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Well, since we're talking about US politics doesn't it make sense that "very-left" is relative to the current political climate in the US? To bring it back to t

Well, since we're talking about US politics doesn't it make sense that "very-left" is relative to the current political climate in the US? To bring it back to the pendulum analogy, if I asked you which way a particular pendulum was swinging would you need information about the current state of other pendulums to answer? I can't tell if you're genuinely unable to comprehend the meaning of the comment you're replying to or just taking a shot.

EliRivers 8y ago
I did say "Serious question", didn't I? When people from outside the US hear US citizens talking about left-wing politics, we have learned that we need to double-check, because to many US citizens the US democratic party is left-wing, for example. To many people from the rest of the world, the US democratic party is right-wing. We have learned that when people from the US say "left", it's not the same as what we mean. So when the original comment suggests that the pendumlum will swing "very-left", there's a real chance that to people from outside the US, that actually means "a bit more towards the centre but actually still on the right". To bring it back to the pendulum analogy, if I asked you which way a particular pendulum was swinging would you need information about the current state of other pendulums to answer? I would not, but this isn't about the direction of the swing. The original comment was about where the pendulum was going to end up. Apparently, the "very-left". To those of us outside the US, who have learned that what the (majority of the) US considers "left" is what we consider "still on the right", that warrants double-checking. Well, since we're talking about US politics doesn't it make sense that "very-left" is relative to the current political climate in the US? I do not expect to see nationlisation of industry and the effective abolition of private property in the US. That's "very-left", but it's almost certainly not what the commenter meant. So I double-checked. As conanbatt pointed out, there is however an actual genuine left movement in the US these days, which didn't really exist a decade ago, so - again - it seems sensible to double-check. Politics is heavily contextual and heavily individual, and to make the kind of assumptions you advocate would, I believe, simply lead to misunderstandings.
- mbrameld 8y ago
  > I would not, but this isn't about the direction of the swing. The original comment was about where the pendulum was going to end up. Apparently, the "very-left". To those of us outside the US, who have learned that what the (majority of the) US considers "left" is what we consider "still on the right", that warrants double-checking. Didn't the OP explicitly mention the swing? As in, "When the pendulum swings very-left (as it will, American politics follow a tick-tock partisan pattern)". What about that suggests a stopping point? If the question was about where the pendulum would stop (they stop in the middle, btw), there would be no mention of a tick-tock pattern. A stopped pendulum doesn't follow a tick-tock pattern, it just stays in one place. The interesting thing about pendulums isn't where they stop. It's that they continue to swing back and forth. I'll ditch the pendulum analogy and just ask directly: Why are the political leanings of other countries relevant to determining what is "very-left" relative to the current political climate in the US?

EliRivers 8y ago

I did say "Serious question", didn't I? When people from outside the US hear US citizens talking about left-wing politics, we have learned that we need to double-check, because to many US citizens the US democratic party is left-wing, for example. To many people from the rest of the world, the US democratic party is right-wing. We have learned that when people from the US say "left", it's not the same as what we mean. So when the original comment suggests that the pendumlum will swing "very-left", there's a real chance that to people from outside the US, that actually means "a bit more towards the centre but actually still on the right". To bring it back to the pendulum analogy, if I asked you which way a particular pendulum was swinging would you need information about the current state of other pendulums to answer? I would not, but this isn't about the direction of the swing. The original comment was about where the pendulum was going to end up. Apparently, the "very-left". To those of us outside the US, who have learned that what the (majority of the) US considers "left" is what we consider "still on the right", that warrants double-checking. Well, since we're talking about US politics doesn't it make sense that "very-left" is relative to the current political climate in the US? I do not expect to see nationlisation of industry and the effective abolition of private property in the US. That's "very-left", but it's almost certainly not what the commenter meant. So I double-checked. As conanbatt pointed out, there is however an actual genuine left movement in the US these days, which didn't really exist a decade ago, so - again - it seems sensible to double-check. Politics is heavily contextual and heavily individual, and to make the kind of assumptions you advocate would, I believe, simply lead to misunderstandings.

mbrameld 8y ago
> I would not, but this isn't about the direction of the swing. The original comment was about where the pendulum was going to end up. Apparently, the "very-left". To those of us outside the US, who have learned that what the (majority of the) US considers "left" is what we consider "still on the right", that warrants double-checking. Didn't the OP explicitly mention the swing? As in, "When the pendulum swings very-left (as it will, American politics follow a tick-tock partisan pattern)". What about that suggests a stopping point? If the question was about where the pendulum would stop (they stop in the middle, btw), there would be no mention of a tick-tock pattern. A stopped pendulum doesn't follow a tick-tock pattern, it just stays in one place. The interesting thing about pendulums isn't where they stop. It's that they continue to swing back and forth. I'll ditch the pendulum analogy and just ask directly: Why are the political leanings of other countries relevant to determining what is "very-left" relative to the current political climate in the US?