Political Spectra and More

Well, first we have two examples of the traditional left-right paradigm, which as you can see, don't agree with each other at all.  Just look where they place the anarchists.  There's truth in both, but neither is at all adequate.

Then we have the Nolan Chart, which attempts to fix the problem in he first two, mainly by increasing it to two dimensions, and making a distinction between personal and economic freedom. You can read about it HERE.

Then we have a silly parody of the Nolan Chart, courtesy of Baloo.

And then we have my own personal chart, describing where I stand.  This chart is explained further HERE.

Finally, Colin Liddell has his own paradigm in mind, which is actually simpler than all of these.  He writes:

Alternative Vertical

Death to the Left (and the Right)!

By Colin Liddell


At first you put up with it because it’s there, but after a while it starts to get on your tits and become more and more irritating: Left-this, Right-that, New Left-this, Alternative Right-that, blah blah blah, etc. etc., ad infinitum – yawn!

It all goes back to the French National Convention (or something) back in the days of the Revolution – Google it; I can’t be bothered – when, I guess, all the troublemakers sat on the left side of the hall (But who’s left? Their left or the usherette’s left?) and all the mild-mannered twats with a soft spot for the king sat on the right.

I’ve seen something like this before when I was teaching at a dysfunctional Japanese co-ed public school. All the lads sat on the side of the class near the door and all the lassies sat by the windows. To the boys the door represented “freedom” and a valuable extra few seconds out of the classroom when the bell rang. To the girls the windows were an important source of illumination to be used in complex make-up operations sometimes carried on during actual lessons on desks that were way too small for their cosmetic paraphernalia and their textbooks.

It only strikes me now that, from my point of view, the right side was nearer the light and the left side closer to the toilets! (Read the rest HERE.)