I hear people say things like “if Obama (or anyone left of Republicans) did what Trump did, there would be hell to pay.”
Why isn’t that argument taken more seriously by people on the left as an implicit admission that the left is politically weaker or less effective at wielding power?
If one side “can’t get away with” actions that the other can, doesn’t that suggest a real imbalance rather than moral superiority?
Follow-up question: why do Americans think there’s an active mainstream political “left” in the US, and how is it related to the Democrats?
We’ve been told for generations that the Democrats are “left”, so many people have accepted it as truth. Repetition is powerful, especially when it’s been going on since before you were born, and your parents and grandparents believe it, too.
Not enough of us realize that Democrats aren’t “left”; they’re just not as obviously, painfully “right” as Republicans.
I hate our two-party system.
Define left.
If it’s ‘not republican’ than the Democrats are it. If it’s ‘socialist values’ than no, that’s considered fringe politics. Sanders is a moderate socialist who’d be a center or center-right figure it many european countries, but American overton window makes him a extremist because our political history is far more libertarian and less centralized than most european states.
Left politics generally supports social change, equality, and greater government intervention in the economy to help the marginalized, often favoring progress over tradition, and is associated with values like social justice, workers’ rights, and expanded public services.
I hope that helps.