The Quiz2D Blog Begins

What? A blog?? How very 21st Century!

From the days long past when the Enhanced Precision Political Quiz was a java applet, the quiz simply gave “scores” and recommended pages off site. Then, I started archiving some of my early writings on Libertarian Party strategy. [Note: I a no longer a Libertarian Party member; this is for historical interest only.] And a few other barnacles accumulated, including, briefly, an online store for buying T shirts and bumper stickers.

And now, finally, a blog. I figured that it is long overdue to have a public place for people to provide feedback on the quiz. Many are too bashful (and spam-fearful!) to send an email, and some are so angered by the content of the quiz, that I would rather not receive their email — better to vent spleens in the open.

But far more importantly, I want lots off feedback and feed forward: the Quiz has become horribly dated. It still references the Clinton Administration(!) It is long past time to update the questions and possible answers. I could simply note ongoing discussions in the news as well as the private feedback provided over the years and whip together some updates, but why not open source things a bit. To wit, I want:

  • What issues do you consider important? I want to hear from members of all political factions on this.
  • Am I wording the questions fairly? I want to get rid of the bias of the earlier versions of the Quiz. (The bias had a reason, which has since become obsolete. This could be the subject of a post in and of itself…)
  • Do you prefer a short quiz or a longer quiz which is more likely to contain the answers you want to give?

These questions apply to an upgrade of the traditional Nolan Chart based quiz. In the future I aspire to introduce quizzes based on other dimensions than economic/personal liberty/authority.

I may throw in some commentary on the current political situation as well on this blog. I will try to avoid pushing any particular ideology. Instead, I will nitpick logic errors on all sides and comment on how our voting system fails to provide sufficient permutations of issues. For example, where is the candidate who calls for higher taxes and for spending cuts in order to reduce the deficit? Which party could such a candidate run under? Under what party could a candidate run who wants to replace the federal welfare system with a basic income guarantee? What of the conservative who wants a carbon tax to fight global warming (and tax our enemies)? Which combinations do you think are wanting?

And, of course, I will suggest some creative alternatives, both for voting systems, combinations of issue stances, and out of the box solutions. Pick out the ones you like.