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The traditional left parties, in much of the English speaking world, have shuffled so far right (the "Third Way" types like the Lange, Blair, the Clintons, and
by rodgerd 10y ago
The traditional left parties, in much of the English speaking world, have shuffled so far right (the "Third Way" types like the Lange, Blair, the Clintons, and so on) that there's slim pickings for have-nots to vote for. In the UK half of the Labour party and progressive institutions (like the Graun) spend more time attacking Corbyn for being, well, a Labour leader than they ever do going after the Tories. Clinton says that everything is sweet and the system can't (and shouldn't) be changed.
The institutions that used to provide alternatives political voices have been co-opted. So who are they going to vote for?
- eru 10y agoIn proportional systems, you have parties popping up on the fringe, as older parties vacate them. See Die Linke (The Left party) in Germany taking over territory perhaps once held by the SPD (Socialdemocratic party).
- rodgerd 10y agoPretty much - we have the same thing in New Zealand, but one of the dynamics we see here (I don't know if you get the same in Germany) is a huge hostility from the old left parties to the new left parties - there's an arrogant assumption that those voters "belong" to the old left, and a lot of derision directed at them (I guess a not dissimilar dynamic to the Clinton/Sanders split).
- eru 10y agoIt's a bit more complicated in Germany, because Die Linke is in some sense a continuation of the former East German ruling party. So the accusations are not so much that `these voters belong to us'. But: no self-respecting party should form a coalition with these dictators ever. That taboo has been broken on the state level in East German a long time ago. But it still holds some power on the federal level, and in West German states.