Two lines
This article is an extension of one I posted yesterday. If you haven’t read that yet, click here.
When I wrote about the political compass yesterday, I only mentioned one of its core aspects: subdivisions. Re-reading the poorly-written article, I realized that it only scratches the surface of the somewhat psuedoscientific system, and that its core remains the two axises, which intersect and make the compass resemble a algebraic plane.
The first axis, which happens to be the most commonly referenced, is that of economic policy, represented by the x-axis. The origins of this axis date back over a century, to the French Revolution, where the intelligentsia physically sat across the same parliamentary meeting based on their political positions; liberals left and royalists right.
As human societies moved on, and the issues of focus changed from beheading kings to climate change, so has the axis. Nowadays, the axis almost always refers to one’s position on the relationship of state and economy; full state-controlled economy sits on the far left, while pure laissez-faire is located opposite of that. In most stable democracies, this axis is what politicians and theorists refer to when discussing candidates and their respective positions.
The other axis, and the lesser-discussed one, is the y-axis, which commonly represents the political sccale, from complete anarchism to Orwellian authoritarianism. Despite awkwardly intersecting with the economic scale, the y-axis rarely, or even never, refers to an individual’s political positions and instead describes a nation’s style of governance.
And that’s it, two axises, largely independent of each other, intersecting to describe one’s political views. One may easily notice the absence of several crucial values, including religion, nationalism, and even fundamental human progress.
Therefore, it is my humble opinion that the two-axis system, like the political compass itself, is broken. Everyone’s views are unique, and no single person can be representated by two lines. Even newer systems, such as 8values, misrepresent core human thoughts, and the only way to truly fix this system would be to abolish it.
Most people don’t know where on the lines others would place them. However, they do know what they believe in, and that basic example of free thought is something no 2D graphic can fully grasp and display.
So, after reading all of that, where on the line are you?