Does the world need another political categorization scheme? Nope — so here’s one I just thought up:
Political orientations can be categorized according to two original social experiences:
- A) early feelings of membership in one’s society;
- B) early feelings of alienation from one’s society.
From the original feeling, political views can develop a variety of ways.
With respect to one’s own pursuit of membership/alienation:
- C) pursue increased degree of membership in one’s society;
- D) pursue increased degree of alienation from one’s society;
- E) maintain current degree of membership/alienation.
With respect to cultivation of membership/alienation feelings:
- F) toward intensifying feelings of membership for those who feel membership;
- G) toward intensifying feelings of alienation for those who feel alienated;
- H) toward deintensifying feelings of membership and alienation.
With respect to enlistment of actors into belonging/alienated camps:
- I) toward increasing the number of people who feel (actual or possible) belonging, while reducing the number of people who feel alienated;
- J) toward increasing the number of people who feel alienated, and reducing the number of people who feel (actual or possible) belonging;
- K) toward maintaining the numbers of those who feel belonging and alienation.
And finally, with respect to attitudes toward change:
- L) hope – optimistic belief that one’s life can be changed for the better;
- M) fear – pessimistic belief that one’s life will be changed for the worse;
- N) resignation – belief that things will happen however they happen and that one has little or no control over it;
- O) skepticism – things can be changed, but the consequences are radically unpredictable.
My own classification would be B.C.H.I.O.
I might need to make a political quiz.