Editor's Note: I'm publishing this piece to amplify my own views on what it means to be Libertarian. Dan's work on taxes, spending, borrowing, economic policy is usually quite good, and other than tariffs. I like the idea of free trade, but it's not free, that's a delusion, which along with other libertarian delusions I explain in My Libertarian Commentaries. RK
Some online quizzes and tests about policy and philosophy produce very accurate results.
- I’m a “hard-core libertarian” according to Professor Bryan Caplan’s 130-question quiz.
- I’m “not communist” on a test to determine Marxist sympathies.
- I’m a “minimalist” according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s fiscal quiz.
Some tests, however, produce illogical results.
- I am a “moderate” according to a social attitudes test.
Today, I’m going to share some more results that are not very logical. The Wall Street Journal posted a quiz a few days ago to ask “What Kind of Voter Are You?”
To may dismay, they decided that I’m a traditional conservative rather than a libertarian.
Here’s a breakdown of my results.
As far as I can tell, I’m as pro-free market as possible. Which makes sense since another quiz labelled me a “minarchist.”
But if you look at the second category, the quiz thinks I’m a social conservative.
Since I’m largely abstemious in my personal life (the boring kind of libertarian), I would not object if someone concluded I’m a social conservative as a person.
But I firmly believe I’m a libertarian with regards to policy and philosophy.
- I don’t support laws against drug use.
- I don’t support laws against prostitution
- I don’t support laws against gambling
- I don’t support laws against whatever consensual adults want to do in a bedroom.
So why did the WSJ decide I was a social conservative?
I would argue that some of their questions are poorly worded.
For instance, they apparently think the libertarian view is that any and all abortions should be legal. I’m sure some libertarian have that point of view, but there are also lots of pro-life libertarians.
I based my answer on the fact that I would not favor unlimited and unrestricted abortions way past the point of viability. Call me crazy, but I don’t think that makes me non-libertarian.
Here’s another question that struck me as strange and may have led the WSJ to label me as conservative rather than libertarian.
I answered “too much” on this question because of my concern that government schools push factually flawed narratives such as the 1619 project rather than the color-blind vision of Martin Luther King.
Last but not least, I don’t lose any sleep if a man wants to present as a woman, or vice-versa.
All adults should have full rights to live as they choose, so long as they are not infringing on the rights of others.
But if you’re asking me whether I agree that men can be woman simply because of how they self-identify, that seems like Orwellian thought control.
Though I guess my view would change if the definition of gender evolves so that it primarily means how people present and/or identify themselves.
Speaking of self-identification, I will not relinquish my libertarian bona fides, regardless of the WSJ‘s quiz.
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