What political bubble do you live in? Can that bubble be penetrated by new information? Does it truly matter the source of the new information for you to accept it’s validity? There have been many recent studies that correlate the type of social media platforms one chooses to consume, resulting in one’s fixed ideological view. An echo chamber of sorts that only serves to reinforce a fixed political belief. Many people overlap their resources, which results in the perfect cocooned state of bias. If they are exposed to new information from a source outside their echo chamber, they tend to dismiss that information and consider it “Fake News” or a “Conspiracy Theory.” So which bubble do you currently wrap yourself in? What label do you choose along the political spectrum? There are many choices along the political continuum which correlate to a “label” of beliefs and subsequently will align with a specific political party.
A political party is a mechanism to advance a label’s agenda. Many different labels will vote Republican or Democrat, as for America, there is really only one viable system at present, which is a two-party system. Here is one diagram political spectrum model, Dickinson’s Political Spectrum – but there are others. This diagram (click the inset graphic to enlarge, click here for more detail) shows the proper location of various political groups relative to each other in terms of the important philosophical positions of political ideas. One does need to be careful with labels. Often there are some that try to obfuscate their own views by pretending a label is not them. For example:
- The majority of conservatives habitually but incorrectly refer to leftists as “liberals.” The term liberal refers to liberty and was first applied in the 18th century to men like John Locke. These 18th-century liberals were lovers of liberty. However, in today’s political discourse, liberal often refers to the left – just be sure to clarify what you mean.
- The first use of the term “left” in terms of a political group was to describe the people who sat on the left in assemblies during the French Revolution. People with their kind of political thoughts were the modern intellectual ancestors of the groups we now call liberals but should correctly still call leftists. They are the Jacobins, socialists, communists, fascists, NAZIS, Islamists or Islamofascists, tribalists, secular progressives, and Theocrats. All were and are still properly called leftists.
Here in this diagram (click on the inset diagram to enlarge) called the American Political spectrum simplified. Both of these models (Dickinson and American Political Spectrum Simplified) show right vs. left political views on the X-axis and the level of government enforcement on the Y-axis. If you are unsure where you fit on these models, there are some online tests to help you. Pew Research has one – click here. The Political Compass has another – click here. Why not take one of these tests and post your results in the comments section of this article. It will be interesting to see your results and additional comments you may have. Due to the complexity and nuance within the spectrum of political ideologies, we need to challenge ourselves to truly become informed, have understandings of all political persuasions, and above all, be honest about our own ideas. Here is a step by step, 3-week political challenge for yourself:
- Identify your political persuasions from the above modems and tests – politically left vs. right (as well the level of government coercion to achieve those political goals).
- If you are Left, commit to the following social media resources and engage in time frames allotted. Three times a week for the first 15 minutes of each broadcast, watch Fox News, Tucker Carlson, at 8 pm, Hannity at 9 pm, and Laura Ingram at 10 pm. Additionally, add The Federalist and The Conservative Treehouse to your routine blog views. Do these tasks for a total of three weeks. Note: please review our list of other blog links itemized by political persuasion on our home page.
- If you are on the Right, commit to the following social media resources, and engage in time frames allotted. Three times a week for the first 15 minutes of each broadcast, watch MSNBC news All in with Chris Hayes at 8 pm, Rachel Maddow Show at 9 pm, and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 pm. Additionally, add Huffington Post and Politico to your routine blog views. Do these tasks for a total of three weeks. Note: please review our list of other blog links itemized by political persuasion on our home page.
- This is both an intellectual and emotional exercise – an honor code and honesty will matter. Keep a log of sorts and write down any new information you are exposed to during this exercise. Make two categories: 1.) News facts and 2.) Opinion statements. Then set out to disprove the news facts and verify the opinions by researching the content. Next to each, finalize your entry by indicating after analysis if you accept the validity of the fact or opinion.
- When the three weeks are up, review all your notes, and look at the ones you stated you could not validate or accept. If you are identifying as Left, ask yourself if the original fact or opinion had been delivered by your bubble resources, such as Rachel Maddow or NYT’s, if you would have accepted without researching. If identifying Right do the same and ask if Hannity or Rush Limbaugh had been the source, would you have researched validity any further?
- Finally, while anecdotal, it would be appreciated if you leave a comment below on what insight if any, the challenge afforded you. Include a list of new information you learned or in your view, debunked. If you found the challenge worth your time, please share with others the link., it would be appreciated if you left a comment below on what insight if any the challenge afforded you. Include a list of new information you learned or in your view, debunked. If you found the challenge worth your time, please share with others the link.
