Off the Spectrum

I have been noticing how far left my political thought has been deviating in the past few months. No longer am I satisfied with the Democratic Party. I need something more. I've always been politically active and I don't want to lose that part of me because it makes me keep up with current events. I don't want to be the stereotypical apathetic leftist. So what I need is some kind of real ideology I can associate myself with, because I love labels and will never be able to consider myself independent of a political group.

After reading up on the French Parliamentary elections that occurred recently I've come closer to calling myself a socialist, or at least a Social Democrat. I feel like in the US the term 'socialism' has been used so negatively for so long that its connotations incite the old sentiments of the useless Cold War. But I feel like it's just a way of taking care of one another and rewarding people for the work they do in society rather than simply letting the rich get richer and making the poor stay poor.

I'm not sure how I came to be so far to one side of the spectrum considering the area in which I was raised. Most very rural places don't tend to harbor or breed hyper-leftists such as myself. It may be my background of growing up poor. It may be a bit of animosity towards the rich. It may be that I truly want everybody to be equal in society because I have seen enough injustice in the past. It may be because I feel we will ultimately be divided more by class than by anything else if our current conditions continue.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with me, I think you should take this test and see where you stand on the traditional spectrum: www.politicalcompass.org (click on 'Take the Test' in the top left corner).

In the most recent one I took I am -6.25, -5.47. I'm further out there than the Dalai Lama.