Political Compass

 

an easy button for when it is not easy

Today Beau of the Fifth Column uploaded a video to You Tube talking about people and their political leanings and how it is easy to feel alone if you live in a community that is predominantly out of step with what you believe.

I grew up in this town which has almost uniformly sent a Conservative Member of Parliament to Ottawa for as long as I can remember.  It might have sent a Liberal once, but I'd have to check.

Having grown up here, the child of people who were largely conservative in their beliefs, it still kind of amazes me that I continue, even after all these years, align more with Ghandi than anyone else on the Political Compass 'test'.

For those people who have never taken it, I've put the link into the paragraph above.

The first time I took it, I was, oh, 16 and scored pretty much in the same quadrant.  A little less Libertarian, perhaps, I can't really remember.

Over the years I have taken it a number of times and continue to score in that lower left quadrant, showing that my beliefs about what human beings and society can be hasn't changed much over the years.

Beau kind of put me in mind of the test this morning when he talked about red and blue states, and how few states really are majority one or the other colour.  Most states are red or blue by just a few percentage points and even in his town, which is primarily red, when he stands in line at Wal-Mart, there will be several people in that line who are Democrats as well as Republicans.

He urged people to speak up, especially if they feel like they are out numbered and alone.  That the divide is never as extreme as people like the current occupant of the Oval Office make out.

So I am speaking up in clear terms.  Although I'm pretty sure most of my loyal readers are well aware of where I stand, today I say it out loud and clearly.

I am a left leaning liberal.  I belong to no party.  I hold every politician to account, even the ones I mostly agree with, when I don't agree with them.  I do not unquestioningly follow any politician, but urge them all to do better, be better, especially when they know better.

Just like I urge my students to also do better when they know better.

In my childhood home we were raised to not speak out, not to cause a fuss.  I routinely got into 'trouble' because I did ask questions.  I did speak out when I saw or heard something I thought was 'wrong'.

Now that I am retired and old enough to no longer be much worried about offending people, I find myself in alignment more with the Raging Grannies, who I thought were very brazen when they first formed.  

So I will continue to vote for the political candidate who most represents my beliefs, even though I pretty much never get a 'winning' candidate to represent me to parliament or the legislature.  It's a reminder to the current office holder that not everyone in his/her riding is a Conservative (or in the case of the provincial representative, conservative, even though their party is currently calling itself 'liberal' - they are actually conservative in their platform.)

In my life I surround myself with people who embody the same principles that I hold - compassion, problem solving, encouraging.

I work to break down my reality bubble so that I can understand what someone else's reality looks like and when it is unequal, try to support them.