Below are a few Political Compass scores from some posters on a British forum. All of these poster are around my age, and (apart from one) seem to be fairly representative of most people in this country (particularly the youth).

Economic Left/Right: -1.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.10


Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.54


Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.00


That last one is the score of a member of the UK Youth Parliament, and a supporter of the Labour Party (yes, he is a bit sad for a 16 year old ) This is my most recent score:

Economic Left/Right: 2.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.10

So you see? You guys are changing me! You are making me lose touch with the inherent British socialism! When I first joined, my economic score was -1.5, now it is 2.38. Me thinks I'm gonna have to stay away from you lot for a while, before you change me completely.

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It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

and we are gonna make you love it, in all its effects, so grab him Force, c'mon Bucknaked, knee in the lower back...thats it...now Doc, deep breaths...thats it..deep breaths...good....that feeling better?...

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

I could take you guys any day.

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It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

..it seems to be working already...he has clearly lost any grip he might ever have had on reality!...and so early in the experiment...I have never had one act like this...I think he may be ready for the sex/money/pain-association module...

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

Yay! I've always wanted to be like you nawbut.

Is that what I think it is?

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It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

(aside, to Force), "he's out, get that camera ready", (suddenly puzzled, to BuckNaked), "is it dogs or donkeys this week, I know we were up at the d's"...

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

Actually, although I know this is an off-topic forum, I'll mention that I recently came to embrace a mixed economy- leaning towards socialism:

Economic Left/Right: -3.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.31

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

It's not abnormal. A lot of liberals just figure out that socialism leads toward totalitarianism and doesn't even manage to do a good job of helping those we set out to help. The really extreme cases turn out like that Dave Horowitz jackoff and spend the rest of their lives bitterly assaulting all things liberal as their new crusade (old habits die hard). Others wind up neocons (though I hope this is only a phase they're going through).
But some of us just get a bit of sense and say "Hmmmm... This isn't working. Let's try something else", without necessarily jumping to embrace another dumb ideology that doesn't help. And we can even contain the reactionary impulse enough as to not join with another party that destroys freedom in different ways just because we saw the error of the old way.
The beauty is that most of the raving new conservatives are the raving liberals gone mad. They tend to think that the flaws of socialism are actually part of a sinister plot and fight hard to stop it, joining the enemy. Or perhaps they have finally gotten old and sold out but don't feel like admitting it. Who knows? Either way, it looks to me like the right is absorbing all the fire-breathing radicals slowly over time. Should be funny.

But we jesuddhists must keep from going off the deep end. Let us not hate liberals as we learn of their ineffectiveness. Let us not hate conservatives any more than is absolutely necessary and unavoidable. We must be constructive... or ridiculous... one or the other. If it doesn't work, it should at least give us all a good laugh.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

Dun.. Dun.. Dun.. Another one bites the dust!

It's nice to see a liberal Brit starting to turn conservative. Certainly, in the US you would still be considered a liberal (probably a Democrat) but the beauty of US politics is that both parties accept the free market as the norm. But no one can deny results, and the facts undeniably prove that the US has the best economy in the world (BECAUSE OF, not in spite of our economic system).

Capitalism is no longer a theory, as communism and socialism are no longer theories. Capitalism works, and communism and socialism do not.

so swedes have a poor standard of living in their socialist state?

was the condition of the typical chinese "citizen" - before communism was adopted by the masses - better or worse than it is now?

don't presume i am not fond of capitalism, but there are systems that adapt to fit changing circumstances. the evolution toward capitalism within the communist chinese state is an example. but without the advent of the communist state i think the chinese would have remained in chaotic disarray.
ymmv