In Europe, believing in universal healthcare and a wide social safety net is pretty much their political center. Even the right in Europe isn't really against those things.
You should already know all the answers to these "questions" you pose as you are a self identified leftist. Right? Someone else used to pose these same exact questions and used to be a liberal, leftist too. Odd how history keeps repeating itself here... It's the IncorruptibALT syndrome. No known cure except growing up...
So what does the left push for then? I understand they are further left than our left, at least that's what I hear. I'd like to understand more about just what they stand for.
The progressive wing of the dem party is pretty similar in most respects to the European left. But the dems still have a sizeable moderate wing. Those dems tend to be liberal on social issues but pretty "centrist" on fiscal and economic issues, meaning they are way far to the right of the European left.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-European-left-and-the-American-left-Being-an-American-I’m-not-quite-sure-how-you-go-farther-left-Which-policies-push-Europeans-farther-left
The progressive wing of the dem party is pretty similar in most respects to the European left. But the dems still have a sizeable moderate wing. Those dems tend to be liberal on social issues but pretty "centrist" on fiscal and economic issues, meaning they are way far to the right of the European left.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-European-left-and-the-American-left-Being-an-American-I’m-not-quite-sure-how-you-go-farther-left-Which-policies-push-Europeans-farther-left
I lean left in many ways in American politics. I don't know where I stand in regards to the Czech Republic or Australia, and I don't care. I'm asking because I was hoping some of our non-American members would chime in and explain how they see the left (or left vs. right) in their country. If you have nothing to contribute, which you regularly never do, please stay out of this thread.
Broadly speaking, a European leftist would take a look at your posts here and consider you a dangerously deluded, gun-slobbering, right-wing nut job . . . and a world class liar about who you are politically, to boot. This very thread would be exhibit A in your transparently weasel-infused body of bullshit.
Now go ahead, clutch your pearls and act offended. Because, of course, you're the true victim here, right?
I'm just not going to roll over and play the part of the useful tool in your BS game of "Gosh, guys, could you look up stuff on the internet for me? I simply don't know how and have absolutely no ulterior motive here, despite everything in my posting persona screaming otherwise!"
I appreciate the OP for maybe trying to correct his ignorance. I guess we'll see.
Broadly speaking, a European leftist would take a look at your posts here and consider you a dangerously deluded, gun-slobbering, right-wing nut job . . . and a world class liar about who you are politically, to boot. This very thread would be exhibit A in your transparently weasel-infused body of bullshit.
Now go ahead, clutch your pearls and act offended. Because, of course, you're the true victim here, right?
I'm just not going to roll over and play the part of the useful tool in your BS game of "Gosh, guys, could you look up stuff on the internet for me? I simply don't know how and have absolutely no ulterior motive here, despite everything in my posting persona screaming otherwise!"
Hands SS the pearls he dropped from his clutches. Notes that they're not even real.This is one of the most pathetic posts on this forum.
This is one of the most pathetic posts on this forum.
No, getting banned here repeatedly and creating sock puppet accounts from proxies that you hold onto for years so they can do your future bidding???
THAT'S pathetic...
Yeah, no this is more just these clowns attempting to come up with other shit to talk about than the mass of Turmp and Republican corruptions. Since they routinely get thrashed in threads about that garbage (and those threads are becoming increasingly prolific because of how much of Turmp and Republicans' corruption is being shown), they're now resorting to try and rewrite what "defines" liberals so they can try and paint their party in broad strokes like the GOP has decided that corruption and refusal to accept even basic facts has become a cornerstone of their platform. They've been trying to push this claim that Democrats and/or liberals in the US are actually pushing every bit as extremist (or more so even) as Republicans are. With this I think they're trying to claim that liberals are actually authoritarian and so if Democrats keep pushing that way that we'll get the same (or worse) here. Like they keep trying to claim that colleges are blocking free speech, even though that's often not true at all, and even in the worst cases is far more complex than what they claim.
They're doing the usual bullshit. Trying to redefine words on their terms (look at how many morons tried to say that SJW was a negative term, although that basically only started in the past 10 years and part of a deliberate smear campaign by radical conservatives, which they conveniently ignore and try to act like that's just the accepted meaning when that's only true for the conservatives using it as such; they're now trying to do the exact same thing with liberal/leftist). They're also looking for shared complaints (since even quite a few liberals have been railing against safe spaces and PC stuff, mostly out of the same ignorance that the conservatives have been basing it on) to try and win people over to their way of thinking (again, a common tactic). Not even joking, its like they're reading a script for what white supremacists (ISIS was using the same tactics too...) do to recruit people.
Broadly speaking, a European leftist would take a look at your posts here and consider you a dangerously deluded, gun-slobbering, right-wing nut job . . . and a world class liar about who you are politically, to boot. This very thread would be exhibit A in your transparently weasel-infused body of bullshit.
Now go ahead, clutch your pearls and act offended. Because, of course, you're the true victim here, right?
I'm just not going to roll over and play the part of the useful tool in your BS game of "Gosh, guys, could you look up stuff on the internet for me? I simply don't know how and have absolutely no ulterior motive here, despite everything in my posting persona screaming otherwise!"
The European left are nowhere near as left as they used to be, prior to,say, the 90s. It's converged somewhat with the US.
And it varies depending on which part of Europe. The UK is actually a bit more like the US than Germany, in that the Anglophone countries have a history of oppositional politics and class conflict, whereas Germany had repeatedly adopted a more corporatist, co-operative mentality. Even before WW1 the German left was the most reformist and accommodating in Europe. Bismark, after all, introduced the welfare state, very early on, from the right, in order to avert the growth of the far left.
Which actually makes the UK left more prone to radical positions than the German left, but also makes the UK right more neo-liberal than the Germans.
Frankly, the German model seems to have worked better, but Germany seems to be changing as well, with things like the creation of 'mini-jobs' and the complete absence of growth in German workers' incomes, it might be very slowly moving in a more Anglo direction.
Then there are the Scandanavian countries which have a different approach again. I don't know much about them, but they have a very specific kind of 'model' for the economy, but I do wonder how sustainable it is.
Oh, and Eastern Europe appears to be sliding towards the far right, and not the libertarian/neo liberal kind.
From a European perspective I struggle to see someone like Hillary Clinton as being of 'the left'. She'd be a Lib Dem here, probably even to the right of Blair.
The most glaring thing though, to me, is that compared to Western Europe if not necessarily the East, the US has an astonishingly strong strand of social-conservatism. I suppose that's what allows people like Chlinton to appear as 'left', because on social issues the right is so far out there that taking what would be a mainstream stance on social issues in much of Europe attracts the kind of hostility and rage that you'd have to embrace full-on Bolshevism to stir up in Europe.
The progressive wing of the dem party is pretty similar in most respects to the European left. But the dems still have a sizeable moderate wing. Those dems tend to be liberal on social issues but pretty "centrist" on fiscal and economic issues, meaning they are way far to the right of the European left.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-European-left-and-the-American-left-Being-an-American-I’m-not-quite-sure-how-you-go-farther-left-Which-policies-push-Europeans-farther-left