The terms liberal or conservative have no direct correlation with political party affiliation. What this means is that people can be very liberal outside of ofofpolitical parties, and someone may vote for a socialist candidate even if they are not politically aligned with the Democrats.
On the other hand, you could be completely supportive of capitalism and still identify as a conservative. Or maybe you love giving large sums of money to charity and consider yourself socially conscious?
In fact, there are many individuals who don’t associate themselves with any particular political party. Many instead describe their beliefs as “independent” or “no specific party identity.”
With all these different definitions, it can sometimes seem difficult to determine just how liberal or conservative an individual actuallyis.
That is why we created our new test — the I-Party-Forming Test!
The I-Party-Forming Test asks about five questions and determines whether you are more likely to form your own political party or belong to one already existent.
If you get at least two answers that say “yes” then you are probably more likely to start your own party. And since starting your own party is a pretty good way to define what it means to be liberal or conservative, then you can assume that you are indeed somewhat liberal.
However, the opposite is also true.
Don’t believe everything you read
We all have our personal biases, but that doesn’t mean we should let them influence what we think about different topics or situations.
As human beings, we are influenced by things around us, from media to conversations we have. These external factors shape how we perceive reality and create internal experiences based on those perceptions.
By having preconceived notions of something, it shapes your beliefs and emotions towards this thing.
For example, if you’ve heard enough stories about someone or something, then you’ll probably agree with their side even though they might be wrong. Or maybe because you want to agree with them.
With regards to politics, people who already have an opinion will almost always find ways to use the tools at hand to prove their point.
So, instead of proving the other person is wrong, why not do the opposite and see how well you can refute their arguments? This way, you’ll win both rounds!
There was a famous quote made about democracy which goes like this: “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch.” The correct answer is clearly ‘no’.
But in today’s world, where digital distractions abound, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. So before you make any decisions, try asking yourself some questions.
Be open-minded
Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend of people taking things one step further than simply defining someone as liberal or conservative. Rather than only consider your political stance in terms of if you identify more with the left or right side of the aisle, people have designed tests to see just how liberal or conservative you are!
These test surveys ask not only about whether you lean more towards the left or right, but they also ask about all sorts of other issues that may even be polarizing. For example, is it okay for men to be less compassionate than women? Or do you agree that children deserve an excellent education regardless of their family income? And what about animal rights?
Some tests even look at whether you believe in extraterrestrial life or not! Thankfully, no matter who you are, we can say with confidence that most people are somewhere in the middle when it comes to politics.
Always consider your alternatives
When you’re looking to determine how liberal or conservative you are, don’t just focus on one thing.
Consider what alternative actions people take when faced with similar situations and then compare those actions to whether they feel that situation is justified or not.
For instance, if someone believes something is morally wrong, chances are good that they will try to dissuade others from doing it. They may even go as far as punishing the person who does it or boycotting products made by companies that promote the activity.
On the other hand, most people agree that eating meat is reasonable food choice. Most people also accept sugar as a staple ingredient for foods.
By comparing these two examples, we can assume that most people believe that eating meat is acceptable and that adding sugar to everything is okay too.
So why do some argue that being vegan is the best way to live? It seems like there would be less of a need to convince people to stay vegetarian if there were no-vegan options available.
Always assume that others are like you
Sometimes people may perceive you as very liberal, even progressive. But that’s only because they associate liberalism with things that make them feel good about themselves.
They think liberals enjoy spending money on experiences and material goods. Or at least, that’s what they learned from watching TV and listening to talk radio.
But being liberal isn’t just about having lots of money or talking about how much you love yourself and life. Being liberal means acting in ways that are ethical, moral, and honorable.
It means living your life in ways that don’t hurt other people. And it means helping others who are less fortunate than you.
That’s why there are not really any “liberal” politicians anymore. Because political correctness has made it impossible for most people to identify as liberal anymore.
So if you want to know whether someone is more likely to describe themselves as a conservative or a libertarian, ask them if they believe that black people should be able to use public bathrooms near where they work.
If their answer is yes, then they probably consider themselves a liberal.
Always assume that things are the way they seem
A few years ago, psychology got a new name: psychodynamics. This term was coined to describe how personality is influenced by past experiences, life events, and situations.
Prior experience shapes our perception of reality and what people expect from you. For example, if someone has seen many successful relationships in their life, they may have an expectation that relationships will always go well.
This can make it hard for them to understand why a relationship does not work or even feel bad when something does not work.
Similarly, if someone has experienced a lot of success, they may develop a sense of entitlement. They may believe that they deserve more than the average person gets, which could cause a conflict with your budget goals!
In these cases, it can be difficult to tell whether the person feels limited due to internal factors (personality) or external factors (life event).
So, how do we determine which one is the main factor? It all depends on whether the other party agrees with the situation and whether they appear happy or unhappy about the changes.
If they agree then we must consider the differences in personality as a reason for the lack of agreement. If they are not comfortable with the change then we should consider this as proof that there were significant underlying issues that played a role in the relationship.
Try to be as liberal as possible
There is no wrong way to identify yourself as a liberal. Being liberal means you believe that every person has an equal right to live life how they want to, stand for what they believe in, speak their mind, and pursue happiness as defined by them.
Liberalism is about freedom and equality. If you are more concerned with having enough money than living a meaningful life, then you are not looking for happiness but instead material success. Liberals strive for both.
Liberals believe that if all people were given the same opportunities, resources, and chance to achieve their dreams, then it would create a thriving community. People would help each other and work together to succeed because they wanted the same thing: to fulfill their potential and enjoy this life they have.
It is also important to note that liberals believe that socialized health care, education, and welfare should be made available to everyone, regardless of income. This is why many refer to themselves as progressives or socialists.
While there is some debate over whether capitalism produces the most successful societies or democracies, one thing is clear: capitalists make lots of money! Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and others are rich due to the free market system that rewards hard workers and risk takers.
Become a liberal
There are many ways to identify if you are more conservative or liberal. One of the most popular methods is to take the test here at PoliticalConversation.com! The site offers two different versions of this test, one for individuals and one for groups.
The individual version asks about your political beliefs and how likely you are to vote for each position. Then, it calculates an overall liberalism score based on these answers.
For the group version, it creates a cluster analysis map using your responses as input. It then determines what category the inputs belong to using an algorithm.
This website only reports the results in terms of categories not numbers. But you can check out the maps to determine which ones apply to you!
Both tests have some limitations. For example, they cannot tell whether you are very moderate or very extreme. They also could not tell whether you are consistently right or wrong.
Stay a liberal
Over the past few decades, there have been major shifts in how people view themselves as liberals. What was once an extremely broad label is now a very specific one.
Liberalism used to mean supporting things like social welfare programs, protecting individual rights such as freedom of speech, and promoting economic equality. These are all good ideas, but they go beyond what most people associate with the term “liberal.”
Today, many people define liberalism as advocating for left-wing policies that promote socialism, or government control over industries and resources. This definition is too narrow.
Advocating for socialist policy should be part of any political philosophy, but it shouldn’t be the defining feature of the word “liberal.” Using the term “socialist” as a descriptor for someone who favors strong national institutions is fine, but calling them a “Socialist” is not.
Using the term “libertarian” to describe someone who wants to reduce big corporations‘ influence on society is also misleading. A person could definitely be both libertarian and Socialist, or even communist!
So what exactly defines a liberal? An easy way to rephrase the question is: what doesn’t define you as a liberal?
You’re probably more likely to identify as a conservative than anything else, so let’s focus on understanding why that isn’t quite right.
