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all American political parties are part of the global left in general The Republican Party is very much not part of the "global left". By global standards, the

• anon291 2y ago
  Yes it is. Saying you shouldn't educate the lower classes or not educate girls would be met with huge resistance from most Republicans, whereas that is a common enough sentiment in many areas. People who fought for that are considered left wing. America is a fundamentally leftist nation. The social issues American political parties fight over are not applicable in most parts of the world. In most parts of the world left wing political movements (communists) hold the same social lines as the GOP. From a property perspective, America never had to deal with land redistribution because America never had a feudal system that required it. This property rights make sense in America in a way they didnt in feudal systems. For example the communist party of Kerala enacted major land reform to redistribute land, but now that the land is redistributed, ownership carries on as normal. America had the opportunity to skip the first step. Americans have no idea how good they have it
  • dibujaron 2y ago
    This is an interesting perspective, thank you for sharing. We often hear that (compared with Europe, I suppose) America's two parties are relatively far right. Interesting to see the opposite opinion.
    • jowea 2y ago
      I think people saying that are comparing them to their favourite European social democracy yes.
  • MattPalmer1086 2y ago
    I don't agree with your contention that the Republicans are part of the "global left". I do not deny that, compared to places where girls are not educated, America is far more progressive as a nation. That's the baseline parties in the US operate in; it is obviously different in other places. However, it is common to identify the left as championing progressive causes and the right as aiming to preserve existing (or to return to prior) power structures. The GOP is very definitely a right wing party, even if the baseline it operates in would be regarded as left wing in more oppressive nations.
    • anon291 2y ago
      Preserving the structures your leftist predecessors fought for is still leftist. The issue is that those who label themselves leftists today are indulging in nihilism believing the very institutions that were once far left are somehow evil aristocratic institutions. This sort of nihilism is suicidal and stupid
      • MattPalmer1086 2y ago
        By that token, there are no right wing parties anywhere in the world, except maybe in the least left country! And I guess not much for a right wing party to do there!
        • owebmaster 2y ago
          Meanwhile in most countries both democrats and republicans would be considered full right wing.
  • watwut 2y ago
    > Saying you shouldn't educate the lower classes or not educate girls would be met with huge resistance from most Republicans, It would not outrage evangelical conservatives at all. It is what they believe in, except they put it into nicer words. Women should be helpmeet for their husbands. They should homeschool and focus on family, need education only to the level necessary for that. As for Republicans, they consistently vote for policies to achieve the above. > America is a fundamentally leftist nation If you define the left in some completely novel way, maybe. > America never had to deal with land redistribution because America never had a feudal system that required it. You might want to read more about how America came to be. The land distribution was rather large issue there.
    • jowea 2y ago
      > If you define the left in some completely novel way, maybe. I don't think it is an absurd notion. The founding fathers maybe wouldn't be outright Montagnards by the original standards of left-right division in the French Revolution that would start soon after, but they would definitively be on the left. The US liberal democratic republic with no official class system and at least a theoretical commitment to individual freedom would be to the left of almost all European governments until the 20th century, if you don't discount too many points for slavery and its aftermath. My opinion, is that the fundamentally leftist ideology of liberal democracy has been so ideologically victorious it is now the centre, so people now talk anything but socialism is right-wing.
  • renewedrebecca 2y ago
    You are completely wrong. The US is not a leftist nation by any stretch of the imagination. Honestly, you're so incredibly wrong, that I can't believe you actually believe what you are saying. In fact, after being on HN since 2008, I have never encountered someone as wrong as you are.
  • clayhacks 2y ago
    > Saying you shouldn't educate the lower classes or not educate girls would be met with huge resistance from most Republicans, They are pushing for policies that would do that in effect if not in name. They are gutting public education (which the lower class uses) and trying to force women into motherhood by preventing abortions. Many women who have abortions do so because they are trying to get an education and a child would disrupt that. I don’t think you understand leftism or American politics