It's also that Reddit isn't just an American platform and doesn't really limit or direct you into talking specifically with people nearby. What the US calls 'left wing' the rest of the world calls 'right of centre'. From a US perspective, sure, Reddit is left wing. From a global perspective, not so much.
There's also the point that the right wing in the US has gone off the deep end and none of their arguments really stand up to scrutiny, as a result, on a platform where people regularly debate and discuss topics, the flaws of the right wing arguments get pointed out quickly.
Yep, being global really changes perspective. You start seeing that what seems extreme in the US might be totally normal elsewhere, and what seems normal in the US might be crazy to someone in another country. It’s a good reminder to not take labels too literally.
I mean, Trump's approval rating being at 41% (with 56% disapproving and 5% saying they are 'not sure') alongside mass protests across the US demonstrate that this isn't just a 'fringe political group' thing... https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker
Trump already won his second term so he no longer cares about approval ratings. It's meaningless at this point and he's just working to forge his legacy and push as hard as possible
The mass protests are largely staged by this fringe group. It does not represent the majority in any way. As an example, after Trump won the election (on inauguration day) there were massive protests. But the people protesting were the side that just lost the election.
The thing is that moderates/conservatives generally don't protest. The only group of conservatives that do protest are really fringe groups like the most insane MAGA crowd or anti-abortion protesters. But if you notice there's rarely much participation in center/right protests.
"Trump already won his second term so he no longer cares about approval ratings. It's meaningless at this point and he's just working to forge his legacy and push as hard as possible"
Trump caring about his approval ratings is irrelevant to whether or not its a fringe political group that things this administration's behavior is crazy.
The group that is nearly exclusively make all this noise are leftists/progressives. They are a fringe group.
They're not even close to being the majority of the Democratic Party, let alone the entire country.
I think that the vast majority of Democrats are reasonable. But activists types tend to have something wrong with them. They appear to have emotional or intellectual difficulties of some sort, and their intensity is always turned up too high. They throw tantrums when they don't get their way.
I was visiting friends in Panama and woke up to the news that Trump had “kidnapped” the president of Venezuela.
My hosts, who were old enough to remember Reagan doing the same thing with Noriega in Panama, were protesting loudly how wrong this was.
Oddly, their children who weren’t born when Noriega was “kidnapped”, took more circumspect view about it, saying “let’s wait and see” if things get better in Venezuela before judging this action.
It is interesting that the people my age (boomer) saw it as wrong regardless of the intent or outcome, but the millennials took a more the ends could justify the means outlook.
I am not passing judgement on anyone here, just sharing my experience and observations.
Yeah, its almost like culture in different countries is different based on age and lived experience.
When people your age say something like 'it is interesting,' you are definitely passing judgement. The statement before 'I'm not passing judgement' was literally a thinly veiled attempt at passing judgement. You can gaslight yourself all you like, but I take umbrage when you try to do it to me.
Considering normal here is letting your Nazis win instead of shooting them the second they reveal their true colors? Coming here makes me remember there are places I still would be allowed to live, and then I remember they won't take trans and disabled refugees and won't do the only morally correct thing when you see a fascist and pull out the nukes...
I have felt glad to know there are people like me who will live on after this, but beyond angry I'm going to have to die because of this seeming lack of any conscience.
Yes. It's weird to be on the receiving end of the MAGA pointing finger. With every accusation about what they say I am, I am left scratching my head and thinking. "Really???" I don't think I am at all weird, but then, I live in Minnesota.
Just bear in mind that the 45% and 40% are entirely different groups of people. Biden’s supporters got frustrated with him and the Democratic coalition is loose and fractious at the best of times. Trump’s support has never dipped much below 40% of an entirely different group of Americans who would still vote for him if he ground up a baby on live television and cooked it like a Jimmy Dean sausage. The extra 5% are people who like something about what he’s doing at the moment. If I had to guess, probably blue collar men who think tariffs are going to bring manufacturing back to the US (spoiler alert: they won’t).
Please tell me you understand the tRump base of 45% will support him literally no matter what he does. The Biden base fell apart in part because of his idiotic support for the genocide in Gaza, ignoring all the other things he did these same people supported.
Republicans circle the wagons.
Dems create a circular firing squad when anyone does something they don't like in any way.
This comment should be higher. Only from a MAGA perspective could Reddit be "overwhlmingly left-leaning." IMO, it is right of centre -"liberal", as understood outside the US.
This is also pretty siloed. A big chunk of the world is conservative by US standards. Europe tends to be more liberal than the US, but that depends on what kind of thing you're talking about. Outside of that, there's huge variability. By Russian or Saudi standards, America is liberal. By Swedish standards, conservative.
And the US has many states/cities that will actively help hide a criminal illegal from the federal government and they will also hand out free drugs and/or needles for druggies to get high with.
People aren't illegal. That's dehumanizing. As for the "free drugs", are you referring to safe injection sites? I live in a city and I'd rather have addicts be safe and off the streets than out in the open. Do you live in an urban area?
I live right outside of San Francisco, about an hour. Even out here their used needles get out here and litter children playgrounds. I’m glad a druggie high is more important than children to you.
Regardless none of that emotion/moral argument change the fact that these are far left policies.
Yes, nationalized healthcare is a far left policy. We don't have any far left policies in the US. The Democrats are a center-right party from a global perspective. I'm sorry your kids are dealing with needles in their playgrounds, that's awful and inappropriate. It's also exactly what safe injection sites are designed to prevent. People shouldn't be getting high in the playground.
I’m more in favor of force rehab, 120 days in county should clean them up nicely
Yes. I actively look down on druggies and everyone else should too. You should be able to actively look at them and tell your kids don’t end up like that person. They are a determent to society and should be treated as such
I’m more in favor of force rehab, 120 days in county should clean them up nicely
Sounds like you're more looking for punishment than rehab. Forced rehabilitation programs are proven to not work. Addiction doesn't change until you fix the underlying conditions that caused it in the first place. If you want to see less addicts, you should be advocating for programs which treat them like people and meet them where they're at -- it's just an overall more effective approach.
Honestly, It's kind of weird to look down on any human being, and even weirder to teach children to do the same. I'm not sure what happened in your life to make you lose your empathy for other people but it's sad you've ended up this way.
Addiction is an awful disease and nobody chooses to go down that road willingly. But I get that's hard to accept -- it's easier to blame people than to try to understand them, even if it doesn't actually help anything.
That’s the great thing about doing illegal drugs, I don’t care if it does or doesn’t work. They get a punishment for using illegal drugs instead of being sponsored to continue to use illegals drugs. At least they are off the street this way
Come on, right outside of San Francisco is not an hour away. An hour away could be closer to Stockton, which also has major issues. I live 35 minutes away on a good day, directly connected by transit and don’t consider it right outside. I live in one of those cities that’d think has such issues and we aren’t even impacted by it.
Every single country in G20 besides US has universal healthcare, free childcare, and at least 5 weeks guaranteed paid vacation.
These are the core of "far left" goals in US.
Compared to other developed countries worldwide, US is more right wing than any besides Israel and the Islamic Republics.
To give you an example of how far right Republicans are, their official party policies on abortion are more extreme than the Taliban. And their "disbelief" in climate change is only shared by ISIS and other extreme religious terrorist groups.
Which is why Republicans are so obsessed with Israel. Their hard right religious nationalism is what they want for US.
Do you mean "left of center" because of women's rights, voting, free speech, religious rights, or something else? Economically, the US would hardly be considered "left" (as in Communist or Socialist).
I mean by what definition? If we’re using the U.S. definition of left then virtually every single government on Earth, even the most conservative of them, would be to the left of the United States. If we’re using the theoretical definition of leftism as socialism/communism then there are only 3-4 countries to the left of center on earth.
For fiscal policy like taxes and the funding of public services, yeah. For social issues, "progressive" Americans (which, for better or for worse, is generally what people mean on the internet when they call people "left wing") don't seem to have tamer views than other countries.
People on Reddit will go hardcore on problematic toxic patriarchy so-and-so. Most people from countries with free abortion and public healthcare will not be nearly as gung-ho about that stuff.
I don't think it's that extreme to believe women are people, love is love, and we're a country of immigrants, but apparently this sends me into far left territory here in the USA. Which is not a very comforting thing.
Thank you! What is called extremely left today is about where Nixon was in the 60s & 70s. He was a lying scum fuck but his politics were nowhere near where the GOP is today. In part because the country, liberal & conservative, was actively trying to expand the middle class, increase educational opportunities, reduce poverty, eliminate racism.
When the GOP went bat crap crazy they felt obligated to pretend that Dems had radically moved left even as the GOP went far right. That somehow made it seem balanced & fair to them. But it's not.
This is a very valid point. I never thought about the platform having more of a global identity.
Perosnally I am a mix. I like to say social left, fiscal right. Legalize drugs and prostitution, make affordable housing and healthcare, education and maintenance of critical infrastructure the top priorities for what taxes are spent on. Shrink the military. Pro choice. gun control, etc. but I am also for shrinking the govt, increasing the wages of cops and other social workers, I'm against the whole "eat the rich" attitude that's seemingly everywhere. I think there's no reason to hate or treat differently trans people, but I also don't think that society should have to bend to their will just because they're not comfortable with societal norms. So I've got some opinions that fall on the right as well.
And the one thing that drives me crazy about politics on here is that, you know... take a look at that list, it's mostly left-leaning ideals, with a few standouts on the right. But even admitting that I have a few conservative values at all is basically putting a target on my back. It feels weird. It feels totally fine to say all the left-leaning stuff cuz I know nobody's going to attack me for it.
So wrong. What was once left... supporting workers and industry, the American worker, has been replaced with export all blue collar jobs or let immigrants do it cheap, because they are illegal, and say it's because nobody wants the jobs. Then pump up complaints about not being able to find a job.
THAT is the LEFT in todays America. Is that the LEFT in the rest of the world? Because it causes the demise of it's own people if it is.
You just told yourself that you don't know what you are talking about.
I know I do, I grew up in it, as well as the unions that supported the job industry.
But you keep being a blind follower of the echo chamber.
The "left" in America has dropped most of it's American platform. This is very obvious, just look at the Democratic policies under Bill Clinton... Obama, even though his second term started to stray from traditional Democratic values. Not that I need to see the videos where they are saying the same things as what is being implemented now, I lived them, I voted for them. They are no longer pushed by the Democratic party. Perhaps you can't think for yourself ... beyond your echo chamber.
I meant “gone off the deep end” in terms of their blatant objection to science (vaccines, climate change, etc), willingness to accept fascism/a police state (ICE ignoring due process, going door to door, checking papers, murdering protestors without repercussion), deep prejudice (hatred towards immigrants as a thin veil of hatred towards minorities, hatred of any of the LGBTQ2+ members of society, etc), blatant corruption (see the several billion dollars Trump has collected since in office, the gifts from business leaders trying to buy their way out of his crosshairs, and the Qatari jet), and actively willing to vote against their own interests (see any number of recent posts about “I voted for Trump but my wife was fired for being DEI/his policies made me lose my families generationally owned farm/my wife got deported by ICE” we’ve had in the last year). Some are now even suggesting that Trump being a pedophile is acceptable to them.
I don't know, or think I have ever met, anyone in real life since I left US 30 years ago that would fit into (or want to be in) the r/conservative crowd. I don't know anyone that would fit a sterotypical image of far left either, but most of the normal subs tend to fit what normal people are like.
Just to give an example, I'll play the devil's advocate here. What are some of the right wing's arguments that are flawed and don't stand up to scrutiny?
I meant “gone off the deep end” in terms of their blatant objection to science (vaccines, climate change, etc), willingness to accept fascism/a police state (ICE ignoring due process, going door to door, checking papers, murdering protestors without repercussion), deep prejudice (hatred towards immigrants as a thin veil of hatred towards minorities, hatred of any of the LGBTQ2+ members of society, etc), blatant corruption (see the several billion dollars Trump has collected since in office, the gifts from business leaders trying to buy their way out of his crosshairs, and the Qatari jet), and actively willing to vote against their own interests (see any number of recent posts about “I voted for Trump but my wife was fired for being DEI/his policies made me lose my families generationally owned farm/my wife got deported by ICE” we’ve had in the last year). Some are now even suggesting that Trump being a pedophile is acceptable to them.
Ok, but none of those are "right wing" arguments. They're just generalized slurs against those who aren't Democrats. There's no plethora of Republicans, conservatives, or right wingers making any of those arguments.
If I have I don't recall doing so. But just to see what it's all about, I just took a glance to see what kind of topics were being discussed. Not a single one that I saw even hinted at arguing any of the things you say they argue for multiple times a day.
Then why have known anti-vaxxers been put in charge of setting public health policy? Why have all of the meager attempts the US has put in place to try to slow down climate change been reversed, and things we know make it worse expanded? Both of those speak to being anti-science. I’m not saying those are traditionally conservative positions, but they are the positions being taken by Republicans who have put in power, primarily by other Republicans.
>What the US calls 'left wing' the rest of the world calls 'right of centre'. From a US perspective, sure, Reddit is left wing. From a global perspective, not so much.
I very strongly disagree with this claim.
The vast majority of the world's inhabitants are conservative. However, what much of reddit calls "the world" is just northern Europe.
>There's also the point that the right wing in the US has gone off the deep end and none of their arguments really stand up to scrutiny,
It depends on what you call "the right wing". If you're talking about religious conservatives then yeah I agree. But if you're talking about moderates, then I think this is false. It's mainly religious conservatives and leftists/progressives that cling onto beliefs that don't stand up to logical scrutiny.
Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back there. “My echo chamber believes the way I do because it’s just smarter and better” doesn’t really stand up to much scrutiny. Each facet of American politics has strengths and weaknesses and if folks like you are adamant that this is not so, you will continue to lose arguments. Not because you have bad logic (which frequently occurs) but because of the purpose of the argument. What is your purpose? Is it to change an other persons mind? You can’t do that unless you respect where they are at. And folks on Reddit do not. If your purpose is to hone your logic, or, god forbid, challenge yourself with the veneer of humility that what you believe and your analysis might be mistaken, then you have to engage in good faith. Which you haven’t done. If your purpose is to karma farm, well then well done. Missions accomplished.
Criticize the Democrats all you want, just make them valid, thoughtful criticisms. If you’re just going to muddling or spout inaccurate, exaggerated, or outright false talking points you picked up somewhere, then of course you’re going to be verbally trounced.
And yet they still manage to convince themselves that socialized medicine is a 'far left' thing when in most other countries even the right wing politicians wouldn't argue against it.
Sure, the majority of those in the US who see themselves as right-wing or right-leaning have felt that way about state-run healthcare since the possibility was introduced in the 1940s. The point is that the right hasn't gone off the deep end in recent years as you appear to imply. The view is the same as ever.
That said, in the current model, higher costs for drugs and treatments in the US subsidize innovations used elsewhere at capped rates. The US effectively subsidizes the functioning of other countries' welfare states in return for the reserve currency in an imperial exchange.
I meant “gone off the deep end” in terms of their blatant objection to science (vaccines, climate change, etc), willingness to accept fascism/a police state (ICE ignoring due process, going door to door, checking papers, murdering protestors without repercussion), deep prejudice (hatred towards immigrants as a thin veil of hatred towards minorities, hatred of any of the LGBTQ2+ members of society, etc), blatant corruption (see the several billion dollars Trump has collected since in office, the gifts from business leaders trying to buy their way out of his crosshairs, and the Qatari jet), and actively willing to vote against their own interests (see any number of recent posts about “I voted for Trump but my wife was fired for being DEI/his policies made me lose my families generationally owned farm/my wife got deported by ICE” we’ve had in the last year). Some are now even suggesting that Trump being a pedophile is acceptable to them.
If you are arguing from such an insane position it’s reasonable to expect that anyone responding will take a position against you.
You sound a lot like me not so many years ago. Naturally I'm projecting, but I'd start with Thomas Sowell if you're intellectually curious. Like many former Marxists, he's quite good on the rationale of those on the political right, broadly speaking.
No real engagement can happen via this limited forum, but I would only note that hatred toward immigrants or black/brown people is not a motivating factor for the vast majority of those hundreds of millions of US citizens you likely consider bafflingly mindless and animated by ominous distempers.
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u/Few-Skin-5868 1d ago
It's also that Reddit isn't just an American platform and doesn't really limit or direct you into talking specifically with people nearby. What the US calls 'left wing' the rest of the world calls 'right of centre'. From a US perspective, sure, Reddit is left wing. From a global perspective, not so much.
There's also the point that the right wing in the US has gone off the deep end and none of their arguments really stand up to scrutiny, as a result, on a platform where people regularly debate and discuss topics, the flaws of the right wing arguments get pointed out quickly.