This
is how the 2008 presidential candidates scored on the World's Smallest Political Quiz.
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This
is how the 2008 presidential candidates scored on the World's Smallest Political Quiz.
According to the quiz, the candidates were as follows:
Steven Allmon was a left-liberal?! If you
visit his web site, you will see
he is by no means a liberal.
Lance Brown was a Libertarian.
NOTE: This quiz is not perfect. Occasionally, it is wrong about a person's ideology (as in Mr. Allmon's case). For example, very conservative people have been found to be liberals and vice-versa. In the 2024 election, Republican Charlie Leal and Democrat Christian Shelton were found to have the same exact ideology (Left-authoritarian; 40% personal self-governors and 20% economic self-governors).
Click here to see the candidate's responses to the specific questions.
Libertarians are self-governors in both personal and economic matters. They believe government's only purpose is to protect people from coercion and violence. They value individual responsibility, and tolerate economic and social diversity.
Left-liberals prefer self-government in personal matters and central decision-making on economics. They want government to serve the disadvantaged in the name of fairness. Leftists tolerate social diversity, but work for economic equality.
Moderates favor selective government intervention and emphasize practical solutions to current problems. They tend to keep an open mind on new issues. Many moderates feel that government serves as a check on excessive liberty.
Right-conservatives prefer self-government on economic issues, but want official standards in personal matters. They want the government to defend the community from threats to its moral fiber.
Authoritarians want government to advance society and individuals through expert central planning. They often doubt whether self-government is practical. Left-authoritarians are also called socialists, while fascists are right-authoritarians.
| Military service should be voluntary (No draft). | ||
| Allmon | Yes | "The military should be all voluntary, with the exception if the United States' borders are invaded." |
| Brown | Yes | "Military service should be voluntary. The government has no right to force you into any activity, unless you first use force on another. Thus, it may not force you to serve in the military. To force a person to engage in the killing of others, especially in this day and age of frivolous wars, is morally perverse." |
| Government should not control radio, TV, the press or the Internet. | ||
| Allmon | Yes | "The government should NOT control any media." |
| Brown | Yes | "The government should not control any media. The amount of control that is already exercised through the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] is far too much. It is just as much of a crime against free speech to smother broadcasters in regulations as it is to prohibit content - our government does both. In addition, the government has taken the airwaves out of the hands of all and given them to a select few - all under the guise of protecting us from audio and visual harm. The Internet will likely suffer the same ultimate fate - to protect us from digital harm. The only harm the government should be protecting against is physical harm." |
| Repeal regulations on sex for consenting adults. | ||
| Allmon | Yes | "Repeal all sex regulations. However, marriage should remain between [a] male and [a] female, with no exceptions." |
| Brown | Yes | "Absolutely. Any regulations on sexual conduct in America have their foundation in religious doctrines, traditions, and beliefs - claims to the contrary are almost universally a subterfuge. Our inability to truly separate church and state shows most clearly in regulations on sex for consenting adults. Our government should pursue and prosecute acts of physical harm only." |
| Drug laws do more harm than good. Repeal them. | ||
| Allmon | No | "What I find most amazing is more and more legislation is enacted to quell drug running and [drug] use when it's the government that's funneling that garbage into slums. This has a lot to do with question #5 [Let peaceful people cross borders freely]. Instead of making more impotent laws, [the government should] enforce the ones we have now. More laws don't mean more security -- quite the antithesis." |
| Brown | Yes | "The War on
Drugs can be linked to almost every negative social trend
in our country. Every drug addict has become one [an
addict], in part, because our government has criminalized
drugs. If you look at the massive failure of Prohibition
in the 1920's (the 'Roaring Twenties'), a clear parallel
can be seen in the Drug War. Because [the] use of
'illicit drugs' was so low when the War started (in the
1930's), the massive disruptive problems that were seen
during alcohol prohibition were not seen for a long time
with the Drug War. But clear trends can be seen with
EVERY illegal drug: that usage, abuse, and drug-related
crime all rise when the drug becomes illegal - and it
never goes back down to its pre-War levels." "No matter what the consequences may be, we MUST end the prohibition of drugs if we ever want to solve the 'drug problem.' The government is hoping that Prohibition will get far enough away in history that they can obscure the fact that their Drug War is nothing more than Prohibition II - and that it is just as much of a failure as its predecessor." |
| Let peaceful people cross borders freely. | ||
| Allmon | No | "NO WAY. To let people freely cross into the United States means total loss of sovereignty. If DC sets the standard of who is 'peaceful' and 'non-peaceful', you can bet they [the 'peaceful' and 'non-peaceful' people] won't be. Expect more terrorist attacks and dope if we open our borders. Do you leave your door open and unlocked at night?" |
| Brown | Yes | "Immigration is such an essential part of our country's heritage. In a very real way, every American (with the exception of, obviously, Native Americans) is from an immigrant family. My ancestors immigrated here on the Mayflower. Waves of immigrants from various countries have flooded our shores since our country's founding - and the times that we have turned them away are marks of shame on our national history. It is bad enough that we stomped all over the people who originally welcomed us into their country - we can at least show respect to our legacy as a refuge from tyranny. If we are unable or unwilling to accept that historical responsibility, then maybe we should send everyone in America back where they came from. At least then we would be giving it back to a people who knew enough to respect the land they lived upon (again, the Native Americans.)" |
| Businesses and farms should operate without government subsidies. | ||
| Allmon | No | "This has to do with question #7 [People are better off with free trade than with tariffs]. Foreign crops are undermining our family farms. Fair trade, instead of free trade, can put the punch back into the farmer's livelihoods. Subsidies are necessary now, especially with status quo liberals in charge." |
| Brown | Yes | "The free
market, and the laws of nature and human nature, are a
far safer bet for economic regulation than the
government. The government is inherently going to have to
favor one industry, company or trend over another. This
is clearly unfair to the unfavored and has created our
current economy, where consumers (and even most
companies) have little control, and Big Industry and Big
Government have much control. The inevitable result -
higher prices, less choice, less information." "It is important to remember that when government is subsidizing certain industries, projects, and companies, it is automatically punishing certain other industries, projects, and companies. If one day it is favoring your ideals, the next day it may be on the side of your enemy. I call this the 'favor your friend/favor your enemy' rule." |
| People are better off with free trade than with tariffs. | ||
| Allmon | No | "Free trade is a travesty! Fair trade would help our nation pay off our debts overseas. The Chinese, just like the Japanese in the second world war, are prospering from this 'free trade' and look what happened. The United States really got the shaft when the loving run-over-children-with-tanks Chinese got MFN [Most Favored Nation] status. Free trade pulls the rug out from under our industrial base and sends jobs abroad. Americans really get the shaft." |
| Brown | Yes | "All of the above arguments apply equally here. If the government wants to take any role in the market at all, it should offer itself as an impartial information clearinghouse - to provide consumers with the information they need, should they choose to use it. Any other role for government initiates the 'favor your friend/favor your enemy' rule stated above [under 'Businesses and farms should operate without government subsidies.'] and all of its implied problems. Also, government's involvement in the market amounts to it telling us what to buy, which is well beyond its proper role." |
| Minimum wage laws cause unemployment. Repeal them. | ||
| Allmon | No | "Minimum wage prevents exploitation of the already underprivileged. However, the minimum wage curve should, by law, change with the economy and its curves." |
| Brown | Yes | "Minimum wage laws should be repealed, regardless of whether they cause unemployment. Businesspeople should be allowed to run their businesses as they choose, as long as they do not initiate the use of force upon anyone. It is not the business of government to be the guiding hand of our economy - more often than not it ends up slowing it down. Minimum wage laws and other government smothering can largely be held responsible for the mass exodus of large manufacturing firms to foreign countries." |
| End taxes. Pay for services with user fees. | ||
| Allmon | No | "The IRS is not a government organization. They're private for one. They are the 'British' and we SHOULD be the 'Tea Party.' Personally, I've worked 11.5 hours of overtime, and it was a waste. More than likely, it helped a Beltway Elitist buy some cocaine. Dissolving the IRS and having an 18% flat tax would be 100% more fair than this mockery of Americans with their own 'hit' team." |
| Brown | Yes | "All current
taxation in America is almost inherently 'taxation
without representation.' The process of governance here
is so convoluted that there is only a superficial
connection between the will of the people and the
mandates of government. The news media plays a larger
role in lawmaking in America than the people do." "User fees allow for more accurate representation, more efficient government, and much more accountability for government agencies. Agencies which serve little or no public need would, by nature of economics, wither up and fade away. There are plenty of non-profit and charitable entities, with more private funding than ever. If we ever needed vast government programs before, we don't any more. User fees and donations should be plenty to fund government's truly essential activities." |
| All foreign aid should be privately funded. | ||
| Allmon | Yes | "Repeal all government mandated foreign aid. Europeans can handle their own load now. Altogether they can handle their own military issues. We, however, as Americans were founded on helping others that need it. Food for starving people abroad should be maintained, but, through the private sector." |
| Brown | Yes | "In fact, all aid should be privately funded. The words 'aid' and 'help' are not in the definition of the word 'govern.' Nor do the words 'govern' or 'public' appear in the definitions of 'help' or 'aid.' There is a role for government - to protect us and our country from harm, so that we can pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Anything else can be taken care of by our citizens, public interest groups, churches, families, companies, and charitable foundations. It may be that there was a time when we needed government to 'help out.' If so, that time has surely passed. Government stifles where it tries to help. This includes 'foreign aid,' where our government is in pursuit of American-izing the world - setting up developing countries with all of our wonders and toys - and all of our problems." |