Because what the US considers left (universal health care, helping the poor, school lunches and affordable education) is considered middle of the road normal stuff in Europe and other developed countries.
Even the historical, biggest right wing party in Denmark would not remove any of the things you mentioned, except school lunches.
A lot of people have left-leaning economic views ( tax the rich ) but there’s basically no political or media representation of those views. ( because the rich run the media and government )
This is the correct answer.
There is social liberalism to satisfy mainstream liberalism but there is little to no representation on behalf of fiscal liberalism.
Because there is no party available to elect, who care for the workers/people.
You have a system that is designed to take money from the poor and lower class and give it to the rich. You don’t have proper workers rights, spend about twice the amount for healthcare compared to an European person and get substantially less out of it. People work more than 40h/week in more than one job and can’t make ends meet… There are vast rural parts that look more like a third world country. Everything is made for commerce and nobody cares for LGBT people or women unless there’s some money or publicity in it.
And you have about 2 parties who both participate and stand for that scheme.
I agree. In my opinion there are two huge dominating factors.
First is the almost ubiquitous winner-takes-all election structure in the US, leading to the two party system. There is, bar none, no fair competition in US government at a level high enough to matter.
Second, the lack of term limits allows certain people in certain positions to perpetuate momentum. In part this happens by hand picking successors through brute-force out funding the competition (in part due to the economic disparity that others in this thread have mentioned).
Sure. Also silly tactics like Gerrymandering need to stop.
I’m not sure if these are the most pressing topics.
I think for one lobbyism needs to go for good. It’s deeply undemocratic to give people money and then they’ll pass your laws. And not the ones that’d benefit the people who elected them.
Maybe the members of the senate should be exchanged. Seems to me they’re playing kindergarten games all day, blocking everything instead of doing their job.
And media is a big part if a democracy. And the media situation in the US seems beyond bad. People need actual information to make good decisions who to elect. Not a show filled with emotion where two old men compete against each orher like in a staged wrestling match.
And you need more parties. And they need to get like 10-15% of the votes. For example a party addressing the young people who complain that they never can afford to buy a house like their parents were still able to buy. A party catering to the people who don’t live in the big cities. The farmers and rural people with different needs. A party who stands for the lower class people, the workers. Maybe something green, repairing the power grid in Texas and adding some more solar in the sunny south to the oil.
Google the term Overton window
Because liberals are just center of right. If you go too far left things become better for workers and not the ruling shit heads.
deleted by creator
what happens when you go far left??
my last interaction with them convinced me they aren’t any different from the alt right.
Allow me to enlighten you by illustrating how both sides are absolutely not the same
Some highlights:
There is a stark difference in the means with which the two groups engage in acts of extremism. In a study evaluating Left-Wing and Right-Wing domestic extremism between 1994 and 2020, there was one fatality as the result of Left-Wing extremism, versus 329 fatalities resulting from Far Right extremism in that 25 year period. [5]
The Far-Right movement is the oldest and most deadly form of domestic terrorism in the United States, and The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism found that the Far-Right is responsible for 98% of extremist murders in the U.S. [24] Furthermore, for nearly every year since 2011, Far-Right terrorist attacks/plots have accounted for over half of all terror attacks/plots in the United States. [21]
In the U.S., Right-Wing extremism was responsible for two-thirds of all failed, foiled, or successful terror attacks in 2019, and was responsible for 90% of attacks in the first half of 2020 alone. [21] Since 2013, Far-Right extremism has been responsible for more terror attacks/plots than the Left-Wing, ethnonationalism, or religiously motivated attacks/plots. [21]
These are excerpts from a blog post of mine, but I have ads turned off and do not benefit in any way from it.
so,same shit different pile??
Did you read any of that?
I did,it compared right wing extermism to left wing extremism. one had more death than the other but extremism nonetheless…hence same shit different pile.
or are you suggesting being a left wing extremist is the better option than say being in the middle ground…because death??
One death from left wing extremism in 25 years, versus 329 from the right, 32900% more. To say that this is the “same shit” is clearly absurd. We aren’t discussing the merits of the middle ground. You seem to be suggesting that just because something is labelled as “extremist” it is automatically bad, regardless of what it actually is or what harm it causes.
one extreme isn’t exactly better than the other. they are extremes and should be regarded as such.
left extremism does not represent good neither does it represent evil,same goes for right wing extremism.
what i find interesting is people seem to think left wing extremism is the ONLY way to go,ignoring the fact that left wing extremism also practice discrimination, ostracism,bigotry and racism,not that much different from right wing extremism.
Extremism is not good or bad, just like being in the middle is not good or bad either. What matters is what’s correct.
For example, between being pro-fascism and anti-fascism, anti-fascism is both extreme and correct.
sure,if that’s what you think is correct.
i am sure when you preach that being gay is God’s intention,i am sure Christians and Muslim will agree that correct.
don’t forget to label me a homophobe if that’s what it is now.
No. Completely different and entirely incompatible.
When you go far left, you have ideologies like Socialism, Communism, and Anarchism, all ideologies that oppose unjust hierarchy and advocate for the good of all.
The far-right is completely different from the far-left, because the far-right has ideologies like fascism and feudalism. This is an inherently violent, reactionary position found to uphold the status quo, ie the division of power, via absolute measures.
These are not the same.
This simply means you’re either a liberal or a fascist.
Other people have already posted good answers so I just want to add a couple things.
If you want a very simple, concrete example: Healthcare. It depends on how you count, but more than half the world’s countries have some sort of free or low cost public healthcare, whereas in the US, the richest country in the history of countries, that’s presented as radical left wing kooky unrealistic communist Bernie idea. This isn’t an example of a left-wing policy that we won’t adopt, but of what in much of the world is a normal public service that we can’t adopt because anti-socialism in this country is so malignant and metastasized that it can be weaponized against things that are just considered normal public services almost like roads in other countries.
A true left wing would support not just things like healthcare, but advocate for an economic system in which workers have control over their jobs, not the bosses. That is completely absent.
Also, this meme:
It’s glib, but it’s not wrong. Both parties routinely support American militarism abroad. Antimilitarism in favor of internationalism has been a corner stone for the left since the left began.
in my world, that’s called same shit different pile.
also,while i am no right wing supporter, i constantly run into leftist who wouldn’t hesitate to brand me a phobe of their convenience ,none of the right leaning people i interacted with does this… anecdotal i know.
Yeah, but no one lives in your world but you. In the real world, you’re so hilariously off the mark.
i constantly run into leftist who wouldn’t hesitate to brand me a phobe of their convenience ,none of the right leaning people i interacted with does this… anecdotal i know.
Maybe the leftist has a point because you actually align with the right? Crazy, I know, but I’ve seen this argument play out irl more than once with some rightoids that loved to pretend their politics weren’t right aligned.
Removed by mod
Removed by mod
hey, whatever floats your boat.
sometimes it’s ok to disagree on things and be on our merry ways.
have a good day 😊
Removed by mod
hey,if you felt triggered because i chose not to use euphemisms,i am sorry you felt that way.
george carlin was quite spot on in his observations regarding the use of language in america.
have a good day 😊
“I constantly complain about anyone left of Thatcher and have reactionary social views, the people who agree with me don’t criticise me. Curious!”
that’s a strange observation,given i actually criticise both left and right rather than just the left.
Uh huh, of course.
So it’s pronouns right? that’s what’s got you worked up?
Removed by mod
You just confirmed its pronouns.
i just confirmed i don’t care about pronouns unless you want to make it so.
Because all the true is gone.
There’s no leftist party, nothing Socialist in the least. The furthest “left” you go is the DNC, which is liberal, and therefore right wing. The furthest right you go is the GOP, which is fascist.
Compared to the rest of the first world countries, our farthest left candidates are relatively moderate.
If the party I vote for in Germany would be one in the US they probably would be banned for being communists or something like that while here they’re a widely accepted part of the goverment.
Which party is that?
Lol, and it’s not even our leftest party :D
Good choice thoughIt doesn’t feel like a good choice, just the least bad one
Doesn’t sound that different from the US’s Green Party, honestly.
A few years ago I would have agreed with this statement. But lately, I’ve seen a change described in several press articles and news pieces. The younger generations in the US demand true social justice and aren’t afraid to say they’re socialists, against capitalism or consumerism. It’s a burgeoning revolution of course, since the establishment is still in control of traditional political parties. But this crack in the old broken system could bring about positive change in the long run. At least I hope so.
Politics is about power structures. Both of America’s parties support the same structure, capitalism.
Keep it polite people. 🙂
It’s simple really : the US left is liberal, thus it is not truly the left.
deleted by creator