Political Compass Map 2.0

A while ago, people like Wayne Brittenden, Hans Eysenck, Theodor Adorno worked hard to come up with a political compass map that would explain the complexities of political ideologies. Below is a modern version that will hopefully make understanding political ideology easier. I invite people to find "just being a good person," on this map, you won't because being a good person is subject and every quadrant, every ideology believes they are such.

• Axes: Horizontal (Economic): Left: Anti-capitalist ideologies. Right: Capitalist ideologies. Vertical (Social/Intervention): Upper: Authoritarian ideologies (high government intervention, subservience). Lower: Anti-authoritarian/libertarian ideologies (individual autonomy, minimal intervention).

• Quadrants: Note: Ideologies within the four quadrants share characteristics, but vary in their specific implementations. Not all will adhere to every tenet of the corner extreme.

• Authoritarian Left (Upper Left): Anti-capitalist economics + authoritarian social control. Advocating for socialist or communist systems, with strict social control and authoritarian governance. This ideology prioritizes state power and collective ownership over individual freedoms and autonomy. Thinkers and regimes associated with this quadrant often emphasize the need for a strong central authority to guide societal transformation and achieve economic equality, sometimes at the expense of personal liberties and dissenting voices.

• Corner Extreme (Hive-Mind Collectivism/Communism): Centralized control, planned economies, suppression of individual liberties. Dictatorship of the proletariat/vanguard party (though not universally held).

• Goal: Equality and maximum efficiency through a unified collective. Abolition of private property and wealth accumulation. Heavy regulation of divisive factors (individualism, culture). Absolute prioritization of humanity and the planet. Eventual stateless communist society. Acceptance of advanced technology, if it does not violate core principles.

• Walls: Left: Altruistic (selfless concern for others). Upper: Parental (paternalistic/controlling authority).

• Authoritarian Right (Upper Right): Capitalist economics + authoritarian social control. Advocating for laissez-faire markets and corporate power, with strict social control and authoritarian governance. This ideology prioritizes order, tradition, and national security over individual freedoms and autonomy. Thinkers and regimes associated with this quadrant often emphasize the need for a strong central authority to maintain social order, suppress dissent, and protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful.

• Corner Extreme (Kratocracy/Fascism/Imperialism): Extreme authoritarianism, nationalism, and often, racial or ethnic supremacy. Strong, centralized state, militarism, suppression of dissent. Rule by the strong, maintained by force and cunning. Subjugation of the weak. Strength as the ultimate currency. Brutal, hierarchical social order. Glorification of violence and coercion. Rejection of equality, democracy, and fairness.

• Walls: Right: Megalomaniac (delusions of grandeur, need for control). Upper: Despotic (absolute and oppressive rule).

• Libertarian Left (Lower Left): Anti-capitalist economics + anti-authoritarian social organization. Advocating for socialist, anarchist, or cooperative systems, with anti-authoritarian social organization and a strong emphasis on individual freedoms. This ideology seeks to empower individuals and communities, rather than the state or corporations, and promotes voluntary cooperation, mutual aid, and decentralized decision-making. Thinkers and movements associated with this quadrant, such as anarchism or libertarian socialism, aim to create a more egalitarian and free society that benefits from quid pro quo.

• Corner Extreme (Soulism/Anarcho-Communism/Libertarian Socialism): Decentralized, stateless organization based on voluntary association and direct democracy. Abolition of hierarchy. Extreme individual autonomy within a communal context. Rejection of all forms of oppression. Ideas of transcending current human limitations. Emphasis on direct democracy, and community based systems.

• Walls: Left: Volunteerism (voluntary cooperation). Bottom: Egoistic (individual self-interest and autonomy).

• Libertarian Right (Lower Right): Capitalist economics + anti-authoritarian social organization. Advocating for laissez-faire markets and no government intervention, with anti-authoritarian social organization and a strong emphasis on individual rights and freedoms. This ideology prioritizes personal autonomy, voluntary exchange, and individual responsibility, while minimizing the role of the state. Thinkers and movements associated with this quadrant, such as libertarianism or anarcho-capitalism, aim to maximize individual liberty and prosperity through free markets and no government interference.

• Corner Extreme (Avaritionism/Anarcho-Capitalism): Extreme individual liberty, private property rights, and abolition of the state. Unregulated free markets and voluntary exchange. "Survival of the strongest" mentality.

• Walls: Right: Sociopathic (disregard for social norms, lack of empathy). Bottom: Psychopathic (extreme lack of empathy and remorse).

• Dynamic Influence: Individuals are not fixed points. Ideologies are fixed to their quadrants. Proximity to quadrant borders = influence from adjacent quadrants. Proximity to center = influence from all quadrants. There is no absolute center, everyone falls in a quadrant. 

• Implications:

• Reformism as Right-Wing: All reformist ideologies and capitalist establishment parties/governments are classified as right-wing because they choose to reform instead of abolishing the capitalist and Social-Darwinistic ideologies. 

• Economic Purity: The anti-capitalist side is purely anti-capitalist, with no mixed economies, Capitalism, even in mixed form is a right-wing ideology.

• Intervention Distinction: Government intervention is distinct from communal intervention. Both bottom and upper quadrants can have communal intervention, but only the upper quadrants support government intervention. 

• People vs. Individual: The Authoritarian left is the quadrant that prioritizes the collective over the individual. The other three quadrants prioritize the individual over the community in some way shape or form. Whether if it's through volunteerism, megalomania, or psychopathic egoism, all three place individualism above all.