Who are you politically ?

A year ago, I’d taken a ‘political affiliation’ quiz and found out that I was more ‘Centrist’ than left-leaning or right-leaning. This came as a surprise as I’d always thought I was left-leaning – I guess I assumed that since I hated the policies of the Bush administration, and Bush was a Republican, I should therefore be pro-Democrat.

I have lately been addicted to the American election, a sad irony since I do not have the right to vote in this country – and do not have the slightest interest in Indian politics, where I *do* have the right to vote :( . Anyway, I have watched all the debates so far – have closely followed the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, and have found a clear favorite…. and guess what, he’s Republican.

Ron Paul, so far an underdog in the Republican camp – and as out of place there as an ipod in the jurassic era, is a man very clear about his policies, and broad-minded enough to step away from the politics of fear and do the one thing that is badly needed for this country – to save the economy that’s likely heading into recession this year. Watch this youtube video here, where the host (from conservative Fox News) mocks him by asking him at a debate ‘Let’s talk about electability … do you (looking at Ron Paul) have any, sir?’. As the audience laughs away at this man, he comes away with a brilliant response …

(Do watch the whole video)

What I realized after watching tons of these debates is that we tend to ‘stereotype’ politicians based on the party they come from. Most of the time, our assumptions of their policies are dead on – but then, you have Ron Paul, and your definition of a Republican just goes up in smoke.

Ron Paul openly blames his country for terrorism, saying that ‘we attack their countries first, and it is our flawed foreign policy that is generating this hatred’ – a position that others refuse to admit. He is anti-war, pro-life and pro-civil liberties. He strongly puts forward his belief that America should go back to having a foreign policy of ‘non-intervention’. He is mocked by his opponents on the stage at every debate, but he has a fan following now that is reaching cult-like status. He has a tremendous internet presence, constantly bagging the ‘Most Viewed Video’ on YouTube, whenever a debate is over, and he has a record for the most campaign contributions on a single day from internet donors. People are listening to him, and they are liking what they hear.

But he will not get anywhere close to winning the Republican nomination, and there goes probably the most eligible candidate from the race.

He is described as a Libertarian – i.e. one who promotes individual freedom and small governments. The reason I liked him the most became clear to me today when I took the political affiliation quiz – Please go ahead and take the quiz too. I realized I was Libertarian too, and the analysis of my quiz showed the following result:

Libertarianism taken to the extreme (as shown by the diagram above) is the support for Anarchy, and I am actually quite surprised to see myself that close to it… or maybe the diagram is misleading. I hope you take the quiz and find out more about yourself and your position. Whether you are involved in this election or not does not matter – knowing where you are on the political scale is according to me, as important a definition of who you are as the nation you come from.

Do let me know !