From: tom@genie.slhs.udel.edu (tom)
Subject: Re: An invitation to explore the Libertarian Party
Organization: The Lab Rats
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 20:15:04 GMT


people can write all the bad things they want to about us, but i wish
they would at least spell libertarian correctly. 

it's L-I-B-E-R-T-A-R-I-A-N  (from "Liberty")

In article <1992Jul29.125908.17916@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> bobd@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Bob DeBula) writes:

}Ummmmm, not to appear stupid or anything, but I've never seen this
}type of chart before & have no idea what it indicates. What are
}Econ & Pers and what do the two columns of numbers indicate and
}how did a rating qualify as "libretarian" or "non-libretarian"?
}Inquiring minds wanna know :-). I'm not really sure whether this
}supports my original assertion about Bush appointees not
}necessarily being pro individual rights or refutes it. Thanks
}for any help you can give me.

many people think that the system of catagorizing a political position
as "Left" or "Right" is hopelessly inadequate, for a wide variety of
reasons. david nolan developed a two dimensional political map (which
still isn't perfect but it is a lot more accurate than the simplistic
left-right scale) it is a cartesian system where the amount of personal
freedom you believe people should have is plotted on one axis, and the
amount of economic freedom on the other axis. it's often referred to as
the "Nolan Chart" or the "Diamond Chart"

there's also a simple survey to help people plot their position on this
chart.  people are going to hate me for this, but you asked so...

  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
  |             The World's Smallest Political Quiz              |
  |  (originally designed by the Advocates for Self Government)  |
  +--------------------------------------------------------------+

What's your position on the political map?  The old way of looking at
politics doesn't work anymore.  You really do have more options than
the one-dimensional choice between "left" and "right".  Find out who
in the world of politics agrees with you.  Take this short quiz.

Circle "Y" when you agree with a statement, "N" if you disagree, and
"M" for maybe, sometimes, not sure, or if you need more information.


PART 1: Are you a self governor on PERSONAL issues?

                                                20      10       0

1.  Military service should be voluntary.        Y       M       N
    No draft or compulsory registration.

2.  Government should keep hands off radio       Y       M       N
    and TV program content.

3.  Government should not interfere in sexual    Y       M       N
    conduct between consenting adults.

4.  Drug laws don't work.  They do more          Y       M       N
    harm than good.  Repeal them.

5.  People should have the right to travel,      Y       M       N
    immigrate, and emigrate freely

YOUR PERSONAL SELF-GOVERNOR SCORE:  ______  (20 for each Y, 10 for each M,
                                             0 for each N).


PART 2: Are you a self-governor on ECONOMIC issues?

                                                20      10       0

6.  People are better off with free trade        Y       M       N
    than with tariffs and other barriers.

7.  Minimum wage laws eliminate jobs.            Y       M       N
    Repeal them.

8.  End taxes.  Replace them with voluntary      Y       M       N
    payment for services.

9.  Let farmers farm without subsidies,          Y       M       N
    quotas, or other government limit.

10. Western Europe and Japan should pay          Y       M       N
    for their own defense.

YOUR ECONOMIC SELF-GOVERNOR SCORE:  ______  (20 for each Y, 10 for each M,
                                             0 for each N).


PART 3:  Now, find your REAL political position.

Mark your PERSONAL score on the left and your ECONOMIC score on the
right.  Then, follow the grid lines (rows of dots) until they meet at
your political identity!   An example for someone who scored 20 on
Personal and 30 on Economic is indicated with an asterisk (*).

The compass measures self-government. Liberals (LEF) value freedom of
expression.  Conservatives (CON) value free enterprise.  Libertarians
(LIB) value both. Authoritarians (AUT) are against both.

                                .             LIB = Libertarian
                              ./ \.           CON = Conservative (Right)
                            ./  .  \.         CEN = Centrist
                          ./  .   .  \.       LEF = Liberal (Left)
                        ./  .   .   .  \.     AUT = Authoritarian
                      ./  .   .LIB.   .  \.
                    ./ \.   .   .   .   ./ \.
                  ./  .  \.___.___.___./  .  \.
                ./  .   . ! .   .   . ! .   .  \.
              ./  .   .   !   .   .   !   .   .  \.
            ./  .   .   . ! .   .   . ! .   .   .  \.
         100 \.   .LEF.   !   .CEN.   !   .CON.   ./ 100
            90 \.   .   . ! .   .   . ! .   .   ./ 90
              80 \.   .   !___.___.___!   .   ./ 80
                70 \.   ./  .   .   .  \.   ./ 70
                  60 \./  .   .   *   .  \./ 60
        Personal    50 \.   .   .   .   ./ 50    Economic
     Self-Governor    40 \.   .AUT.   ./ 40    Self-Governor
               Score    30 \.   .   ./ 30    Score
                          20 \.   ./ 20
                            10 \./ 10
                              0   0


If you score in the Libertarian region (LIB) or on its borderline,
you've probably found that the policies and platforms of the older,
traditional political parties are, in one way or another,
unacceptable to you -- and you may have felt "politically homeless".
We hope that you, like many others who have felt this same way, will
contact the Libertarian Party, the party that advocates individual
freedom, personal responsibility, and limited government, in all
areas of our lives.

The Libertarian Party of the United States may be reached by calling
1-800-682-1776, or writing to 1528 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington
DC 20003.  They'll be happy to send you free information on the
Libertarian Party, and also tell you how to contact your state party.
That way, you can find people in your local area who feel the same
way you do about political issues, and work together with them to
bring about change in government to implement libertarian ideals.


(The original Worlds Smallest Political Quiz is available in several
forms [poster, postcard, business card, paper] from the Advocates for
Self Government, a non-profit education organization, which can be
contacted at 940 E. Bremer, Fresno CA 93726, 800-932-1776.  This
electronic/text version was created by Toby Nixon of the Libertarian
Party of Georgia [!uunet!hayes!tnixon <or> hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net].
Permission is granted to distribute this freely in any form so long
as the Advocates for Self Government credit is retained.)

-- 
tom@udel.edu                                        ...!{gateway}!udel!tom
tom@genie.slhs.udel.edu           UDel: School of Life and Health Sciences

"Themes were useless; Destiny was here, and the foot pedals were bleeding."
Newsgroups: alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.elections