Can We Guess If You’re More of a Socialist or Capitalist?

POLITICS

By: Zoe Samuel

6 Min Quiz

Image: Plume Creative / DigitalVision / Getty Images

About This Quiz

These days, it's more vital than ever to know what you believe in and to understand where other people are coming from. Understanding may not mean accepting — whether you use the information to persuade them, avoid them, or just ignore them, it's still good to have! 

Of course, there's a lot of confusion about what certain key concepts and ideologies in politics and economics mean (doubly so in the USA where the rightward tilt of the political spectrum means liberalism, a centrist position anywhere else, is framed as left-wing). The short version: capitalism is an economic system permitting private ownership of the means of production (for example, land, mines or factories) through for-profit or nonprofit companies and individuals, instead of collective ownership (either through the state, worker-owned co-ops or other mechanisms). Liberalism and conservatism are usually cool with capitalism (subject to varying rules), fascism aims to gobble it up, communism abolishes it, and as for socialism? It's complicated. Very complicated.

Socialism is a political system with many varieties. Its mildest form, "social democracy," embraces liberal government mechanisms and capitalist economics, but means the people (whether through a state entity or a community one) regulate extreme abuse of capital and use redistribution to support the social good. This is the much-vaunted "Nordic model" in a nutshell. Heading leftward, "democratic socialism" increases the level of redistribution and sets harsher limits on capital, often nationalizing some industries. The extreme incarnation of socialism sees itself as a step on the road to communism, which requires the full collective ownership of the means of production. Thus, you can be both a socialist and a capitalist if you want for-profit companies to co-exist with a redistributive policy and strong safety net.

Are you a socialist, a capitalist, a mix, or something else entirely? Let's find out!

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If you were to spot a liberal, which way would you have to turn to look at them?

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Karl Marx and Milton Friedman are stuck in a car on the edge of a cliff. You can save one. Who do you save?

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Your business is going well. How do you ensure the workers share in the good times?

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Your neighbour posts a photo of herself taking away some of her children's Halloween haul of sweets, "To show them what socialism is like." Is this clever of her?

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If someone asked you to define socialism, then communism, what would the difference be?

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What percentage of your friends couldn't meet a surprise £1,000 expense without borrowing?

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Lisa a self-made woman who might leave her fortune to her layabout son, Jake. What would you advise?

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Some people at your workplace are unionising! What's your leading concern?

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What political saying do you find yourself uttering most often?

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Is there such a thing as a win-win situation in business?

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What's the best way to stop capital fleeing the country?

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A wealthy oligarch has bought all the best homes in town, and now prices are too high. What happens next?

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Who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes?

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What lesson did you take from George Orwell's book, "Animal Farm"?

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What do you dislike most about fascism?

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A little child asks why it is wrong to discriminate against people who are different to you. What do you tell them?

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You get a magic wand to make everyone in society do one thing, once a year. What do you choose?

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How do you feel when you watch "Last Night of the Proms"?

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In "Downton Abbey," who do you root for?

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What is the greatest British legislative achievement of the last 300 years?

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Every political and economic group has its enemy. Who is yours?

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At a dinner party, you find yourself stuck next to someone who disagrees with you about everything, but to your delight, it's still a great conversation! What do they believe?

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You discover the local school is not good. Your parents offer to pay fees to go private. Do you?

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A genie offers to pass one climate change rule that everyone will magically obey. What is it?

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You find £5 on the pavement. What happens now?

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