Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Oh I do love a stupid internet test. And I do take them to heart. Never mind the first time I read Eve Sedgwick or Judith Butler - I had a gender crisis because some online quiz had determined that I was "psychologically androgynous". I still do them from time to time, thanks to Glen and Liz.
So I couldn't resist doing the Australian Politics Test, which I found out about yesterday via the Crider. I haven't done one since high school, when we had a crazy week-long program called Participation in Politics. Normal classes were suspended and the whole year level filled out a quiz on their political views, which was used to divide us into three 'parties', the "Radicals", the "Moderates" and the "Conservatives". We had to formulate policies, elect a leader, stage an election campaign, film a campaign speech, and then vote. I forget who won. At the end, we had to listen to a speech from some female politicians who'd been to our school. One was a local Labor chick; the other was Liberal senator Jocelyn Newman.
If I remember correctly, I was a spin-doctor for the Moderates and was in charge of producing propaganda. Penny was the leader of the Conservatives. She filmed her campaign speech in front of the Union Jack as they played "Land of Hope and Glory" in the background. I wonder how much of this was rhetoric (and a love of British TV series such as The Goodies) and how much reflected her actual views. I also wonder if her views have changed in the eleven years since PIP.
I have always considered myself a leftist, but thought I was more centre-left because I have little patience for the righteous rage and utopianism of so much leftist politics, and because I don't get really, really upset about Howard's and Bush's latest dastardly acts (although I do think they're dastardly). But I was pretty surprised that the test considers me to be firmly left-wing on most things, and far-left when it comes to "traditional values".
Apparently I am also 98% compatible with the Australian Democrats, which makes me pretty sad. God, they might as well have written, Simpsons-style, "Go ahead: throw your vote away!" I couldn't vote in the last election anyway, because I fell off the electoral roll and wasn't put back on in time.
So I couldn't resist doing the Australian Politics Test, which I found out about yesterday via the Crider. I haven't done one since high school, when we had a crazy week-long program called Participation in Politics. Normal classes were suspended and the whole year level filled out a quiz on their political views, which was used to divide us into three 'parties', the "Radicals", the "Moderates" and the "Conservatives". We had to formulate policies, elect a leader, stage an election campaign, film a campaign speech, and then vote. I forget who won. At the end, we had to listen to a speech from some female politicians who'd been to our school. One was a local Labor chick; the other was Liberal senator Jocelyn Newman.
If I remember correctly, I was a spin-doctor for the Moderates and was in charge of producing propaganda. Penny was the leader of the Conservatives. She filmed her campaign speech in front of the Union Jack as they played "Land of Hope and Glory" in the background. I wonder how much of this was rhetoric (and a love of British TV series such as The Goodies) and how much reflected her actual views. I also wonder if her views have changed in the eleven years since PIP.
I have always considered myself a leftist, but thought I was more centre-left because I have little patience for the righteous rage and utopianism of so much leftist politics, and because I don't get really, really upset about Howard's and Bush's latest dastardly acts (although I do think they're dastardly). But I was pretty surprised that the test considers me to be firmly left-wing on most things, and far-left when it comes to "traditional values".
Apparently I am also 98% compatible with the Australian Democrats, which makes me pretty sad. God, they might as well have written, Simpsons-style, "Go ahead: throw your vote away!" I couldn't vote in the last election anyway, because I fell off the electoral roll and wasn't put back on in time.
