I thought, as an experiment, I'd try answering https://www.politicalcompass.org/test as though I was a Conservative spokesman; or David Cameron making a speech, or writing a manifesto. [Updated: but actually its really hard to do that. Too many of the questions are leading. The sort of questions you expect stupid interviewers to ask. Take for example "No one chooses his or her country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it." The Tory answer is clearly "I'm proud of Britain!" But the prefix makes that sound foolish. So in the real world, in interview, the correctly briefed candidate waffles, or avoids the question. In a manifesto or speech, the question never comes up in this form.]
Just a few propositions to start with, concerning — no less — how you see the country and the world.
1. If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations.
A: agree. Because: these people are pols; the "correct" answer is clearly "serve humanity". Everyone hates evil multinationals.
2. I'd always support my country, whether it was right or wrong.
A: agree. Because: they are Tories.
3. No one chooses his or her country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it.
A: disagree. Tories are proud of Britain.
4. Our race has many superior qualities, compared with other races.
A: disagree. Because: meh, crap question, but these are pols.
5. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
A: agree. Because: meh, hard one to guess on their behalf.
6. Military action that defies international law is sometimes justified.
A: disagree. Because: they're Tories, they believe in Law; if they want to defy International law theyll do so by pretending it is other than it is.
7. There is now a worrying fusion of information and entertainment.
A: agree. Because: its the kind of thing the Daily Mail loves.
Well, that's a sample of detail. I got bored though so the rest is briefer.
Now, the economy. We're talking attitudes here, not the FTSE index.
People are ultimately divided more by class than by nationality: agree.
Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment: agree.
Because corporations cannot be trusted to voluntarily protect the environment, they require regulation: agree.
"from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a fundamentally good idea: strong disagree.
It's a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product: disagree.
Land shouldn't be a commodity to be bought and sold: strongly disagree.
It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society: disagree.
Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade: agree.
The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders: disagree.
The rich are too highly taxed: agree.
Those with the ability to pay should have the right to higher standards of medical care : disagree.
Governments should penalise businesses that mislead the public: agree.
A genuine free market requires restrictions on the ability of predator multinationals to create monopolies: agree.
The freer the market, the freer the people: agree.
After that I got too bored to copy them all down, so you'll just have to accept that I did my best to guess as fairly as I could. For example, what to do with "You cannot be moral without being religious". I think that many religious people believe this, and I suspect many Tories believe it, but I don't think I can imagine them coming out and saying it. Meh, in the end I said "agree" for them.
And the result was...
Absolute dead center. Well, close enough. L/R: 0.25. A/L: 0.15.
Dune is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is the world's best-selling science fiction novel and is the start of the Dune saga says wiki. And that all seems fair enough. Read more there.