Left -vs- Right

[Bengalzona]

(07-05-2015, 12:33 PM)hollodero Wrote: The democrats are not "left". You have a right party and a center party. That's it. Believe me, I'm European.
"Communism" and "Democrats" on one side, that just looks absurd.

-- OK, Bernie Sanders might be a bit left.

This is true. This country has no experience with the far Left, and probably never will (thankfully). It is perhaps the most anti-communist nation in the world, having fought a cold war and two 'hot wars' to "prevent the spread of communism" and having had a good old fashioned 'witch hunt' to root out communists. But communism has never been a threat to win power here in the U.S. It has just been a convenient 'boogie man' to scare the population. In fact, the code word "communism" has been bantered about in threats and propaganda for political hash so much here that most of the people in this country cannot tell you the difference between Communism and Socialism. They believe it is the same thing, because that is what they have been told.

To be fair, this country also does not have experience with the opposite extreme of the political spectrum on the Right: fascism. While small groups have cropped over the decades, they have also never been a threat to win power. Some fear the rise of right-wing religious politicians might lead to the Christian version of Islamo-fascism. But we have generally avoided that trap in the past.

Our politics have tended to be centrist over the years with one party slightly left and another slightly right, but neither party going too far to the extreme. If one side over-steps its bounds, the other party immediately screams "communists" or fascists" (even though we don't really know what that would look like). In this regard, we have a communication problem with our European friends, many of whom have actually seen both extremes rise to some degree of power in their countries during the past century.

Bernie Sanders favors socialism to a degree. In many American minds, that makes him a communist and, therefore, unelectable. You are probably laughing at that (as am I). But it is the 'truth' here in American politics. I like Bernie and also feel our country could use a slight touch of socialism. But, then again, our bi-polar centerism may not be such a bad thing. Politics here, despite the rhetoric, are not as life-and-death as they are in some other countries. In fact, we generally tend to take them with as much seriousness as a football game.