Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: red/blue schism

[Chris ScottHanson (chris]

Too linear I think, Norm.  Have a look at the concept of the new 
"Political Compass".
http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Especially, you might want to look at the graphic which helps me 
understand it, at...
http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/extremeright.php

QUOTE FROM A WEB SITE...
"Welcome to The Political Compass. There's abundant evidence for the 
need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' , 
established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly 
of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape. 
For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they 
the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the 
right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ?  On the 
standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin 
and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left 
than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them 
that the old categories on their own can't explain. Similarly, we 
generally describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet that 
leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the 
hook."

This may still be too simplistic, and the political "compass" may 
indeed have to be looked at in something like three or more dimensions.

As we did years ago with Myers-Briggs personality types, it might be 
interesting to plot individuals and their communities this way to 
better understand who we really are, politically.

Chris ScottHanson


On Feb 21, 2005, at 5:16 PM, <normangauss [at] charter.net> wrote:

> While the general pattern in cohousing may emphasize liberalism,
> conservative elements may appear wherever couples differ within 
> themselves.
> Thus one spouse may be liberal and the other conservative, and the main
> reason for living in a cohousing community may be at the wishes of the
> liberal spouse.
>
> Libertarians have often thought of the political spectrum in terms of 
> personal freedoms and to what extent the government should control 
> peoples lives.  For example:
>
> Libertarians believe government's only purpose is to protect people 
> from coercion and violence. They value individual responsibility, and 
> tolerate economic and social diversity.  This is the Jeffersonian 
> ideal.
>
> Left-Liberals prefer liberty in personal matters and central 
> decision-making on economics. They want government to serve the 
> disadvantaged in the name of fairness.  Roosevelt's New Deal and 
> Johnson's Great Society are examples.
>
> Centrists are middle of the road people who believe in compromise.
>
> Right-Conservatives prefer liberty on economic issues, but want 
> official standards in personal matters. They want the government to 
> defend the community from threats to its moral fiber.  Fundamentalist 
> Christians think this way.
>
> Authoritarians believe in strong government in order to advance 
> society through expert central planning.  Socialists think this way.
>
> So, are the leading trends in cohousing along the Left-Liberal way of 
> thinking?
>
> Norm Gauss
> Oak Creek Commons
> Paso Robles, CA
>
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