What does it mean to be "left" politically?

[flamingjimmy]

The poll is loaded.

 

And the sample is self selecting and its' size is tiny.

 

Couldn't really be much less meaningless if it was intentional.

[colinsdog]

Sorry, I didn't have time to get the electoral commission to review it.

 

In what way is it loaded?

 

separate the statements. Then see what results you get.

 

and ask the right question. Are the left also socialists. Or left wing people, do you consider yourself a socialist?

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:38 ----------

 

So, despite the fact that I and 18 other people out of 21 think that the answer is "socialist" you think that this answer should be excluded from the poll.

I would certainly agree that doing so would change the result.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:33 ----------

 

 

Radical socialism is. In radical socialism the people (through the state) own everything.

 

ahhhhh. Radical socialism. I didnt see that option on the poll!!!

[unbeliever]

separate the statements. Then see what results you get.

 

and ask the right question. Are the left also socialists. Or left wing people, do you consider yourself a socialist?

 

The last one is out of the question. As it draws only the views of left wing people.

I don't see the distinction between between "Are the left also socialists" and the question I asked.

Even if there is a slant on the nature of the question, it's surely not so dramatic as to turn what you seem to think is the obvious fact that "left" and "socialist" are not synonymous, it can't explain the fact that in the poll there is an overwhelming majority whip say they are synonymous.

[I1L2T3]

The poll is pretty pointless and self-indulgent really. Its designed to get an answer that fits with a certain view.

[colinsdog]

And the sample is self selecting and its' size is tiny.

 

Couldn't really be much less meaningless if it was intentional.

 

Plus it could be right wingers answering the poll.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:43 ----------

 

The last one is out of the question. As it draws only the views of left wing people.

I don't see the distinction between between "Are the left also socialists" and the question I asked.

Even if there is a slant on the nature of the question, it's surely not so dramatic as to turn what you seem to think is the obvious fact that "left" and "socialist" are not synonymous, it can't explain the fact that in the poll there is an overwhelming majority whip say they are synonymous.

 

surely it has to be a left or right wing sample?

The poll is meaningless otherwise.

 

Its obvious by the comments, left wingers dont always identify themselves as socialists. Yet your poll suggests differently.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:44 ----------

 

The poll is pretty pointless and self-indulgent really. Its designed to get an answer that fits with a certain view.

 

Couldnt have put it better.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:46 ----------

 

'Left wingers, do you believe workers should own the means of production'???

 

When I think of socialist, i think billy bragg. He is defo a left winger and a socialist!

[I1L2T3]

Neither, it seems, do another 18 of the 21 people who've voted.

 

Consider for a moment, given the poll results, that maybe you've got this one wrong.

Perhaps, despite what you think, socialist does not necessarily mean radical socialist who wants everything nationalised.

 

If you don't want to nationalise the means of production then you're not a socialist. There isn't really a halfway house with it.

 

Even socialists would argue that you weren't a socialist.

 

To me it looks like you are trying to lump a massive section of the electorate together and negatively and wrongly portray them as socialists.

 

As I said before you are making the mistake of assigning ownership of many mature political ideas to the hard left when the ideas are shared across the political spectrum.

[Mister M]

If you don't want to nationalise the means of production then you're not a socialist. There isn't really a halfway house with it.

 

Even socialists would argue that you weren't a socialist.

 

To me it looks like you are trying to lump a massive section of the electorate together and negatively and wrongly portray them as socialists.

 

As I said before you are making the mistake of assigning ownership of many mature political ideas to the hard left when the ideas are shared across the political spectrum.

 

I agree with this.

 

 

I think the difficulty in trying to categorise people's politics is that they can be subjective.

 

For example in the poll above, it is labelled Progressive to want the world changed to be more fair - many on the right would argue that their ideas are fairer than those ideas sometimes associated with the left.

 

Very few would argue that Mrs Thatcher believed in big Government, yet in her last year of office 23.1% of the work force worked in the public sector. Yet in 2010, when Gordon Brown left office 23% of people worked in the public sector

 

Mrs Thatcher's belief in small Government is also doubtful as she claimed "Economics are the method: the object is to change the soul"

Edited November 15, 2015 by Mister M

[unbeliever]

I agree with this.

 

 

I think the difficulty in trying to categorise people's politics is that they can be subjective.

 

For example in the poll above, it is labelled Progressive to want the world changed to be more fair - many on the right would argue that their ideas are fairer than those ideas sometimes associated with the left.

 

Very few would argue that Mrs Thatcher believed in big Government, yet in her last year of office 23.1% of the work force worked in the public sector. Yet in 2010, when Gordon Brown left office 23% of people worked in the public sector

 

Mrs Thatcher's belief in small Government is also doubtful as she claimed "Economics are the method: the object is to change the soul"

 

You're entitled to your clearly minority opinion.

The rest of us will carry on with the actual meanings of these words in current usage.

[999tigger]

The last one is out of the question. As it draws only the views of left wing people.

I don't see the distinction between between "Are the left also socialists" and the question I asked.

Even if there is a slant on the nature of the question, it's surely not so dramatic as to turn what you seem to think is the obvious fact that "left" and "socialist" are not synonymous, it can't explain the fact that in the poll there is an overwhelming majority whip say they are synonymous.

 

Honestly believer id have expected a more interesting and balanced set of options, its obviously unbalanced and biasd to give the result it has. Its meaningless.

 

There are some good constructive answers on quora if you are interested in the question. The difficulty with SF is that its hard for a lot of people to be objective without resorting to tribalism.

[unbeliever]

Honestly believer id have expected a more interesting and balanced set of options, its obviously unbalanced and biasd to give the result it has. Its meaningless.

 

There are some good constructive answers on quora if you are interested in the question. The difficulty with SF is that its hard for a lot of people to be objective without resorting to tribalism.

 

I left a "none of the above" answer in case theres a definition I failed to consider.

 

This attack on the poll question strikes me as a reaction to the fact you don't like the result.