Like many of my mad ideas for websites and apps, the Political Circle came from a need to better understand my characters. In the fantasy world I'm creating for my Steam World novels, the second book delves much more into the politics and history of the planet.
One thing that constantly bugs me about traditional notions of left and right is that they are blunt and tribalistic at best, and no-one ever really fits neatly into one or the other.
I looked at other political compasses and was left feeling they were equally unhelpful. So I started developing my own. This was a rabbit hole I was happy to be lost in for a few weeks, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.
What I love about the Political Circle, is that it does away completely with the idea of 'them and us'. Not only has it helped me understand my friends and family a lot better, but I've realised that even at the extremes, we still have much in common. Once you understand that, political discourse becomes much easier, as you see the trade-offs and compromises that inevitably have to be made.
I've noticed we tend to fall into one of 3 main camps:
- authoritarians of both socialist and fascist ideology (10 o'clock to 2 o'clock)
- free marketers of a more libertarian bent (2 o'clock to 6 o'clock)
- socialists of a more democratic bent (6 o'clock to 10 o'clock)
The clock positions tell the story. What's interesting is watching these groups confuse each other, as the 4s and the 8s constantly fall out and the 12's spend all their time arguing the toss with everyone. Labels like fascist, Hitler, Nazi etc., fly all over the place, usually from 11 o'clocks to 1 o'clocks, not realising they have far more in common than they realise.
If you have time to take the test, please do. Those that have so far are often both mildly surprised and, at the same time, not surprised at the results, as if it was telling them something they always knew but never had it put clearly to them. Take the test here - it only takes a couple of minutes.
And if you want to help support my writing, please buy the book!