# Is The European Left Like the American Right **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 22, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830 "2011-05-22T23:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/1 "2011-05-22T23:53:03Z")
In the US, the Right-wing is generally considered by those of the progressive persuasion to be uncooperative, inflexible, uncompromising, fanatical, etc. However in Europe is not the Left-wing, the same and even worse? For instance the European Left constantly stages violent protests that degenerate into riots over spending cuts and election results-such as when Sarkozy was elected or the ones in Greece. The labour unions explode with rage if say the age of retirement is raised a few years or pensions cut slightly. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/2 "2011-05-23T00:00:29Z")
They eat babies too. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/3 "2011-05-23T00:03:21Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > They eat babies too. Everyone does, in France. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/4 "2011-05-23T00:04:22Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The labour unions explode with rage if say the age of retirement is raised a few years or pensions cut slightly. Well, of course they do. What else are they there for? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/5 "2011-05-23T00:07:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, of course they do. What else are they there for? As in striking and even rioting. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/6 "2011-05-23T00:09:12Z")
\*Here’s the obligatory, Europe is made up of dozens of countries, so no statement can be made about the leftwing in any country that would apply to them all, post. \* ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/7 "2011-05-23T00:14:37Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Everyone does, in France. You should try the Bébé braisé avec vinaigrette aux framboises. It’s fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/8 "2011-05-23T12:05:50Z")
Generalisations are a very bad idea when applied to a continent of many independent Nation States. Not all are in the EU, not all of those share a single currency. Those nations in Europe with a history of having a strong communist party may have relatively a more radical left - countries including Greece, Italy, Spain and France - but even there they have more differences than similarities in their politics. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/9 "2011-05-23T12:46:31Z")
Yes, they are alike. For a very loose definition of like. Recentely, there has been a lot of fuss in the US about Obamacare and demonstrations against spending cuts in Europe because they both threaten the status-quo. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/10 "2011-05-23T12:46:31Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > As in **striking** and even rioting. I’m gonna repeat **BrainGlutton** here: what else are they there for? 😕 Striking is what unions _do_. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/11 "2011-05-23T12:52:18Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > In the US, the Right-wing is generally considered by those of the progressive persuasion to be uncooperative, inflexible, uncompromising, fanatical, etc. However in Europe is not the Left-wing, the same and even worse? For instance the European Left constantly stages violent protests that degenerate into riots over spending cuts and election results-such as when Sarkozy was elected or the ones in Greece. The labour unions explode with rage if say the age of retirement is raised a few years or pensions cut slightly. Are you talking the Political left wing parties or far left protest groups. There are left wing parties in power either on their own or in coalitions in many European countries. E.G. The Labour Party (Centre Left) are in coalition with Fine Gael (Centre Right) are in power in Ireland and the Tory’s are in power with the Lib Dems. The Labour Party here and the Lib Dems don’t take part in violent protests over themselves. The OP is way to broad and also seemingly ill informed. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/12 "2011-05-23T13:18:26Z")
Qin, you keep making this mistake. You cannot analogize the whole world (or even parts of it) to your conceptualization of what goes on in the United States. (Even if your conceptualization of the United States were not so ill-informed and clouded by ideology.) Human beings are complex. Cultures are complex. The world is complex. You cannot reduce everything (or perhaps even anything) to archetypes. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/13 "2011-05-23T16:17:37Z")
In very general terms, there’s a lot more divergence of organized social/economic opinion in Europe than in the U.S. The US doesn’t _have_ an organized left wing to speak of. In the sense that “the european left” (which doesn’t exist except as a very broad term applying to multitudes of regional parties and organizations) has the clout to stage protests and get some political influence, yes, they’re “like” the American extreme right. I do want to note that the vast majority of the “european left” power are democratic, generally strongly anti-violent political parties with huge popular appeal. Not quasi-fascistic morons who get scared into “action” by semi-religious and xenophobic arguments (that would describe the currently popular factions of the extreme right, both in the US and in Europe, from Tea Partiers to Wilder’s PVV). ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/14 "2011-05-23T17:02:12Z")
Is the British left like the right of the American countries? Not to any significant or conclusion-drawing extent, because you’re comparing a single country to a considerable collection of them, all with different histories, important figures and events playing a role. Europe certainly has a considerable amount of shared history, but even then, with different perspectives and personal contribution. You could compare country with country, and even smaller overall regions. But if I compare a single European country with the entirety of North and South America, i’m not going to come to any useful insights, because by necessity i’d be ignoring the individual stories which have come to make those nations what they are. I’d be ignoring those individual points which mean that I can’t simply take the U.S.A, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, for example, and declare that they are all similar enough to generalise effects. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/15 "2011-05-23T18:52:29Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > The OP is way to broad and also seemingly ill informed. I am shocked to find that there are too broad and seemingly ill-informed OPs going on here! I am even more shocked, almost flabbergasted, to find that labor unions go on strike. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/16 "2011-05-23T19:09:06Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I am shocked to find that there are too broad and seemingly ill-informed OPs going on here! > > I am even more shocked, almost flabbergasted, to find that labor unions go on strike. :eek: Not any more. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/17 "2011-05-23T19:11:13Z")
Strikes, you say? Well, that’s just … inconceivable! ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/18 "2011-05-23T19:32:27Z")
The European right is like the American left. The political center in Europe is to the left of where it is in the United States. In Europe there is little public support for the repeal of government spending programs that are still being advocated by the American left. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/19 "2011-05-23T19:56:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Is The European Left Like the American Right No. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830/20 "2011-05-23T20:01:39Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > They eat babies too. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Everyone does, in France. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You should try the Bébé braisé avec vinaigrette aux framboises. It’s fantastic. I understand that they’re kind of [tough](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IiLZ0dvDWU). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-european-left-like-the-american-right/582830.md?page=2)