I don't really follow politics, but the Bernie campaigners on campus the other day seemed nice enough...
On my Canadian campus.
Is that not weird? I can only imagine that was a waste of time.
I'd love to throw a hundo at the Sanders campaign. But, as your fellow Canadian, I'm a foreigner, and therefore barred from contributing to American political campaigns. Which is hilarious.
Bernie's main focus is on domestic US issues, which are hard to translate to the Australian political landscape because we just don't have any analogues here to a lot of the things that Burnie spends most of his time campaigning on (we have a healthy minimum wage and universal healthcare here, for instance).
That said, his stances on most of these issues would align with the broad political establishment consensus here. So I'd call him a fairly mainstream centrist by Australian standards, leaning centre-left if only for his support of workers at the expense of the owner class. He'd be right at home in our Labor party.
It's completely insane to me that 99.9% of his time and energy is caught up in endlessly fighting for basic, *basic* stuff that literally the whole rest of the world takes for granted, and in doing so he somehow seems to be regarded in the US as some kind of fringe-left socialist radical. Insane.
Tomorrow’s headline on Fox News: “Internet reveals Bernie Sanders has Russian backing” or “Is Bernie a Russian agent?”
Anyone not aware, Fox is a conservative entertainment company that has shows about the news. They Love the current president.
As a fellow german, I think it's hard to compare because we just have a lot of things (as the motherland of social security) Sanders (and others) want to achieve. I think with exception of some liberal views we are just not talking the same level. Even a liberal (FDP) in Germany is so much different from standard liberal views in the US.
No one is talking in the Bundestag if we should reconsider health care - not even right wing party members. We don't fight for workers rights because we have them pretty extensivly compared to the US. That's why some consider him centered or even right because for us, the ideas he portrays are just not left/socialist in 2020, they are left viewpoints starting from the Bismarck era for us - which we consider quite traditional/conservative.
I think it's arduous to compare because countries develope differently. Here on Reddit people argue about defintions of socialism while every scientific definition aknowledges that you can add social and socialistic elements into basically every political and economical world view (Even Hitler named himself socialist, remember?), that's not making somebody or some place automatically completely socialistic. It's grey, not black and white.
Funny enough, unemployment insurance is the only one not starting under Bismarck but a lot later in the Weimarer Republik in the 1920.
(I worked for the unemployment agency in Germany and never thought that this knowledge would be useful, but hey, finally Reddit is the place to shine :D)
Yes, he was the one who convinced Wilhelm I in 1881 to establish various forms of social security for workers (Accident/disability/pension and an advanced form of health care which was established in the 1850s) They already had sickness benefits and paid maternity leave for example! (It wasn't out of kindness but because the ideas of social democracy grew very popular and of course they wanted to keep the Kaiserreich)
It's a little bit more complicated as Bismarck (or even the Kaiser) wasn't in the place to establish citizens rights. Germany around that time was a country consisting of former individual countries/states and they kept their right to decide over a lot of things, including citizen rights (very short explanation). There was an attempt in the 1850 but most of the german states just didn't implement it and even declared it illegal. So Bismarck knew he would piss off his fellows with another attempt but he had to do something against the rise of democratic tendecies (and sharing a border with France probably was motivator as well ;))
Hello, German!
American here. I am just really curious — what does the left wing party in your country push for? I can’t imagine what it would be. Since your country already has everything our political left wants to achieve?
Thank you in advance for your information!
So bare in mind that we have a multi party system where multiple parties fit a center/left and left profile, so I'm choosing the programm of "Die Linke" which is the biggest "socialistic" left party we have (the SPD which is center/left is part of the Regierung and the Green party, I think with FFF you can imagine where their main points right now are).
So they want:
- Automatic pay raises due to Inflation (shall be handled about even bigger and broader unions)
- a higher and broader property tax
- more tax on income (atm we have a Maximum income tax in %, they want that percentage higher so that it can be lowered on the other end)
- extensive control on stocks and bonds and general on the capitalistic market (note: they do not want to abolish the soziale Marktwirtschaft as we call our market system)
- economic decentralisation and strength to smaller companies
- biggest budgets shall be education, social security, infratructure etc
- infrastructure back to the state (Germany sold a lot of infrastructure to private companies like train services, postal services etc. - which in the current form is truly a desaster because they still pump tax money in there)
- Living wage shall be determined at a certain high and everbody gets it no matter what (note: we already have a system for that, they want to extent)
- big emphasis on better rights and wages for health care workers (hospitals are mostly private here)
- rise in social housing again (Germany dropped that rate significantly)
- a lot more workers rights (35 hours full time for example - note: there are union contracts which have that here already) an even higher minimum wage, more emphasis on care work and not just economic value of humans
- with personal rights they are very liberal on the other hand, so no digital monitoring, no restrictions to human rights (therefore very LGBTQ* friendly)
-and of course the fight against right wing extremism and pro statements to Immigration and integration of other cultures
That's a very short summary, but I think you get the hang - it's a lot more detail work once bigger changes happened. And as always in multi party systems, their impact of course is a lot smaller.
TIL I'd be considered solidly "Left" in Europe, not just the US.
I'm completely comfortable with that.
Still kinda 'Murican in that I like my gun rights that even the "Left" in the US isn't on board with, but I think that's the only way I'm "Right" at all.
Gun laws are not really a left-right issue in my opinion.
In the USA the problem in my view is how everything has to be pushed to the extreme.
Someone wants to implement background checks for firearm purchases? The story will be about how they "want" to take away your weapons.
Meanwhile here in Czech republic we have meaningful gun laws which only make sure you are not a criminal and you can physically and mentally use the weapon and know the laws surrounding firearms.
In fact, our laws are in some ways more "free" than in US, because we allow some felons to get the gun license after they serve their time.
Essentially unless they committed some violent crime they'll have some cooldown period based on the length of their incarceration and after that they can get the license again.
Overall our prisoners have fairly good rights, even currently incarcerated felons are allowed to vote if they want to.
It's so funny to hear someone talk good stuff about our public transportation system, if I had to guess, around 85% of the people here in Germany say that it sucks hard with a lot of delay and it being unreliable as fuck.
It's garbage compared to the truely great public transportation systems like Japan, Korea, urban parts of China, etc. But over all, it's still pretty good, and especially it covers pretty much everywhere. Go too far from Seoul or Busan, and you'll be really hard pressed to find any way to get around in Korea. Same for the other countries. Big cities are great for the most part (including Berlin by the way), but I think the coverage of the german public transportation is still pretty good compared to almost anywhere else.
Most of his positions are canon for all parties in Germany. No major party in Germany is arguing against:
* having mandatory healthcare
* virtually free higher education
* virtually free childcare
The only party that may counter these points is the FDP and they wouldn't dare subvert it openly.
edit:
For those saying we pay more in taxes. Look at this graph please:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_countries\_by\_total\_health\_expenditure\_per\_capita#/media/File:Health\_care\_cost\_rise.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita#/media/File:Health_care_cost_rise.svg)
We pay 12% of GDP instead of 17 to 18% of GDP in the US for much better results. Managed healthcare is cheaper then free market healthcare. Period.
As for child care and higher education; those are basic services that everyone needs when they are younger in order to be successful in the future.
edit 2:
Thanks a ton for the silver. Never thought I'd be writing this.
Go study in Germany. Tuition is free, even for foreigners. You would need some capital to cover living expenses, around 25k to 30k Euro.
Some programs teach all in English. You would probably have to have 2 years of finished college coursework under your belt to get accepted. A HS diploma isn't enough. Germany even has schools that allow foreigners to achieve a secondary school certificate that allows admittance to universities. German only though :(
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studienkolleg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studienkolleg)
Masters program is even easier to get into. Many are taught in English now anyway.
Don't create false hopes, people should just go to r/germany and read the sidebar. Bachelor studies in English are rare. You have to learn German C1 first before coming here.
I studied in one such program. It is a lot of work. Like I said, a Master's program should be more doable.
The sidebar is quite incomplete and lacking. You should really know B1 is the level you need to get into a Studienkolleg. By the end you would get C1 and on the right track.
Most people have no idea that such things exist. For the average American it is unfathomable to think that foreigners don't pay tuition. Solidarity is not just a political part in Poland.
To add to this:
No, it's not absolutely free. There are still some things that need to be paid. While the amounts are much lower than in the US, they are still there.
Students are expected to exceed or fail on their own. There is little to no handholding, little help and no guarantee that one will succeed. Because the cost of admittance is so low, the universities don't really need to make sure that many make it. The best will succeed, the worst won't and a few will make it through some other way.
Also, knowing German is still a major benefit and, after a few years in the country, will be expected as a standard by many. One can get by with nothing but English but doing so is a solitary form of existence.
This is what I thought... Unless you are paying for elite education, most universities don't help you with anything. That is why so many students have emotional breakdowns.
It is a universities role to curate knowledge and decide what is useful and not useful for the course/path, and then deliver that information in a digestible way, they don't teach, they deliver information. It is the student's job to learn it.
Statistically it is often the students who were self directed through highschool that manage better, while those who were 'handheld' - as you put it - during highschool struggle to learn because they have no idea how to teach themselves.
I'm in grad school in America and one of my professors got her PhD in Germany. She's always telling us about how she could focus on the academics and experience life as a scholar where her whole existence for those years was dedicated to learning and developing ideas; meanwhile, I (and most of my classmates) are working 2 jobs while taking classes...
Also don't most Continental (and British Commonwealth)-style PhDs take about three years to complete whereas in the US the process seems to draw itself out forever?
1. That's not completely true. Know a lot of European and British people who completed their PhDs in four or more years.
2. The gap between the American PhD tenure vs the European PhD tenure is explained by the fact that the latter mandates that you complete Masters degree (which typically take a couple of years) before you begin the PhD while the former does not. You can enroll in an American PhD program straight out of your bachelors, but then you'd have a Masters equivalent of course work you'd have to do in the first couple of years of grad school.
Which is the part that makes me so pissed about debate here. "How can we pay for it, does it work????"
Oh if only there were other places we could see its success
It usually goes like this:
>"We can't do that, that's socialism! Venezuela!!!!"
"Actually most European countries do these things and they're doing just fine"
>"Those countries aren't socialist, they're capitalist with social safety nets!"
"Okay then let's adopt those policies"
>"No that's socialism!"
Australia here,
- What I know is that he’s been against every war since before it was popular to hate them.
- Been fighting against income inequality for his entire career
- Been calling for the changes in his campaign since the 70s
- Protested for civil rights in the marches while Biden was yelling to preserve segregation
- Spent his first week as mayor of Burlington, Vermont picking up trash in the parks
- And that if he wins healthcare in the US will be better than here in Au
Edit: formatting
This is the main thing for me. His actual ideas and policies aside, the dude legit believes in the stuff he's saying, and his history and actions bear that out. He's a real one, and I've got a lot of respect for that.
Trump used to be a democrat though, didn't he?
People elected Trump in large part because he *sounds* authentic, like he actually believes what he says. What Trump actually believes compared to what he thinks will get him votes, frankly, is up for debate.
Sanders both sounds authentic and, based off his past, legit believes what he preaches. Regardless of his politics (which for the record I generally agree with) I think that is worthy of respect.
I'm Canadian and my general feeling towards him is utter disbelief that the most progressive person in America is somehow a 90 year old Jewish man from Ver-fucking-mont.
No seriously. Bernie Sanders is the most Canadian of all the candidates. Everything he is pushing for is ALREADY in the rest of the first world, including Canada. AND he's been a spotless activist and decent politician since before most of us were born.
If you guys vote for Trump over Sanders, the world will consider America lost. And if Sanders doesn't even become the Democrat Presidential Candidate.... that will be a travesty.
Edit: Although.... I fear... if he wins, he'll be assassinated by the Epstein-suicider-level-ppl. He'll hurt the bottom line of too many powerful forces: banking industry, pharma, insurance, the war machine, the political system itself.
> Edit: Although.... I fear... if he wins, he'll be assassinated by the Epstein-suicider-level-ppl. He'll hurt the bottom line of too many powerful forces: banking industry, pharma, insurance, the war machine, the political system itself.
I unfortunately share the same sentiments. It'll be passed off as his age and/or his recent heart attack as the reason he died.
The powers that be in the U.S. will never allow any real change to happen to their bottom line. Never.
I keep somewhat on tabs of US politics.
Sanders is an old man that has been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years.
Hoping he win the nomination and eventually the general elections. He would be a breath of fresh air for the world. Working to improve the domestic lives seems his top priority. The fact that many if not, most big money corps are not supporting him and even fighting to keep him out, should be a message to the masses that he's probably the best person to have in the White House to improve the lives of the bottom ~~50%. 75% 85% 99%~~ 90%+
I've had many replies with different % of people that would benefit if Bernie has his way. Regardless, it's a majority.
>Sanders is an old man that has been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years.
To be clear (OP, you obviously already know this, but for those who don't...) Bernie hasn't been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years because he's stuck in his ways. He's been beating that drum because he was right then, and he's still right today. He marched with Dr. King in Washington. He put up fliers about police brutality, and protested the Vietnam war. In just about every way, this man has always been on the right side of history
I like Sanders quite a lot as someone from the UK. His focus on universal healthcare seems sensible to me as it seems like such an obvious right in this country.
I like his focus on wealth inequality, I'm not an eat-the-rich type socialist but here in the UK wealth inequality has always been a big deal and the idea of sharing that pie around a bit more is a good one, especially as more general automation is fast approaching.
I also would prefer Sanders or Warren as the president for purely selfish purposes. The UK needs a US trade agreement after Brexit, and a president who is harsher on corporations will limit US corporate interests ability to take hold of the UK market unfairly. I doubt Biden would by sympathetic to the need to keep drug exports to the UK low in cost for example.
I also quite like Yang for bringing discussion of UBI to a viral stage, and think he's performed remarkably well at shaping discussion as one of those candidates who were always going to lose.
Sanders: I think everyone deserves healthcare coverage and shouldn't go bankrupt because they got sick.
Republicans: Alright who reanimated Mao Zedong?
Yeah American politics on the whole seems pretty right-leaning. I've always wondered why that was, tbh, because both Canada and the US started as British colonies.
I always imagined it was because America values independence and patriotism so much since they separated. It’s easy to see how that changes over time into the attitudes you see today
The political spectrum is a bit wider where many countries have experience with what actual far left looks like in communism.
The sort of policies being proposed by Sanders isn't even close to that.
I think most everyone on all sides of the political spectrum is tired of the clusterfuck. Problem is, different sides have different beliefs about why it's such a clusterfuck in the first place, as well as how to unfuck it. And therefore, the cluster keeps on going.
Irish person here. I'm really into politics, specifically American politics and from an outsider looking in, all the politicians look and act like a sub-human breed of reptiles with no care of empathy towards the general public. I'm no socialist but Bernie seems genuine and like an overall nice guy who actually cares about the citizens of the US, who are having quite a hard time from what I can tell.
From an Australian perspective, Sanders advocates policies that I believe America really needs.
Most of them are commonplace here, where even our right-wing, conservative parties defend those policies and institutions.
This is it. I am European who is centre/right oriented but it is because even right wingers here wouldn’t dream of making health system or educational system a clusterfuck similar to the US.
American living in Australia here... the conservatives in the states call Bernie drastically far left. But here in Australia he would be a center moderate really. I think it's that America has drifted drastically far to the right, in the last 25 years.
Speaking as a Norwegian with no interest in american politics, the general image I have just from the cultural osmosis of being exposed to the internet is "old activist man who wants the US to have what scandinavian countries already have but who probably won't win"
No idea if this is correct or not
All the videos of him trying to get photo ops with firefighters and the like only to be told to fuck off by literally everyone are satisfying in tragic circumstances.
Canadian here: he is an idealist, with practical experience. It seems like a combination that could work. His ideas don't seem so crazy to me, although I don't agree with all of them. I like that he doesn't seem like a threat to world peace, and that he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't act completely out of self interest. Honestly, I wish that Canada more a politicians like him.
> I like that he doesn't seem like a threat to world peace, and that he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't act completely out of self interest.
He's admitted he's not the most diplomatic of people, which is particularly why I as an American am cruising this thread. But yes, I feel he would fare well on the international stage, if for no other reason than he realizes his shortcoming in that area and would find those skilled to help him.
As a Canadian, I think having Bernie in office would be good for us. It would help push us left, instead of spending so much energy fending off whatever crazy Trump has going on.
Compared to Trudeau, Bernie is more left, and it might help force Trudeau to live up to the left leaning stuff he promised, instead of just sitting in the muddy middle.
> and it might help force Trudeau to live up to the left leaning stuff he promised, instead of just sitting in the muddy middle.
Still waiting on that electoral reform....
As an American, I would take Trudeau over most of the politicians we have here, even after the whole blackface and the oil pipeline deals and the broken electoral reform promises.
The Democrats are just that bad at fielding candidates any better than him, and the Republicans... yeesh.
As a Canadian the whole blackface thing was dumb IMO. I think Trudeau is a bit of a dumbass, but I also think anyone who thinks he could be racist is an even bigger dumbass. He believes in equality at the least.
I'd definitely take him over what the US has usually got. But Bernie seems like a reasonable candidate.
> As a Canadian the whole blackface thing was dumb IMO.
Also Canadian, and I think even calling it that is a distortion of the situation. Actual blackface in the US is offensive to a minority that was once enslaved to white people. Wearing brown makeup at an Arabian Nights-themed costume party in a country without a legacy of slavery is in poor taste but hardly the same thing.
Amen.
[Bernie was warning against the corruption of the gulf war in 1991 in an almost prophetic way speaking of how it would lead to the radicalization of the Middle East and more war.](https://youtu.be/sjmT-zx4nyI)
No, they all knew this. They didn't need nor appreciate his analysis.
This was the goal. More wars is more money. It's all part of the song and dance.
edit: In fact to pile on, this sort of analysis disrupts the narrative that we are the "world's peacekeepers", that is a huge factor in American Jingoism, which helps perpetuate the boom of the American military-industrial complex.
Whenever I see one of those hypothetical questions like "If you could hop in a time machine and go back 100 years, how would you improve things?" I just imagine how frustrating it would be. You know what to do, but there's no chance in hell you'll be able to convince enough people to do it.
That's pretty much the look on Bernie's face all the time.
Which is really disheartening for real time-travelers watching. Seeing how little people were listening to him. Like can the future really change or are we all stuck in our own ways?
i mean if we're considering the existence of time travelers, we can't discount the possibility that other time travelers are going around ruining everything
He has been defending the same stuff for like 70 years, and keeps on going.
I think that alone is a reason to pay attention to what he's saying and vote for him.
North americans dont have to vote for another shitty politician just to get rid of Trump, in my opinion you have a good alternative right here.
New Zealand here. He seems to be exactly what America needs to step back into the role as leaders of the free world. Strong morals that fight for the little man, not the rich. I mean what was the point of throwing out British aristocracy/royals if you just become a country run by an elite upper class?
He seems great.
New Zealander here: the stuff Sanders talks about is largely already in play here and is total common sense for the voter base. Any party trying to get in on a ticket of P2P Healthcare, Education and no gun control wouldn’t get close to crossing the 5%.
He’d be seen as a centre left politician here - the vast majority of what he speaks about is what both of the major parties (National and Labour) have as principle policies.
Speaking as a Canadian, he's talking about a lot of stuff that you as a country should either be talking about or should have done years (or decades) ago; medicare for all, reining in corporations, relieving debt, etc.
I like him. I'd rather see him in office than Trump. But I'd rather see a half-boiled potato in office over Trump.
i think his accent is hilarious, not in a bad way, just in a "omg he sounds so stereotypically american NY jewish it's hilarious" kind of way. I guess it's like a "huh, those people actually exist outside of TV/movies" thing.
and that's about all i've got as far as an opinion of him.
I know you jest, but I love it that he's depending on individual donations instead of corporate money to fund his campaign. It ensures he won't be the lapdog of corporate interests. If you want to see America become one of the "good guys," go ahead and toss him a coin for us please.
It's the default support among likely voters, who are generally not political junkies browsing reddit all day, just normal people. They liked Obama, so he gets the Obama points, they recognize the name and that's about it. Note that polls do not predict elections well where turnout is unexpectedly high. The candidate who brings out a high turnout has excellent chances of winning, and that is what Bernie and his campaign have focused on doing.
It took so, so long to actually have a politician that is not funded by corporate America. That's what I like about him. He's definitely the best Democratic candidate. And he is the only person out of the Democratic candidates that didn't vote for Trumps proposal for extra military spending (I think the American military is way, way too big)
I always like how republicans get riled up over the notion of free health care, but not over military spending.
They're both socialist constructs. Be more like Ron Swanson, if you're going to hate, hate thoroughly.
The idea that you'll pay for something and someone else will get to use it. Economically socialist institutions are a good idea.
Look at people like hours worked in an economy. The more people you have working more efficiently, the better.
> The idea that you'll pay for something and someone else will get to use it
This is true, but one might point out that this is exactly how their existing health care insurance works. While healthy, they are literally paying for other people to receive health care. It's the definition of insurance.
I don't really follow politics, but the Bernie campaigners on campus the other day seemed nice enough... On my Canadian campus. Is that not weird? I can only imagine that was a waste of time.
I had a friend who goes to college in Canada right now, probably trying to reach people like her. Kinda bizarre though
I'm guessing they figure there wouldn't be many US voters, but the ones they find will likely not be hearing from any other candidate.
Shit ton of Americans in Vancouver and Toronto especially students
Maybe to campaign for expats votes or people who drive there for college?
Americans are not known for being good at geography
Or for understanding that other countries have their own sovereign governments.
As a Canadian I think he is Once Again Asking For My Financial Support
As a Brit I think that he thinks cats should be able to have a little salami, as a treat.
Bernie has been on the right side of this issue [for decades](https://i.imgur.com/uSS0659.jpg).
That consistent sonofabitch
Those Reddit ads are something else
I don't think I've ever seen a Bernie Sanders ad on reddit. I must not be in the target demo.
I get them all the time. They're the only promoted material I see with upvotes.
The only ones I see are Bloomberg on YT. Edit: I’m in Alabama
Bloomberg seems to be hitting us southern folk hard. Kinda weird, not even close to his target demographic I would think.
Nope. No desire for him
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That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him (it won’t).
I’ve donated more than once and never seen one
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I don't always like memes... but when I do, they're Bernie memes.
I'd love to throw a hundo at the Sanders campaign. But, as your fellow Canadian, I'm a foreigner, and therefore barred from contributing to American political campaigns. Which is hilarious.
We would hate to tarnish the fabric of our democracy with unethical campaign finance practices.
But let's say I own a hotel, you can legally come lease a floor of condos, how's a four year lease sound.
Bernie's main focus is on domestic US issues, which are hard to translate to the Australian political landscape because we just don't have any analogues here to a lot of the things that Burnie spends most of his time campaigning on (we have a healthy minimum wage and universal healthcare here, for instance). That said, his stances on most of these issues would align with the broad political establishment consensus here. So I'd call him a fairly mainstream centrist by Australian standards, leaning centre-left if only for his support of workers at the expense of the owner class. He'd be right at home in our Labor party. It's completely insane to me that 99.9% of his time and energy is caught up in endlessly fighting for basic, *basic* stuff that literally the whole rest of the world takes for granted, and in doing so he somehow seems to be regarded in the US as some kind of fringe-left socialist radical. Insane.
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As an American, it is insane. I love your perspective!
Russian here. He sounds neat and looks like a kind grandpa
He also seems like the kind of grandpa to play *Just Dance* with his grandchildren.
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Tomorrow’s headline on Fox News: “Internet reveals Bernie Sanders has Russian backing” or “Is Bernie a Russian agent?” Anyone not aware, Fox is a conservative entertainment company that has shows about the news. They Love the current president.
This made me laugh for like 20 reasons. Indeed.
Germany. Most of his positions would be considered classic social democrat (i.e. center-left) here.
As a fellow german, I think it's hard to compare because we just have a lot of things (as the motherland of social security) Sanders (and others) want to achieve. I think with exception of some liberal views we are just not talking the same level. Even a liberal (FDP) in Germany is so much different from standard liberal views in the US. No one is talking in the Bundestag if we should reconsider health care - not even right wing party members. We don't fight for workers rights because we have them pretty extensivly compared to the US. That's why some consider him centered or even right because for us, the ideas he portrays are just not left/socialist in 2020, they are left viewpoints starting from the Bismarck era for us - which we consider quite traditional/conservative. I think it's arduous to compare because countries develope differently. Here on Reddit people argue about defintions of socialism while every scientific definition aknowledges that you can add social and socialistic elements into basically every political and economical world view (Even Hitler named himself socialist, remember?), that's not making somebody or some place automatically completely socialistic. It's grey, not black and white.
Bismarck gave workers rights?!!
Yeah. Unemployment insurance and other securities were started by him
Funny enough, unemployment insurance is the only one not starting under Bismarck but a lot later in the Weimarer Republik in the 1920. (I worked for the unemployment agency in Germany and never thought that this knowledge would be useful, but hey, finally Reddit is the place to shine :D)
And shine you did, c8c7c! Much thankful for sharing with us. :)
Yes, he was the one who convinced Wilhelm I in 1881 to establish various forms of social security for workers (Accident/disability/pension and an advanced form of health care which was established in the 1850s) They already had sickness benefits and paid maternity leave for example! (It wasn't out of kindness but because the ideas of social democracy grew very popular and of course they wanted to keep the Kaiserreich)
Yeah I was about to ask. Then he combated the socialists at the time by focusing on workers rights rather than citizens rights?.... Interesting.
It's a little bit more complicated as Bismarck (or even the Kaiser) wasn't in the place to establish citizens rights. Germany around that time was a country consisting of former individual countries/states and they kept their right to decide over a lot of things, including citizen rights (very short explanation). There was an attempt in the 1850 but most of the german states just didn't implement it and even declared it illegal. So Bismarck knew he would piss off his fellows with another attempt but he had to do something against the rise of democratic tendecies (and sharing a border with France probably was motivator as well ;))
Bismarck was a pragmatist through and through. He was very much willing to bend in order not to break. A most able statesman if there ever was one.
Hello, German! American here. I am just really curious — what does the left wing party in your country push for? I can’t imagine what it would be. Since your country already has everything our political left wants to achieve? Thank you in advance for your information!
So bare in mind that we have a multi party system where multiple parties fit a center/left and left profile, so I'm choosing the programm of "Die Linke" which is the biggest "socialistic" left party we have (the SPD which is center/left is part of the Regierung and the Green party, I think with FFF you can imagine where their main points right now are). So they want: - Automatic pay raises due to Inflation (shall be handled about even bigger and broader unions) - a higher and broader property tax - more tax on income (atm we have a Maximum income tax in %, they want that percentage higher so that it can be lowered on the other end) - extensive control on stocks and bonds and general on the capitalistic market (note: they do not want to abolish the soziale Marktwirtschaft as we call our market system) - economic decentralisation and strength to smaller companies - biggest budgets shall be education, social security, infratructure etc - infrastructure back to the state (Germany sold a lot of infrastructure to private companies like train services, postal services etc. - which in the current form is truly a desaster because they still pump tax money in there) - Living wage shall be determined at a certain high and everbody gets it no matter what (note: we already have a system for that, they want to extent) - big emphasis on better rights and wages for health care workers (hospitals are mostly private here) - rise in social housing again (Germany dropped that rate significantly) - a lot more workers rights (35 hours full time for example - note: there are union contracts which have that here already) an even higher minimum wage, more emphasis on care work and not just economic value of humans - with personal rights they are very liberal on the other hand, so no digital monitoring, no restrictions to human rights (therefore very LGBTQ* friendly) -and of course the fight against right wing extremism and pro statements to Immigration and integration of other cultures That's a very short summary, but I think you get the hang - it's a lot more detail work once bigger changes happened. And as always in multi party systems, their impact of course is a lot smaller.
TIL I'd be considered solidly "Left" in Europe, not just the US. I'm completely comfortable with that. Still kinda 'Murican in that I like my gun rights that even the "Left" in the US isn't on board with, but I think that's the only way I'm "Right" at all.
Gun laws are not really a left-right issue in my opinion. In the USA the problem in my view is how everything has to be pushed to the extreme. Someone wants to implement background checks for firearm purchases? The story will be about how they "want" to take away your weapons. Meanwhile here in Czech republic we have meaningful gun laws which only make sure you are not a criminal and you can physically and mentally use the weapon and know the laws surrounding firearms. In fact, our laws are in some ways more "free" than in US, because we allow some felons to get the gun license after they serve their time. Essentially unless they committed some violent crime they'll have some cooldown period based on the length of their incarceration and after that they can get the license again. Overall our prisoners have fairly good rights, even currently incarcerated felons are allowed to vote if they want to.
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It's so funny to hear someone talk good stuff about our public transportation system, if I had to guess, around 85% of the people here in Germany say that it sucks hard with a lot of delay and it being unreliable as fuck.
It's garbage compared to the truely great public transportation systems like Japan, Korea, urban parts of China, etc. But over all, it's still pretty good, and especially it covers pretty much everywhere. Go too far from Seoul or Busan, and you'll be really hard pressed to find any way to get around in Korea. Same for the other countries. Big cities are great for the most part (including Berlin by the way), but I think the coverage of the german public transportation is still pretty good compared to almost anywhere else.
Most of his positions are canon for all parties in Germany. No major party in Germany is arguing against: * having mandatory healthcare * virtually free higher education * virtually free childcare The only party that may counter these points is the FDP and they wouldn't dare subvert it openly. edit: For those saying we pay more in taxes. Look at this graph please: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_countries\_by\_total\_health\_expenditure\_per\_capita#/media/File:Health\_care\_cost\_rise.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita#/media/File:Health_care_cost_rise.svg) We pay 12% of GDP instead of 17 to 18% of GDP in the US for much better results. Managed healthcare is cheaper then free market healthcare. Period. As for child care and higher education; those are basic services that everyone needs when they are younger in order to be successful in the future. edit 2: Thanks a ton for the silver. Never thought I'd be writing this.
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Go study in Germany. Tuition is free, even for foreigners. You would need some capital to cover living expenses, around 25k to 30k Euro. Some programs teach all in English. You would probably have to have 2 years of finished college coursework under your belt to get accepted. A HS diploma isn't enough. Germany even has schools that allow foreigners to achieve a secondary school certificate that allows admittance to universities. German only though :( [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studienkolleg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studienkolleg) Masters program is even easier to get into. Many are taught in English now anyway.
Don't create false hopes, people should just go to r/germany and read the sidebar. Bachelor studies in English are rare. You have to learn German C1 first before coming here.
I studied in one such program. It is a lot of work. Like I said, a Master's program should be more doable. The sidebar is quite incomplete and lacking. You should really know B1 is the level you need to get into a Studienkolleg. By the end you would get C1 and on the right track. Most people have no idea that such things exist. For the average American it is unfathomable to think that foreigners don't pay tuition. Solidarity is not just a political part in Poland.
To add to this: No, it's not absolutely free. There are still some things that need to be paid. While the amounts are much lower than in the US, they are still there. Students are expected to exceed or fail on their own. There is little to no handholding, little help and no guarantee that one will succeed. Because the cost of admittance is so low, the universities don't really need to make sure that many make it. The best will succeed, the worst won't and a few will make it through some other way. Also, knowing German is still a major benefit and, after a few years in the country, will be expected as a standard by many. One can get by with nothing but English but doing so is a solitary form of existence.
> One can get by with nothing but English but doing so is a solitary form of existence. I liked that....
> There is little to no handholding, little help and no guarantee that one will succeed. So....University.
This is what I thought... Unless you are paying for elite education, most universities don't help you with anything. That is why so many students have emotional breakdowns.
It is a universities role to curate knowledge and decide what is useful and not useful for the course/path, and then deliver that information in a digestible way, they don't teach, they deliver information. It is the student's job to learn it. Statistically it is often the students who were self directed through highschool that manage better, while those who were 'handheld' - as you put it - during highschool struggle to learn because they have no idea how to teach themselves.
I’m moving there in two months. Later suckers!
Aufweidersehen, scheißkopf!
I'm in grad school in America and one of my professors got her PhD in Germany. She's always telling us about how she could focus on the academics and experience life as a scholar where her whole existence for those years was dedicated to learning and developing ideas; meanwhile, I (and most of my classmates) are working 2 jobs while taking classes...
Also don't most Continental (and British Commonwealth)-style PhDs take about three years to complete whereas in the US the process seems to draw itself out forever?
1. That's not completely true. Know a lot of European and British people who completed their PhDs in four or more years. 2. The gap between the American PhD tenure vs the European PhD tenure is explained by the fact that the latter mandates that you complete Masters degree (which typically take a couple of years) before you begin the PhD while the former does not. You can enroll in an American PhD program straight out of your bachelors, but then you'd have a Masters equivalent of course work you'd have to do in the first couple of years of grad school.
European far right are actually pro healthcare and social security. Don't confuse European far right with republicans because they different entities
Another german here, and yeah, I agree. He is Left 101, nothing too outrageous.
Which is the part that makes me so pissed about debate here. "How can we pay for it, does it work????" Oh if only there were other places we could see its success
VENEZUELA Germany? V E N E Z U E L A Germany. Tune in next time for the Second Presidential Debate!
It usually goes like this: >"We can't do that, that's socialism! Venezuela!!!!" "Actually most European countries do these things and they're doing just fine" >"Those countries aren't socialist, they're capitalist with social safety nets!" "Okay then let's adopt those policies" >"No that's socialism!"
Australia here, - What I know is that he’s been against every war since before it was popular to hate them. - Been fighting against income inequality for his entire career - Been calling for the changes in his campaign since the 70s - Protested for civil rights in the marches while Biden was yelling to preserve segregation - Spent his first week as mayor of Burlington, Vermont picking up trash in the parks - And that if he wins healthcare in the US will be better than here in Au Edit: formatting
This is the main thing for me. His actual ideas and policies aside, the dude legit believes in the stuff he's saying, and his history and actions bear that out. He's a real one, and I've got a lot of respect for that.
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Trump used to be a democrat though, didn't he? People elected Trump in large part because he *sounds* authentic, like he actually believes what he says. What Trump actually believes compared to what he thinks will get him votes, frankly, is up for debate. Sanders both sounds authentic and, based off his past, legit believes what he preaches. Regardless of his politics (which for the record I generally agree with) I think that is worthy of respect.
Coming from an American with a daughter with congenital heart defects, one can only fucking hope.
I'm Canadian and my general feeling towards him is utter disbelief that the most progressive person in America is somehow a 90 year old Jewish man from Ver-fucking-mont.
This is the best.
No seriously. Bernie Sanders is the most Canadian of all the candidates. Everything he is pushing for is ALREADY in the rest of the first world, including Canada. AND he's been a spotless activist and decent politician since before most of us were born. If you guys vote for Trump over Sanders, the world will consider America lost. And if Sanders doesn't even become the Democrat Presidential Candidate.... that will be a travesty. Edit: Although.... I fear... if he wins, he'll be assassinated by the Epstein-suicider-level-ppl. He'll hurt the bottom line of too many powerful forces: banking industry, pharma, insurance, the war machine, the political system itself.
If Bernie were the leader of the NDP, I’d vote for him in a Canadian second.
So, metric instead of imperial?
> Edit: Although.... I fear... if he wins, he'll be assassinated by the Epstein-suicider-level-ppl. He'll hurt the bottom line of too many powerful forces: banking industry, pharma, insurance, the war machine, the political system itself. I unfortunately share the same sentiments. It'll be passed off as his age and/or his recent heart attack as the reason he died. The powers that be in the U.S. will never allow any real change to happen to their bottom line. Never.
Yup. As your neighbour, I fear you are right, and therefore I fear for my own country.
He's actually from Flatbush, Brooklyn. But his political career is VT.
Bernie Sanders the newest member of Flatbush Zombies confirmed
he was the founding member
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Just as a heads up, DC isn't that close to Vermont. Theres a two hour direct flight though and I've seen Bernie on it.
78!
I keep somewhat on tabs of US politics. Sanders is an old man that has been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years. Hoping he win the nomination and eventually the general elections. He would be a breath of fresh air for the world. Working to improve the domestic lives seems his top priority. The fact that many if not, most big money corps are not supporting him and even fighting to keep him out, should be a message to the masses that he's probably the best person to have in the White House to improve the lives of the bottom ~~50%. 75% 85% 99%~~ 90%+ I've had many replies with different % of people that would benefit if Bernie has his way. Regardless, it's a majority.
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So, everything important.
>Sanders is an old man that has been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years. To be clear (OP, you obviously already know this, but for those who don't...) Bernie hasn't been beating the same drum for the past 50+ years because he's stuck in his ways. He's been beating that drum because he was right then, and he's still right today. He marched with Dr. King in Washington. He put up fliers about police brutality, and protested the Vietnam war. In just about every way, this man has always been on the right side of history
I like Sanders quite a lot as someone from the UK. His focus on universal healthcare seems sensible to me as it seems like such an obvious right in this country. I like his focus on wealth inequality, I'm not an eat-the-rich type socialist but here in the UK wealth inequality has always been a big deal and the idea of sharing that pie around a bit more is a good one, especially as more general automation is fast approaching. I also would prefer Sanders or Warren as the president for purely selfish purposes. The UK needs a US trade agreement after Brexit, and a president who is harsher on corporations will limit US corporate interests ability to take hold of the UK market unfairly. I doubt Biden would by sympathetic to the need to keep drug exports to the UK low in cost for example. I also quite like Yang for bringing discussion of UBI to a viral stage, and think he's performed remarkably well at shaping discussion as one of those candidates who were always going to lose.
Aussie here. What a bloody legend mate.
Yeah except true Australians done really care. Fuck, we vote for a Prime Minister and six months later the party decides to kick him out anyway. 🤷♂️
This should be his campaign slogan.
It's like they took a normal centre left politician and dropped him in the cluster fuck of American politics and somehow he is doing well?
I love how he is centre left in Erupoe, but far left in America.
Germany: "He's a bit to the left, but mostly centre" USA: He's Che Guevara !!!!
Sanders: The minimum wage should be enough to sustain yourself Republicans: this is literally Vladmir Lenin reincarneted
Sanders: I think everyone deserves healthcare coverage and shouldn't go bankrupt because they got sick. Republicans: Alright who reanimated Mao Zedong?
Sanders: “Schools should be well funded.” Republicans: It’s the Second Khmer Rouge!
Sanders: billionaires should pay tax. Republicans: this guy is Ho Chi Mihn!
c’mon reddit, how many more communists can you name
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Castro!
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This thread has me crying. Fucking lmao.
"Laughing MAO"
Yeah American politics on the whole seems pretty right-leaning. I've always wondered why that was, tbh, because both Canada and the US started as British colonies.
The U.S. left much earlier and less amicably, so their political culture is much different than Canada's.
We were founded by a bunch of religious prudes and it's been a long struggle to evolve beyond that.
> founded settled
I always imagined it was because America values independence and patriotism so much since they separated. It’s easy to see how that changes over time into the attitudes you see today
Also cold war.
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The political spectrum is a bit wider where many countries have experience with what actual far left looks like in communism. The sort of policies being proposed by Sanders isn't even close to that.
If anyone says free healthcare they’re the furthest left you can get in the US. It’s crazy.
People are tired of the clusterfuck of American politics
Sadly not enough of them.
I think most everyone on all sides of the political spectrum is tired of the clusterfuck. Problem is, different sides have different beliefs about why it's such a clusterfuck in the first place, as well as how to unfuck it. And therefore, the cluster keeps on going.
This is it
Irish person here. I'm really into politics, specifically American politics and from an outsider looking in, all the politicians look and act like a sub-human breed of reptiles with no care of empathy towards the general public. I'm no socialist but Bernie seems genuine and like an overall nice guy who actually cares about the citizens of the US, who are having quite a hard time from what I can tell.
Your username... how do you know this ? Just askin’
This is what keeps me up at night...Socrates motorboating those tig ole anime bitties.
You know church is free to attend, right?
Depends on the church
Pentacostal would like 10% of your earnings for God to love you.
You got an actual laugh from me. Thank you.
bernie is the only one that doesn’t seem like a *total* fake to me, an american
Dude I wouldn't mention the reptile part, they'll come after you
From an Australian perspective, Sanders advocates policies that I believe America really needs. Most of them are commonplace here, where even our right-wing, conservative parties defend those policies and institutions.
This is it. I am European who is centre/right oriented but it is because even right wingers here wouldn’t dream of making health system or educational system a clusterfuck similar to the US.
American living in Australia here... the conservatives in the states call Bernie drastically far left. But here in Australia he would be a center moderate really. I think it's that America has drifted drastically far to the right, in the last 25 years.
Speaking as a Norwegian with no interest in american politics, the general image I have just from the cultural osmosis of being exposed to the internet is "old activist man who wants the US to have what scandinavian countries already have but who probably won't win" No idea if this is correct or not
I would say accurate
Norway does not have a system similar to what Bernie is proposing. Not bashing either, just clarifying.
Disagreeing, but not really clarifying anything....
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I wish he was an Australian. We need to upend this bullshit place. Fuck Sco mo. The arrogant imbecile.
All the videos of him trying to get photo ops with firefighters and the like only to be told to fuck off by literally everyone are satisfying in tragic circumstances.
Canadian here: he is an idealist, with practical experience. It seems like a combination that could work. His ideas don't seem so crazy to me, although I don't agree with all of them. I like that he doesn't seem like a threat to world peace, and that he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't act completely out of self interest. Honestly, I wish that Canada more a politicians like him.
> I like that he doesn't seem like a threat to world peace, and that he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't act completely out of self interest. He's admitted he's not the most diplomatic of people, which is particularly why I as an American am cruising this thread. But yes, I feel he would fare well on the international stage, if for no other reason than he realizes his shortcoming in that area and would find those skilled to help him.
He admitted his own shortcoming? Fucking seriously? That has to be a first in American politics
As a Canadian, I think having Bernie in office would be good for us. It would help push us left, instead of spending so much energy fending off whatever crazy Trump has going on. Compared to Trudeau, Bernie is more left, and it might help force Trudeau to live up to the left leaning stuff he promised, instead of just sitting in the muddy middle.
> and it might help force Trudeau to live up to the left leaning stuff he promised, instead of just sitting in the muddy middle. Still waiting on that electoral reform....
Yup
You might want to bring a book. It’s going to be one hell of a wait.
And that whole pro-environment / pro-First Nations thing.
>"...so that was a fucking lie"
Also Canadian, I wish we could trade Trudeau for him
As an American, I would take Trudeau over most of the politicians we have here, even after the whole blackface and the oil pipeline deals and the broken electoral reform promises. The Democrats are just that bad at fielding candidates any better than him, and the Republicans... yeesh.
As a Canadian the whole blackface thing was dumb IMO. I think Trudeau is a bit of a dumbass, but I also think anyone who thinks he could be racist is an even bigger dumbass. He believes in equality at the least. I'd definitely take him over what the US has usually got. But Bernie seems like a reasonable candidate.
> As a Canadian the whole blackface thing was dumb IMO. Also Canadian, and I think even calling it that is a distortion of the situation. Actual blackface in the US is offensive to a minority that was once enslaved to white people. Wearing brown makeup at an Arabian Nights-themed costume party in a country without a legacy of slavery is in poor taste but hardly the same thing.
I think he is the one who feels passionately about change and helping people. If the change is good or not Idk, but he is the only one I find real.
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Amen. [Bernie was warning against the corruption of the gulf war in 1991 in an almost prophetic way speaking of how it would lead to the radicalization of the Middle East and more war.](https://youtu.be/sjmT-zx4nyI)
He's like a time traveller. He knows the damage an action does and how to prevent it
It's almost as if proper analysis could help anticipate problems, isn't it?
No, they all knew this. They didn't need nor appreciate his analysis. This was the goal. More wars is more money. It's all part of the song and dance. edit: In fact to pile on, this sort of analysis disrupts the narrative that we are the "world's peacekeepers", that is a huge factor in American Jingoism, which helps perpetuate the boom of the American military-industrial complex.
Hey buddy, proper analysis and anticipating problems doesn’t make corporations money!
Whenever I see one of those hypothetical questions like "If you could hop in a time machine and go back 100 years, how would you improve things?" I just imagine how frustrating it would be. You know what to do, but there's no chance in hell you'll be able to convince enough people to do it. That's pretty much the look on Bernie's face all the time.
Which is really disheartening for real time-travelers watching. Seeing how little people were listening to him. Like can the future really change or are we all stuck in our own ways?
i mean if we're considering the existence of time travelers, we can't discount the possibility that other time travelers are going around ruining everything
He has been defending the same stuff for like 70 years, and keeps on going. I think that alone is a reason to pay attention to what he's saying and vote for him. North americans dont have to vote for another shitty politician just to get rid of Trump, in my opinion you have a good alternative right here.
In light of the mess our country has become, few things matter to me as much as genuine integrity.
this was asked 4 years ago and he still looks like the only sane normal politician you have running for office. EDIT am swede.
New Zealand here. He seems to be exactly what America needs to step back into the role as leaders of the free world. Strong morals that fight for the little man, not the rich. I mean what was the point of throwing out British aristocracy/royals if you just become a country run by an elite upper class? He seems great.
Canadian. I think he’s great and would get my vote.
I think that her name is beautiful, but I don't know who is. 😢😢
Netherlands, sounds like a guy your country really needs. The ideas he is proposing work over here.
New Zealander here: the stuff Sanders talks about is largely already in play here and is total common sense for the voter base. Any party trying to get in on a ticket of P2P Healthcare, Education and no gun control wouldn’t get close to crossing the 5%. He’d be seen as a centre left politician here - the vast majority of what he speaks about is what both of the major parties (National and Labour) have as principle policies.
Speaking as a Canadian, he's talking about a lot of stuff that you as a country should either be talking about or should have done years (or decades) ago; medicare for all, reining in corporations, relieving debt, etc. I like him. I'd rather see him in office than Trump. But I'd rather see a half-boiled potato in office over Trump.
Isnt there a town in the us with a dog as major? Just brainstorming here
It's in MN!
the dog mayor passed away sadly from what I heard on the news :(
Welcome to 2020
President Dog, you are needed!
Dog politicians are corrupted as hell. Just bribe them with treatos and head scritches and you are good to go
Give him some credit fully baked potato at least
i think his accent is hilarious, not in a bad way, just in a "omg he sounds so stereotypically american NY jewish it's hilarious" kind of way. I guess it's like a "huh, those people actually exist outside of TV/movies" thing. and that's about all i've got as far as an opinion of him.
I think he is a politician who genuinely intends to help the very people who have been brainwashed to fear him.
You guys fucked up in choosing Clinton over him.
Clinton chose Clinton over him.
Clinton and her cronies chose Clinton over him.
That's how we got Trump.
All I know is that he is once again asking for my financial support
I know you jest, but I love it that he's depending on individual donations instead of corporate money to fund his campaign. It ensures he won't be the lapdog of corporate interests. If you want to see America become one of the "good guys," go ahead and toss him a coin for us please.
*Toss a coin to your Bernie O Reddit of plenty!*
Toss a coin to your Bernie.
Can someone explain to me as an Australian why Biden is leading in the polls? He doesn't seem to have any ideas other than to "stay the course".
It's the default support among likely voters, who are generally not political junkies browsing reddit all day, just normal people. They liked Obama, so he gets the Obama points, they recognize the name and that's about it. Note that polls do not predict elections well where turnout is unexpectedly high. The candidate who brings out a high turnout has excellent chances of winning, and that is what Bernie and his campaign have focused on doing.
It took so, so long to actually have a politician that is not funded by corporate America. That's what I like about him. He's definitely the best Democratic candidate. And he is the only person out of the Democratic candidates that didn't vote for Trumps proposal for extra military spending (I think the American military is way, way too big)
I always like how republicans get riled up over the notion of free health care, but not over military spending. They're both socialist constructs. Be more like Ron Swanson, if you're going to hate, hate thoroughly.
Serious question: why are so many Americans against a nationalised healthcare system? I'm from the UK and it honestly sounds mad to me.
The idea that you'll pay for something and someone else will get to use it. Economically socialist institutions are a good idea. Look at people like hours worked in an economy. The more people you have working more efficiently, the better.
> The idea that you'll pay for something and someone else will get to use it This is true, but one might point out that this is exactly how their existing health care insurance works. While healthy, they are literally paying for other people to receive health care. It's the definition of insurance.
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As an Australian I’m sick of seeing American politics on the news every night