarian purity test (test here) while reading Dan Mitchell’s blog about it (here) and I scored a 109. Thats as far as good news goes. Anyways, the HR meet was a list of ridiculous […]
Radicalism 55.5
Socialism 18.75
Tenderness 59.375
I’m a libertarian with several strong opinions. I’ll have to tell my wife.
Dan said, “I’ll simply state that I can’t be a squish if my policy heroes are people like Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. My baseball heroes are Mike Schmidt and Brooks Robinson: that doesn’t make me a home-run hitting Hoover at third base, now does it?
I got 77 for radicalism, 34 for tenderness and 0 for socialism. Dan, what IS the matter with you getting 18?
By the way, one serious flaw with the test: it kept asking what “we” should do about X without specifying who “we” are. I put that I think “we” should spend more on international aid (and still got 0 for socialism, by the way). I meant things like individuals buying goats for families in Africa or sponsoring girls in India, as I do. I didn’t mean government to government aid.
102…………. does this mean I have to wear an aluminum foil hat…………..?
can I paint mine?
I am described as a “progressive libertarian” which is actually right, for the wrong reasons. With a 50 on the tenderness scale, I wonder why I didn’t do better with the “chicks” when I was in play.
Radicalism 66.5
Socialism 0
Tenderness 62.5
Yeah I just don’t understand these numbers for Radicalism and Tenderness but I am happy with the 0 for Socialism.
With a purity score of only 93, I still came out more radical, less socialist and more tender.
Radicalism 80.25
Socialism 12.5
Tenderness 46.875
Unbelievable! I was more radical, less socialist and slightly less tender than you. This has to be wrong.
Apparently, the more radical, the more tender 🙂
Radicalism 83
Socialism 18.75
Tenderness 50