What search phrase best correlates with "tea party"? Answer: "firearms dealers"! Ewwww!
Correlations with "republican" came up "celebrity republicans". Here are a few, e.g., Chuck Norris and Mel Gibson, not the brightest sparks, but beloved by firearms folk.
For comparison, here is a list of celebrity democrats, e.g., Natalie Portman and Tom Hanks. Overall, I like the people on this list better than the celebrity republicans, and that's mostly without knowing their politics a priori. Hypothesis: Portman & Hanks are smarter than Norris & Gibson.
For correlations with "democrat". the second highest term is "am i a democrat". Of course, the phrase "democrat" will correlate with "am i a democrat", lest you wonder whether democrats don't know they are democrats. I searched on "am i a democrat", and found a test at The Political Compass. In a passing moment of humility, I decided to check whether I am a democrat. The results of my test are below.
JFR's alleged political compass | Famous people's political compasses |
As you can see, the Political Compass website's test puts me squarely with the Dalai Lama! And right next to Nelson Mandela. These people are not bad company.
But they've got my economic (left-right) direction wrong. Having graduated from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, I should have certified neo-liberal credentials. I would guess that the error is in the test's questions about regulation of business. I believe in the power of markets, but I also think that government must regulate businesses, to ensure they operate within the law, to prevent their misleading consumers, and to protect third parties and the environment from the drive for profit. A belief that markets should be well-regulated is hardly the same as being a communist. I think the political compass needs a third axis about justice.
Update. Here's a beautiful example of how government intervention can improve an economy: the Indian government's program to provide identification to poor people will allow the government to greatly reduce corruption and slash market-distorting subsidies. The modern American tea party libertarian firearms-toting Republican would cry that this is a ghastly bloated government intervention in the private market. The job of government is, in part, to make markets work better. If you want kids to play well together, you have to keep them out of the street and watch the bully.
Update 2. Read President Obama's interview for Time Magazine. Note particularly his comments about regulation.
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