A questionnaire on political and economic issues

[TokenLiberal]

Yeah I focused on the US because it's most likely to be something we all have an opinion about. I'm not from there either

[Ksihkehe]

Again, I think you either don't know what an extremely far left position looks like or have misjudged my positions.

What a European style statist thinks is a far left position isn't the same thing as what an American conservative thinks is a far left position. Europe seems to jail or ban all the people we would consider conservative in the US if they get anywhere near a leadership position, so maybe you should give very specific definitions rather than assuming we're on the same page.

Perhaps loaded, subjective, 1-10, self-assessment surveys, aren't the way to understand people or start a conversation anyway?

You'd probably get far more engagement, with what little there is to get, on current events or at least something interesting. A bunch of nebulous (and politically unviable) ideological discussions or a survey just aren't what most people are into. We have many serious problems in the US. I don't really care about the prevailing statist ideology of Europe. If Europe wants to be ruled by authoritarians, that's their choice. It's incompatible with our founding documents, so it's not happening in the US any time soon.

[FCD]

Huh, shame on me!

I never considered this individual was coming from a Euro-centric point of view.

Not sure if this would have changed my responses, but it might have. If anything, it might have abbreviated them.

Interesting.

[TokenLiberal]

What a European style statist thinks is a far left position isn't the same thing as what an American conservative thinks is a far left position. [...], so maybe you should give very specific definitions rather than assuming we're on the same page.

I'm going by the American definition. The questions in my OP are focused on the US and so are my answers, for the most part. But the far left is actually pretty similar here. I think the difference is not so much in where the extremes are, more in how common extremists are. On both ends of the political spectrum, extremists, though rare in both places, seem to be more common in the states. It's probably because Europe has a lot of (in some cases recent) history with far left and far right authoritarians actually ruling, and that never went well.

If an American conservative thinks mine is a far left position, what do they think a moderate left position is? And what do they think the unhinged "Bernie or bust", "nationalize healthcare", "tax top incomes by 90%" university kids are? Moderates?

The fact that I am more moderate than far left Americans is not a matter of perspective. It's just a fact, and a pretty obvious one if you understand the political views of both me and far left Americans.

White guy walks into a bar, runs into an Asian guy, says, "man, you Asians all look alike". Asian says "no we don't, I'm Chinese, look at that guy (he points at another guy at the bar) he's Japanese, we look nothing alike. I have a different nose, see, and different eyes, different ears, everything's different." White guy says "nah, you just don't understand Asians. You all look alike". Chinese guy says "Maybe you just think that because you're not exposed to Asians much, so you don't notice subtle differences." White guy's brain short circuits, and he runs out of the bar mumbling something like "This guy can't be reasoned with".

Europe seems to jail or ban all the people we would consider conservative in the US if they get anywhere near a leadership position,

I'll bite. Do you have examples of this to illustrate the point? Even extremists wouldn't be jailed or banned, as long as they aren't violent. Whether they would do well politically is another matter of course.

Perhaps loaded, subjective, 1-10, self-assessment surveys, aren't the way to understand people or start a conversation anyway?

It seemed to have started a conversation just fine, about a bunch of subjects, but then FCD got hung up on one point and ran away.

You'd probably get far more engagement, with what little there is to get, on current events or at least something interesting. A bunch of nebulous (and politically unviable) ideological discussions or a survey just aren't what most people are into. We have many serious problems in the US. I don't really care about the prevailing statist ideology of Europe. If Europe wants to be ruled by authoritarians, that's their choice. It's incompatible with our founding documents, so it's not happening in the US any time soon.

Europe doesn't want to be ruled by authoritarians at all. That's incompatible with our constitutions too. 

To be fair, some of my questions were about current problems in the US. In my experience though, when you start talking about current events (and one of the parties doesn't suddenly up and leave) you eventually get to ideological disagreements anyway. So best just start there, that way everyone knows each other's ideological base when they have different perspectives on current events. Makes it much easier to understand each other.

Frankly, it doesn't seem like either of you have much experience or interest in talking to people who you ideologically disagree with. You both said you're interested, but you're showing the opposite.