I’m mildly obsessed with innovative/uniquely descriptive political categorization/spectra, and I found the original political triangle an interesting concept, more descriptively powerful than any other spectrum I’d encountered, but still quite clear and simple compared to the 3 dimensional or parabolic spectra you seem from time to time.
It really conveys the tri-polar nature of politics between (broadly speaking) libertarians, conservatives, and liberals. This tri-polar view is perhaps most famously championed by Johnathan Haidt and reasonably well outlined and explained by this “test” (the most sensible political orientation questionnaire I’ve come across).
The triangle also effectively conveys NRx ideas like the Left Singularity and the Trichotomy (the latter to a more limited degree I might expound on). It also illustrates the sharp divide on the Right between (broadly) futurists and traditionalists. Despite all these features, I found a lot of the details on the original triangle lacking, so I decided to try my measly graphic design skills at making some modifications/clarifications to the concept:
The biggest change I made was eliminating more or less all of the political leaders and parties in favor of political philosophies and philosophers. I think political parties and leaders fit into ideological categories on a spectrum far more poorly than political philosophy/philosophers as parties and leaders are very much driven by circumstance and frequently adapt ideologically as is necessary to remain in power (just compare pre-Revolution Stalin to the Stalin of WWII).
Secondly, I provided some clarification/alternatives to political dispositions/categories that seemed to better, or at least more broadly, describe their political neighborhoods, left out some categories that were redundant or overly-specific, and I shifted some ideologies around dimensionally.
Next, I provided some mapping and positioning for a few specific contemporary individuals/organizations/movements on the Outer Right rather than worrying about the more conventional philosophical schools near the triangle’s center. The latter can be easily added at another time.
Finally, I added symbols to most of the philosophical categories/individuals/orgs to make them stand out, to make the overall diagram look a bit more interesting, but mostly for my own amusement. Obviously, a lot more refinement and detail can be put into this diagram, but I think the triangular illustration is a great starting point and visual guide to many of the ongoing debates among and beyond the Outer Right.
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