I thought you might be interested the post from Michael Baharaeen at Liberal Patriot on the Echelon Insight’s latest attempt at categorizing America’s political “tribes”. It’s summarized in the graphic above. Mr. Baharaeen concludes:
Americans are a complicated bunch, and efforts to reduce everyone on one side to a monolith whose members all think the same way are misguided and unproductive and contribute to our never-ending doom spiral of polarization. Though the fringes of each side may pack a big punch, they are nowhere close to a majority. Anyone hoping to turn the temperature down in American politics and see our fellow citizens once more as individuals who form their own opinions—ones that may occasionally deviate from their own side—would do well to digest Echelon’s research and insights.
As far as I can tell I don’t fit neatly into any of those subtypes. Mr. Baharaeen’s analysis is useful but I think the entire thing can be summarized much more simply: most Americans are socially more conservative than the Democratic leadership and economically more conservative than the Republican leadership. Most people also aren’t above taking a handout as long as they aren’t expected to pay for it or change their behavior.
Take a look and tell me what you think.
It is a silly chart but not without humour. The 60’s marchers were anti establishment but find themselves as hard right on his list. His hard left makes sense in finally recognizing communist love the establishment.
I think both the hard left and hard right tend much more towards anarchy and authoritarianism. The hard left doesnt really trust govt much more than the hard right. Maybe they are more pro-establishment in that they tend to trust published science while the hard right doesnt, rather trusting their thought leaders on those kinds of issues.
Otherwise I am not sure this is better or worse than similar lists. I guess its depressing that the largest groups are at the extremes and helps explain while gerrymandering and primaries result in so many bad congress critters.
Steve
Where do Libertarians fit on this chart?
I don’t think the classification is silly, but any scheme that leaves out race, gender (only two), and age misses a great deal.
I’m preboomer (by a couple years), and I consider myself dissident right. But, I support the welfare state and truly massive disarmament (75% or more). I despise every establishment institution, governmental (including the courts), religious, scientific. I would role back the departments of Energy, Education, and Environmental to their 1960 equivalents, which eliminates Education and Energy, but I would send their budgets directly to the states. My foreign policy would be George Washington isolationist, and I would stop immigration.
Well that’s a pretty incoherent mess, isn’t it?
I think that redistricting, safe seats, Congressional seniority, and how the leadership is determined explain most of Congress’s dysfunction especially why the extremes wield so much power there.
You’re right @Charles Musick libertarians do seem to be ignored. I suspect the division of libertarians into “right libertarians” and “left libertarians” which divides the 10% or so of Americans who claim to be libertarians into smaller subgroups explains it.
The simplest characterization of my view would be “eclectic”. A more complex one would be pessimistic empiricist pragmatist. So, for example, I think the federal government should stay strictly within its Constitutional limits. If the people of a state want a government-run healthcare system they should be able to implement that but the federal government should not be in the healthcare business. Most of what the federal government does should be related to defense, foreign policy, and regulation of interstate commerce (strictly defined). We should have generally free international trade and be non-interventionist. China is a special case. It’s too bad but doing business with China was always a mistake. It’s too big, too authoritarian, and its interests are too far separated from ours.
I prefer 5 divisions.
Red pill = 20% partisan right
Blue pill = 20% partisan left
White pill = 20% “everyone means well”
Black pill = 20% “everyone is corrupt”
What pill = 20% “what’s politics?”
The natural 40% coalitions are
White pill + whatever partisans are in power
Black pill + whatever partisans are out of power
Simpler, more concise.