I disagree. When it comes to social issues, American left-wing could be considered far-left in many countries (basing on the recent Stanford's guide to political correctness).
I follow USA news a bit and nothing comes to my mind right now that could be considered far left around here. But of course I don't follow every political debate in USA, so I'm sure I'm missing some dividing issue... Do you have an example of something that could be considered far left in Europe, perhaps?
American abortion freedom, try finding people in Europe who think abortion in 9th month is business as usual. No one thinks having id card to vote is racist (its as difficult and costly to get one here), cultural appropriation people wouldn't comprehend. Affirmative action etc etc.
The American left wing political spectrum has nothing to do with EU left who fight for workers not all that crap.
Like there's literally a running joke on British museums appropriating artifacts, abortion laws in the EU were generally around the same timeframe as the US (12-24 weeks) and so forth. The fact that the EU political systems favor workers means that yes, the EU is already far left in comparison to any progressive politician in the US.
For example Poland, where I live, is conservative, and American Democrats could be considered far left here when it comes to social issues (abortion, LGBTQ rights, racism). On the other hand, we have free healthcare and free university education and these are taken for granted here. Is Poland more left-wing than US or more right-wing then? I'd say that's incomparable.
It is hard to say whether this is a left or right wing issue. I believe that both sides oppose the creation of a national ID, each for their own reasons. Example source: [1]
I do not feel response about abortion adds to the dialogue, but since it's so wrong at least here is a response:
> try finding people in Europe who think abortion in 9th month is business as usual
Same in America. Certainly illegal. The question is first trimester abortions.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/08/voting-...
> Same in America. Certainly illegal. The question is first trimester abortions.
There are absolutely states in the US where it is legal to get an abortion at any time in the pregnancy, for any reason.[1] Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Alaska and New Jersey + District of Columbia. Zero restrictions.
[1] https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-polici...
Leftists in the US don't think that's business as usual either. You're literally getting mad at imaginary people.
https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-polici...
There are a bunch of really stupid US state laws that just got passed that prevent doctors from removing a miscarried fetus until sepsis develops. Pretty barbaric - and these infections can often render the mother infertile, which feels extra cruel.
https://reason.com/2022/10/20/a-texas-woman-claims-that-she-...
Anti-abortion pundits like to paint a picture that there are hordes of party girls fully gestating babies and then aborting them right at the end just for kicks, but that's just a weird politically-expedient fantasy. These laws mostly hurt women who are trying to have children.
> I'd imagine nearly all of those are because the mom's life is in jeopardy.
The answer is: the legislature, always, everywhere. Some legislatures draw the line at six weeks, others draw it at birth, but every legislature draws a line.
The point is that those states don't trust women to handle their own health and so they force the issue upon them.
If you have an actual point to make can you explain it.
Do you trust women to decide whether newborns should live or die? Does Buttigieg?
The entire point is that ultimately it's her body you're trying to dictate. Do you think the legislature has a vested interest in controlling what men do with their organs? Should they pass laws preventing men from tying their tubes because the legislature has a vested interest in keeping population growth high?
It's quite normal for the legislature to get involved when the interests of two parties are in conflict.
It does seem like Eastern/Central Europe is generally more socially conservative than Western Europe - but there are many exceptions. Czech Republic is a notable liberal outlier. Predominantly Catholic countries like Italy and Ireland are rather conservative (especially when it comes to issues that the Catholic church is outspoken on like gay marriage, abortion and IVF treatments).
A bunch of examples here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/10/29/eastern-and-...
What I'm trying to say is that Europe is not a united entity and political attitudes vary greatly between countries.
Also, I do think American Democrats could be considered far left here in Poland when it comes to social issues (abortion, LGBTQ rights, racism). On the other hand we have free healthcare and free university education and these are taken for granted here. Is Poland more left-wing than US or more right-wing then? I'd say that's incomparable.
I suspect this is due to a combination of 1) not having much power, being relatively "isolated" in the political debate, not having to compromise; 2) not having any actual experience with socialist/social-democracy reality, leading to an unnuanced utopian view of things; 3) a kind of response to some of the bonkers right-wing politics of the US.
i feel like this sort of extreme bias is what has kept shifting the overton window in america away from a real center towards the radical extremist ends we've had to suffer through. brow beating bias like this with extremely narrow lenses is a bullshit asymmetry that adds so much noise & churn, that steals the oxygen from real conversations. i feel like the so called left (quite center) wants to have real discussions, has genuine intent, yet has to deal with this kind of own-the-libs attitude ad nauseum.
Politics is hard. There's no objectively "correct" politics so I won't delve into the topic further.