Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and the Europeanization of AMERICA

[ericson00]

One of the big things I don't like Bernie Sanders, aside from his socialism, one-issue political existence, is that he (and Donald Trump) are a taste of European extreme politics.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/2016-elections-european-politics-213674

he shock waves Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have sent through American politics this year aren’t just from their unexpected popularity or their relentless table-thumping. It’s because they’ve totally upended American ideas about what our political parties stand for. Trump’s strange mix of policy ideas casually throws overboard years’ worth of carefully honed Republican talking points about taxes and religion, while Sanders simply ignores the hard-won, generation-long Democratic shift to the political center with his rants against money and power.
What’s going on? As confusing as this might be in the States, it looks clearer from overseas: America is getting its first big dose of European politics.
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Trump’s support of the social safety net coupled with unabashed xenophobia and protectionism might not be familiar to American voters, who are used to having their “conservative” politics be strictly anti-welfare, pro-trade, and low-tax. But it is immediately recognizable to supporters of the plethora of right-wing parties topping polls across Europe. Likewise, Sanders’ open embrace of socialism may shock Americans—but hardly raises an eyebrow in Europe, a continent where socialist parties are either in government or constitute the main opposition.

I like our two party system, precisely because it normally keeps the Overton Window narrow enough to keep the wackos out. Europe has openly fascist and communist parties, which both often practice anti-Semitism and other racist ideas.

[TM99]

1. And yet we still have wackos, fascists, and racists

but don't have universal healthcare, covered college tuition, and the happiness factor that so many Europeans have given their work, paid time off, and social safety nets.