4 ms·

"Far left" is a pretty polarising way to describe them. I'm from the UK, which is a country which is firmly on the right of most of Europe, and policy in the U

by Latty 8y ago

"Far left" is a pretty polarising way to describe them. I'm from the UK, which is a country which is firmly on the right of most of Europe, and policy in the US is extremely far right of here. The reporting I've seen from the New York Times is barely left, let alone "far left". The right seems to have moved so far out to the far right, and yet people act like the centre-point of the Repbulicans and Democrats is still somehow the neutral position.

oriol18 8y ago
"UK is on the right of most of Europe". That's a wrong premise in my opinion. While economic policy is definitely more liberal than the average, social left is pervasive in both main political parties, and there's a solid consensus around open borders, gender equality and other forms of egalitarianism.
- Latty 8y ago
  Uh... you really haven't been paying attention if you think there is a "solid consensus" on open borders in the UK. We have never had "open borders", and Brexit is going to mean reduced immigration. Economic policy is a part of people's lives - public spending is a big issue (e.g: healthcare spending), and we are very far from left in that regard. We aren't terrible for social policy, no, but we aren't leading the pack either.
  - oriol18 8y ago
    You commies never have enough. Until your country turns Venezuela and then walk away from your responsibility
    - sctb 8y ago
      If you keep breaking the guidelines like this, we'll ban the account. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
naturalgradient 8y ago
I did not call the NYT a far left magazine. I said their reporting on EUROPEAN politics ("politics here") copies points from the far left (e.g. all mass migration is unquestionably good, parties against it must be right wing populists if not racists, etc). I think their reporting on campus politics, identity politics is also far left, but other than that their stance on Iraq war etc is more Hillary-left than traditional 'left'. It's pointless semantics though, outrage mode is already engaged in this thread and it will probably soon turn into a dumpster fire. Someone cannot just be wrong or inaccurate, they must be the enemy ('right rant'), and culture wars demand I first clarify I am on 'the right side of the issues' before saying anything. The more objective people think they are, the blinder towards their own bias. Of course I am biased too, but what people engage with in my post is the 'far left' comment on European politics instead of the actual point. My point was that the NYT engages in culture war because it sells. I can agree with many issues on the NYT but still observe that and be annoyed by it, but that does not matter in tribalistic discourse.
- unstableph 8y ago
  They are not far left, they are globalist. This is: far left when it comes to social issues in the US (feminism, uncontrolled immigration, etc) but also nuke all the Muslim countries and drag the US into an endless war.
  - naturalgradient 8y ago
    This makes sense to me as a characterization, thank you, although I don't understand why people get so upset about these distinctions as if I had personally offended them. Where I am from dragging the US into wars is naturally seen critically across parties, so far left is just about the issues you mentioned.
    - unstableph 8y ago
      Problem is that you've used "far left" when they push policies that are far from far left: hard capitalism and growing economic inequality, the endless wars I mentioned, etc. So if they see you say NYT is far left, they'll blow up your argument by bringing up those. So remember, they are globalists. Their objective is to undermine the Western society; you just have to connect the dots.

by Latty 8y ago

oriol18 8y ago

"UK is on the right of most of Europe". That's a wrong premise in my opinion. While economic policy is definitely more liberal than the average, social left is pervasive in both main political parties, and there's a solid consensus around open borders, gender equality and other forms of egalitarianism.

Latty 8y ago
Uh... you really haven't been paying attention if you think there is a "solid consensus" on open borders in the UK. We have never had "open borders", and Brexit is going to mean reduced immigration. Economic policy is a part of people's lives - public spending is a big issue (e.g: healthcare spending), and we are very far from left in that regard. We aren't terrible for social policy, no, but we aren't leading the pack either.
- oriol18 8y ago
  You commies never have enough. Until your country turns Venezuela and then walk away from your responsibility
  - sctb 8y ago
    If you keep breaking the guidelines like this, we'll ban the account. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

naturalgradient 8y ago

I did not call the NYT a far left magazine. I said their reporting on EUROPEAN politics ("politics here") copies points from the far left (e.g. all mass migration is unquestionably good, parties against it must be right wing populists if not racists, etc). I think their reporting on campus politics, identity politics is also far left, but other than that their stance on Iraq war etc is more Hillary-left than traditional 'left'. It's pointless semantics though, outrage mode is already engaged in this thread and it will probably soon turn into a dumpster fire. Someone cannot just be wrong or inaccurate, they must be the enemy ('right rant'), and culture wars demand I first clarify I am on 'the right side of the issues' before saying anything. The more objective people think they are, the blinder towards their own bias. Of course I am biased too, but what people engage with in my post is the 'far left' comment on European politics instead of the actual point. My point was that the NYT engages in culture war because it sells. I can agree with many issues on the NYT but still observe that and be annoyed by it, but that does not matter in tribalistic discourse.

unstableph 8y ago
They are not far left, they are globalist. This is: far left when it comes to social issues in the US (feminism, uncontrolled immigration, etc) but also nuke all the Muslim countries and drag the US into an endless war.
- naturalgradient 8y ago
  This makes sense to me as a characterization, thank you, although I don't understand why people get so upset about these distinctions as if I had personally offended them. Where I am from dragging the US into wars is naturally seen critically across parties, so far left is just about the issues you mentioned.
  - unstableph 8y ago
    Problem is that you've used "far left" when they push policies that are far from far left: hard capitalism and growing economic inequality, the endless wars I mentioned, etc. So if they see you say NYT is far left, they'll blow up your argument by bringing up those. So remember, they are globalists. Their objective is to undermine the Western society; you just have to connect the dots.