Politics Inside Out

Politics Inside Out Challenge: Describe your politics in five words or less

Marketplace Contributor Dec 13, 2016

Politics Inside Out is a new podcast from Marketplace that looks at the economy and politics  from waaaaaay outside the beltway  to find out what matters most to AmericansWe’re leaving behind the stale divisions of “left vs. right” and “liberal vs. conservative” to explore a new frame: Insiders vs. outsiders.

While we’re at it, we’re also working on a new political vocabulary to describe the state of things in 2016. Our first listener assignment: Come up with a new term or phrase to describe your politics. Are you an indie-crat, neo-progressive, or something else? Send a note to insideout@marketplace.org and we’ll add your response to the list we’ve collected so far, and what a list it is…

Some of you defy the two party system:

Gun-totin’ tree-huggin’ pro-choice moderate lefty
A free market socialist 
Pro-life environmentalist
Liberal Green Christian
Libertarian-progressive
Never voting Republican/Democrat again
Patriotic Mom
Techno-humanist
Socialist marketeer
Independent compassionate capitalist
Left leaning neo-prudentist
Ron Paul 2012
For politics, against the parties

Some of you are a bit more traditional:

Constitutionalist
Bleeding heart classical liberal
Massachusetts liberal democrat
A conservative who wants to conserve things
Unreconstructed New Deal Democrat

Some of you are so 2016: 

Democratic Socialist
Deplorable Clinging American Trumper

Some of you define yourself on principle:

Liberty and justice for all
Seek truth. Cherish compassion
Speaking for those who can’t
Follow the data
Ideas not idealogues
“I’m an idealist without illusions,” JFK
Stop complaining and blame yourself
Be decent, help where needed
Government without compromise is tyranny
Open minded
Compassionate Decency
A community takes care of its people
Regulate business more, people less
Everything’s racist; invest in people
Freedom good, minimal government ideal
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Social democracy protects healthy markets

Some of you want more moderation:

Extreme moderate-winger
A disenfranchised moderate
Radical centrist
Flaming Moderate
Truecentrism
Cautionist
Common ground centrist
Constitutionalist, pragmatic democrat, anti-extremist (right or left)
Pragmatic moderate optimist
Libertarian, but able to compromise
Within one standard deviation of the mean

Some of you want more evidenced-based politics:

Fact-based pragmatic progressive
Progressive Technocrat
Independent-looking-for-honest-news
Science-based rational progressive democrat
Rationalist-Liberal

Some of you are dissatisfied:

Lost at sea former GOP
Scared mindless progressive
Long-term disaffected democrat
Infuriated liberal

And some you are just, well:

Confused
Mad as hell
Apa-poli-thetic
Poli-agnostic
Eat Arby’s
Waiting. For. The. End.

Wanna hear more? Kai and Andrea talk to two listeners who are trying to break free from left vs. right and do something radical — listen. 

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