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Yeah it really goes to show how much the country has moved to the right. Biden is described as "radical left" but in most other developed countries he'd be cons

Yeah it really goes to show how much the country has moved to the right. Biden is described as "radical left" but in most other developed countries he'd be considered center-right, or center at the minimum.

BitwiseFool 6y ago
I've always disliked this line of thinking. Why does it matter that a politician would be placed somewhere else on the left/right continuum in a foreign country?
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  Because the continuum reliably correlates with policy positions on key basics like infrastructure investment, education, and access to health care, and taxation, as well as being linked with support for violence and authoritarianism.
  - ceilingcorner 6y ago
    No, it really doesn’t at all. Many “right wing” parties in Europe have social policies that Americans would consider far left socialist. Different countries have different political situations and there is no such thing as a universal political left-right continuum.
airza 6y ago
The country is still pretty left, but structural disenfranchisement went full throttle starting in about 2010.
ceilingcorner 6y ago
No, in some European countries he would be considered right or center. In much of the developed world, he’d be considered centrist or left. Europe != the ethical measuring stick for the rest of the world.
chapium 6y ago
Calling Biden far left is just more ad hominem attacks, much like calling any politician one does not like a communist or hitler.
vonmoltke 6y ago
> Biden is described as "radical left" Only by far-right nutcases. > in most other developed countries he'd be considered center-right, or center at the minimum I read this frequently here, but when I look at parties considered center-right I don't see much alignment with even the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. For instance, I do not think Angela Merkel and Joe Biden are roughly equivalent in positions; I think Merkel is measurably to the right.
julienb_sea 6y ago
Biden is described as center-left - the "radical" left is claimed to be a wing of the democratic party, which is objectively true, the question is more about what level of influence that wing has on the policy direction of the party as a whole

BitwiseFool 6y ago

I've always disliked this line of thinking. Why does it matter that a politician would be placed somewhere else on the left/right continuum in a foreign country?

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Because the continuum reliably correlates with policy positions on key basics like infrastructure investment, education, and access to health care, and taxation, as well as being linked with support for violence and authoritarianism.
- ceilingcorner 6y ago
  No, it really doesn’t at all. Many “right wing” parties in Europe have social policies that Americans would consider far left socialist. Different countries have different political situations and there is no such thing as a universal political left-right continuum.

airza 6y ago

The country is still pretty left, but structural disenfranchisement went full throttle starting in about 2010.

ceilingcorner 6y ago

No, in some European countries he would be considered right or center. In much of the developed world, he’d be considered centrist or left. Europe != the ethical measuring stick for the rest of the world.

chapium 6y ago

Calling Biden far left is just more ad hominem attacks, much like calling any politician one does not like a communist or hitler.

vonmoltke 6y ago

> Biden is described as "radical left" Only by far-right nutcases. > in most other developed countries he'd be considered center-right, or center at the minimum I read this frequently here, but when I look at parties considered center-right I don't see much alignment with even the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. For instance, I do not think Angela Merkel and Joe Biden are roughly equivalent in positions; I think Merkel is measurably to the right.

julienb_sea 6y ago

Biden is described as center-left - the "radical" left is claimed to be a wing of the democratic party, which is objectively true, the question is more about what level of influence that wing has on the policy direction of the party as a whole