RI
realisticidealist
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Posts: 14,825
Political Matrix
E: 0.39, S: 2.61
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« on: February 28, 2013, 05:56:12 PM » |
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TJ is largely correct about how this plays out in practice in the United States (and elsewhere I presume). As far as the political spectrum goes, it certainly exists in a theoretical sense, but there are many different spectra to choose from. The one displayed on this site, for example, does not have a monopoly on "truth." A more proper spectrum would have far too many dimensions to represent visually, which reduces the incentive for people to create such spectra on the internet; people like the visual placement relative to each other. A system in ℝ^n with each individual corresponding to a n-tuple vector (perhaps a bivector if you take into account that people often "float" ideologically) could have some interesting applications.
I disagree with the notion that tradition/progress should be a primary foundation as these things are very relative and rather uninformative of actual motivations. Tradition is largely a function of the past, but the past is not a static date but a range of possible values. Progress is also relative. Progress toward what? Is your progress the same as mine? Furthermore, progress often implies a false narrative of human history based upon a linear or near-linear progression toward self-defined and self-normatized goals, ignoring much of the complexity of human history and assumes that a fixed end is preordained; this flaw is also evident when people discuss the concept of evolution.
I think that within a proper context, the political compass, as we often use it, can be informative and insightful despite its libertarian-oriented definitions of "liberty" and "freedom," but only with the knowledge that it is one variable to consider of infinite possible derivations and that its biases are present and known.
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