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The "extreme" left in the US system maps (policy-wise) almost exactly to center-right in most other western democracies. Talking about viable politicians not tw
by redisman 7y ago
The "extreme" left in the US system maps (policy-wise) almost exactly to center-right in most other western democracies. Talking about viable politicians not twitter creatures by the way.
- morelisp 7y agoThis was true 10 years ago, but the US finally has a few genuinely left politicians (firmly center-left outside the US), and many European democracies drifted to the right (liberals to differentiate from 15 years of neoliberal center-left parties, center-right to head off the far right).
- philwelch 7y agoEr, how's that? To name some examples, many other western democracies compared to the US have the following set of policies, which would make for a far-right policy platform in the US: * More restrictions on abortion * Lower corporate taxes * No birthright citizenship for children of foreigners * School vouchers * Mandatory military service * Laws outlawing face coverings * Less business regulation than the US The American conservative think tank Heritage Foundation publishes an Index of Economic Freedom, which compares economic policies by country. The United States is ranked 12th, and is thus considered less economically conservative by economic conservatives than New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, the UK, Canada, and Iceland. Within one point of the United States there are also the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, and Luxembourg. (https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking/ https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking/)