Would progressive or even "far-left" ideas really be bad for America?

[changemonger]

I wonder how we got to the broad consensus in the public , in the media and even within the democratic party that genuinely left ideas would somehow damage the country. I'm yet to see any serious proof of that . What we however know for certain is that the "center-right" policy ideas have seriously damaged the country . Who says Obama wouldn't be even more successful even if he implemented progressive ideas only.
I'm not really an expert on politics, so maybe I'm mistaking . Can you really point to one example where progressive ideas have lead to the catastrophe the media predict ?

[question everything]

1. I think that you will have to define what you mean by "far left" ideas

For example, would you eliminate the capitalistic, the market economy?

Did not work in the USSR or China. It is human nature to want to excel, to work hard and to be rewarded.

However, a commitment for a government to do good, to assure basic necessity like food, shelter, clothing, education and health care, as well as keeping us safe - crossing a bridge and drinking water - certainly can.

[xchrom]

2. the right 'marketed' THEIR definition of the left --

the left should use positive marketing skills to define themselves to the country.

[pinto]

3. Well said.

:kick:

[Kutjara]

4. The greatest success of the American far right has been...

...the elimination of real political debate in this country. There is no "left" worthy of the name; the spectrum runs from neo-fascist on the right to center-right on the left. As someone who has spent most of his life in Europe, it still amazes me at the stuff people in America call "liberal." Policies that other countries' right-wing parties hold as central planks on their platforms are branded "socialist" here. Even the words "liberal" (which elsewhere is the label of a very wet and weedy kind of suburban center-left politics) and "socialist" are up there with "Satan" and "Hitler" in the list of things you don't want to be associated with.

To openly espouse genuine leftist sentiments is the quickest way to political suicide known to American politics. You'd have a better chance of rehabilitating yourself in the public eye if you admitted to being a pedophilic cannibal. Nobody with national ambitions would dare say anything that risks getting tainted with the "socialist" stigma.

[glowing]

5. I don't mind.. call me a socialist.. it won't hurt my feelings..

especially if we finally get healthcare as a right to life.

[amborin]

9. good post, sadly totally accurate;

too few americans know what 'leftist' even means; and they're brainwashed into equating leftist positions with stalin, or worse

they incorrectly think the soviet union or china was truly communist, and they buy into the mantra of unending economic development and expansion

but, captalism is not compatible with sustainable devopment and preservation of biodiversity


adam pzeworski's 'capitalism and social democracy' showed not only that leftist candidates or parties cannot win, but also that if a true leftist should somehow get into a position of power, the position would change their outlook

and, look what guys like cardoso, of brazil, did, as one example

[NashVegas]

6. If You Like Being On Top, Yes

This is why we make compromises.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Oh just look at social security, medicare,

the forty hour work week, paid vacations, bank deposit insurance, workplace safety regulations, food safety regulations, minimum wage regulations, unemployment insurance,...

I mean really, the horrors abound!

[Honeycombe8]

8. Like what? Can you be more specific? What someone calls far left, someone else may not. nt

[amborin]

10. leftist ideas would be good for America; right wing ideas lead to worldwide ecological devastation

[mwei924]

11. What's far left?

Is it like Dennis Kuncinich? Or Sweden? Soviet Union?

But, any extreme is not going to be good for the country. One philosophy doesn't always work in every situation. If you're so bound by ideology, you could miss a lot of good solutions because they don't fit the agenda.

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. Liberal ideas are always good for America

It's the conservative ideas, including the ones posing as "centrism" that are killing this country. And other countries, like Iraq.

[bread_and_roses]

13. Up-thread "excel/work/reward" are equated w/ money; and a call for "marketing"

the Left. Our very language has been perverted by Capitalism, and it is difficult for people even to conceptualize outside the frame of Capitalism. This is not a slur on those posters, their posts simply provide good examples of a near-universal mind-set in this country.

To the excel/work/reward poster, I would hope that s/he would examine his/her assumptions.

To the marketing poster, I think I understand what you mean, but even as sophisticated as marketing is, the concept is too shallow to contain the totality of our immersion in free-marketeer-ism - the only word I can think of to describe it is life-long and near-total indoctrination.

edit sp