I came across this interesting 30 question political orientation quiz on a friend’s Facebook feed and thought I would share it.

It purports to give scores in 5 different areas: Collectivism, Authoritarianism, Internationalism,
Tribalism, and Liberalism.

Unfortunately there are no definitions on what they mean by these terms. For example, what does internationalism mean? Does it mean just interference in the affairs of other nations or does it also include trade? From the questions I would guess it means the former, but I could be wrong. And what do they mean by liberalism? Classical liberalism, i.e., the belief in individual liberty or do they mean the more modern sense of the word which is a more socialist connotation.

There are similar issues with some of the questions as well, a few of which I note below. For each question, you only have the choice of yes, no or maybe.

The smaller the government is, the better. Since the size of government is not a primary issue, the reach of government involvement is, the question does not lend it self to the range of answers possible. If the government is too big and infringing on individual rights, then a smaller government could be better but if the government is too small to protect your rights, getting smaller would be a bad thing.

The moral decay of our society is a significant threat to our civilization. There is not explanation of what is meant by “moral decay.” If it is a failing of a religion based morality, i.e., a series of thou shalt nots accepted on faith, then this is not a threat and likely is a benefit to society. If it is rather a failing of an objective morality of what man needs to do to flourish qua man, then it certainly is a threat.

Income inequality harms our society. In this question there is no differentiation between inequality that results from the natural differences in ability and ambition and that which comes from political pull. The former is not an issue while the later is.

Some nations are poor because of their culture or values. In this final example, there is no discussion of what is included in “culture or values.” If things like respect for individual rights, including property rights, then nations that lack these elements are likely to be poorer.

At any rate, it is an interesting quiz as such things go. If you take the time to take the quiz, I’d love for you to post your results in the comments.

Click HERE for the quiz.