Former prosecutor, church-going, mom of 4 with SEVERAL floral dresses, and my views line up with yours exactly. It just seems like common, humanist sense. I bet we’re legions….in fact I’m counting on it, because I really fucking love America.
One thing I think the Harris campaign got right that Democrats should keep doing was making flag waiving patriotism part of its image. "Loving America" is not a position that should be surrendered to the right. Instead of calling America "stolen land", we should be talking about how we want everyone to thrive in our shared home.
I’m convinced that leftist candidates could become dramatically more popular without changing anything policy wise if they were just unambiguously patriotic.
A lot of the commentary calling CHH a Republican is unhinged and too online. The current Republican president is a criminal who has been divorced twice. Meanwhile, no Democratic president has ever been divorced. The prototypical resistance Democrat is educated and married. People are basing their baseline of what a Democrat is based on the type of person who couldn't get hired at Jezebel. If you're basing your worldview based on random losers you see online, you may be a loser.
I’m a leftist but whenever I think about exactly *why* I wouldn’t vote Republican, it really comes to Trump first. I am never going to support someone who wants to dismantle democracy, and he’s made it very clear he’ll try to do that.
There are a whole host of other issues that would prevent me from voting Republican, but it doesn’t even get there because the dictator thing is a non-starter.
Even if Trump agreed with all my views I couldn't support him. It goes beyond politics. Such a patently selfish, cruel, megalomaniac should not have access to one of the largest nuclear arsenals on the planet, nor the country's law enforcement apparatus. From January 6, to the rape allegations, to the lying about Haitians eating cats, to whatever the hell the Rob Reiner tweet was, it has been incredibly frustrating watching millions of people convince themselves to lower their most basic standards of human decency so that he can get his bone-spurred legs over them.
Funny enough, I know conservatives who just can’t vote Republican until he’s out of the picture for this exact reason. I don’t think they would vote Democrat either but I think for now they just sit out elections or vote third-party.
I mean there are entire media organizations focused on this view. I've followed The Dispatch since day 1, and while they almost always frustrate me to no end (especially after David French left), they're very consistent on this point. To their credit.
I've voted L, R, and D. Depended on the candidate and the office. But never again, and it doesn't boil down to policy as much as authoritarianism and elections. Do I like feeling forced to vote D? No, but I blame the Rs for turning their party into simply the political arm of an insurgency. (And I worry that Ds are not exactly emerging as the party of liberalism, either. I fear Ds with ambition hoping to hold onto Trump's expansion of presidential power "but for good.")
As for resistlibs, you can make fun (please do) but there's very few things they predicted about Trump that he didn't eventually do, usually after 1-2 years of respectable libs saying oh no, he wouldn't go that far.
I think of myself as center-left, but as I've gotten older I've definitely drifted rightward. To the point where I now wonder whether I might have voted for, say, GHWB (in 88 at least). But I will never vote for a Republican now.
I wasn't able to vote in 88 or 92, but I suspect I would have voted for him. I also suspect I would have voted for him in the 1980 primary. And regardless of how I'd have voted, I think he did a remarkable job in winning the peace. But that's because more than right or left, I'm a globalist.
I think I may actually agree with everything you said here. Maybe I can nitpick some parts but otherwise, I think you and I are very closely aligned on politics.
Which is why I can’t fathom how anyone could confuse you with a Republican. It would have to be either a Republican who thinks everyone left of center is Karl Marx, or a Marxist who thinks that anyone to the right of Mamdani is Ronald Reagan.
I consider myself a standard progressive. I want universal healthcare, I’m very socially left wing, but I part with other progressives when it comes to Gaza and Israel. I agree that Israel’s gone too far, but I don’t think it’s as simple as progressives make it seem because Hamas did start it.
As far as politicians go, I tend to prefer progressives over moderates. I’m a big fan of Mamdani for example, and I want 2028 to be AOC’s year.
I would not call myself a Marxist because I don’t agree with communism, and because I simply don’t care about economics enough to have a firm opinion about that. If you tried to explain Keynesian economics to me and why you think they’re better or worse than Chicago School, I would do what Homer did when Flanders tried to explain the difference between apple juice and apple cider.
Side note, but it kinda bugs me when people distinguish between liberals and leftists because a leftist, by definition, is anyone left of center, which American liberals definitely are. So I’d prefer it if the narrative was liberals vs progressives.
Several of my lib friends are a steady steam of Palestinian advocacy or convictions of limitless state support for the "oppressed" at the expense of "billionaires". How are they so oblivious to the deep unrelatability of such a tunnel vision approach to such matters? It's like an active choice that trade-offs don't matter.
I think the problem, even if you set antisemitism aside, is that a lot of leftist have this unfortunate habit of instinctively siding with whomever they perceive as the underdog, regardless of who’s right.
So they see Israel “illegally” occupying the region and fighting a war against a weaker enemy, and they automatically see Israel as the bad guy without understanding the nuance.
Russia bombards Ukraine into oblivion, in the most cruel ways imaginable, simply for existing and exercising sovereignty: *I sleep*
As extension of modern human civilization-duration conflict, Iran-aligned Hamas launches brutal, murderous campaign against Israelis, inflicting heavy casualties. Israel responds with its own brutal, murderous response: *Real shit*
"And even J.D. Vance once called Trump “America’s Hitler,” although if you look at his Twitter mutuals, he might have meant it as a compliment." - LOL, got 'em!
Well said, regarding authoritarianism/democracy and immigration enforcement. I often struggle to cut through the blizzard of nonsense around Trump and summarize why he really is a bad president - and those two points are near the top.
It takes guts to write something like this, because now, people will be forever referring back to this article, saying “but wait, doesn’t that contradict what you wrote in ‘Why I’m Not A Republican’?”.
I do think some of the reasons you are “Republican-coded” are silly nonsense where Republicans decide that something completely normal and bipartisan like marriage or eating meat or liking your family somehow belongs to them.
It's reminiscent of conservative commentary complaining that Obama has a stable loving marriage, but doesn't spend all of his time yelling at single mothers.
This is kind of Matt Yglesias' Common Sense Democrat Manifesto, but written for normal people.
My dad has always been a "lower my marginal income tax, damn the consequences" kind of Republican, which I didn't agree with, but at least understood. Still cannot understand my evangelical christian relatives looking at Trump and saying, "That's great!" I mean, Dems twisted themselves into a pretzel (in some cases) keeping greasy old Bill Clinton in the tent, but then seemed to take a lesson from it and kicked John Edwards right to the moon, and it was fine. If Republicans can't just vote for better Republicans, I'm not sure what the future has in store for us all.
I hereby send a referral to the Hague for your advocacy of genocide here.
- your typical BlueSky user, probably
(Note: it is painful to me that this is not an extremely obvious, supermajority policy platform; I have considered the idea our current moment is grounded in social movement politics which demand ever-more extreme positions in service of the tribe, and there is a squishy, uninspiring impotence around thoughtful consideration of tradeoffs in American life that fails to inspire voters to the polls absent the aforementioned toxicity)
I have a clear idea of CHH as an old school slightly left of center Democrat. Which is insanely provocative these days!
I couldn't place myself on the US political spectrum if you held a gun to my head. What do you call someone who believes that crime and disorder are terrible, wants more police on the street, wants universal health care, parental leave for all, and clean, fast public transportation?
Ultimately, I also don't want a president with personality - the next president could be an adding machine for all I care. I want them to operate in the background and out of my sight.
I suspect most people are still like that, but the nature of media (whether social or traditional) is that it needs to grab our attention by being interesting, so it's over-represented by the views of the most "interesting" people, rather than the more normal and boring majority.
Just realized I used the term "adding machine" which no one on here will remember unless they were listening hard to their grandparents do their taxes.
Another normie married mom here agreeing with you! I'm a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats believer, and so, imo, if we take care of our most poor and vulnerable, we all benefit. We can recognize the deep humanity in all individuals AND not tolerate anti-social behavior. My personal list would also include lack of govt interference in medical care (including that IVF should be accessible and abortion should be safe, legal, and rare), as well as belief that science is important.
This is mostly common-sense “puppies are cute and chocolate is yummy” stuff here that nobody reasonably should quibble with much — in my opinion!
Look, I am 60, wear dresses mostly, have hair even longer than yours, bake my own bread, absolutely adored my SAHM years, am happily married, etc etc — but I’m a bit to the left of you. I’m probably judgier than you in that I refuse to associate with anyone who supports Trump, ICE and the existential harm being done to our country.
A hearty high-five on the economic inequality stuff — that’s my entire subject and because I’m writing from the bottom of the K, I always appreciate the backup from those writing from the top.
We’d be centrists, not libs, in much of Europe. My husband, a citizen of the Netherlands, denied being liberal when he first moved here. But here, he’s ragingly liberal! His views didn’t change.
Incidentally, when we talk to people all over the political spectrum, MOST of us want the same things — we just disagree with the right path to them.
Every single time I get to visit Europe (which we couldn’t afford for years and now we can’t do safely thanks to MAGA) I think the same thing: “We could have nice things, too, if there were not always a Republican objecting to every good thing.”
It’s impossible to spend time in Europe, talking to real Europeans living average lives, seeing how they live, and not feel extremely jealous of their healthcare, time off, better-quality food, better childcare, better work-life balance etc etc.
Anyway, I look forward to reading the rest of the comments now.
I think whether we would be more left or right in Europe would probably have more to do with our beliefs on immigration! And I guess I got into that via ice, but I’m probably pretty left of center on that. Strong vetting to prevent previous violent criminals from entering the country, but very very for highly skilled immigrants and other people who are fleeing political violence.
If I’d moved to the Netherlands, I’d be welcomed but would be required to take free Dutch lessons which honestly seems quite reasonable. Here, Republicans get mad if people don’t learn English but would bristle at the notion of paying for language and culture classes. The Democrats might object to anyone being “indoctrinated” by being forced to learn the language and culture.
Yeah, I do think part of immigration should be some degree of assimilation. And many immigrants are excited to learn English and be part of America’s culture (and it’s a melting pot, so why not?) I agree that having sequestered immigrants populations that don’t interact with the broader populace is probably not great, here or anywhere. But my view is, if you want to be an American and you’re an honest working person who wants to find a job and raise a family, join the fun and bring your culture along!
I follow your writing, and I think you live in a much more politically mixed area, which I’m guessing CHH doesn’t. My mom is a normie liberal (and until recently apolitical except voting) and lives in a Republican-dominated rural area in a very blue state, and it’s very painful and hard for her to see her neighbors and community cheer on literal fascism. It’s much easier to be compassionate toward the worst republicans when you don’t have to live in community with them.
This made me laugh…I think your great contribution to modern online dialogue is being a normal person who struggles admits to make friends. Which is all of us at various times, we are just too embarrassed to admit it. Different but similar, I remember telling a coworker that I was doing online dating and she immediately perked up and was like OK. You’re normal. I’m going to do it too. I didn’t know many normal people doing it, this was years ago, I’ll admit it’s way more normal to do now!
I live in a ruby-red, gritty, working class small town in central Illinois. Red area in a blue state. We are really only blue because of Chicago. I am surrounded by trumpers although I have plenty of lib friends here. No area is 100 percent.
Fair arguments! It would be very interesting to transpose these viewpoints onto countries with less insane political systems - compared to most developed countries, the US has very ‘out-there’ parties on both ends that tend to lead to people polarising over positions that would be considered wildly outlandish to even debate in Europe.
None of the key issues you point to that dictate your vote (free healthcare, social safety nets, reasonable police enforcement etc) would go anywhere towards dictating whether eg you’d vote for the Conservatives or Labour in the UK, so at some point it would be really interesting to see you do your own deep-dive into some of these other political systems as it would enable a far more nuanced view of your political opinions than a simple ‘do you like Trump or not’ test does in the US.
True. Our NHS is quietly being dismantled, the rich are getting richer while poverty rates rise, homelessness is on the rise, the tax system is skewed in favour of the rich (even though they'll try and convince you otherwise)… and this is under a 'Labour' government. If everyone took the time to interrogate the depths of their political beliefs to this extent and triangulated them with actual party manifestos we probably wouldn't be in this mess in the UK but here we are.
Former prosecutor, church-going, mom of 4 with SEVERAL floral dresses, and my views line up with yours exactly. It just seems like common, humanist sense. I bet we’re legions….in fact I’m counting on it, because I really fucking love America.
Love this ❤️❤️❤️❤️
One thing I think the Harris campaign got right that Democrats should keep doing was making flag waiving patriotism part of its image. "Loving America" is not a position that should be surrendered to the right. Instead of calling America "stolen land", we should be talking about how we want everyone to thrive in our shared home.
I’m convinced that leftist candidates could become dramatically more popular without changing anything policy wise if they were just unambiguously patriotic.
They started out this way! But then after the convention it ... just ... disappeared?
Church-going mom of 4 with SEVERAL floral dresses - that would be an excellent name for a Substack!
Especially if I also squeezed in “democrat”
A lot of the commentary calling CHH a Republican is unhinged and too online. The current Republican president is a criminal who has been divorced twice. Meanwhile, no Democratic president has ever been divorced. The prototypical resistance Democrat is educated and married. People are basing their baseline of what a Democrat is based on the type of person who couldn't get hired at Jezebel. If you're basing your worldview based on random losers you see online, you may be a loser.
“couldn’t get hired at Jezebel” 😂
Brilliant, right?
I’m a leftist but whenever I think about exactly *why* I wouldn’t vote Republican, it really comes to Trump first. I am never going to support someone who wants to dismantle democracy, and he’s made it very clear he’ll try to do that.
There are a whole host of other issues that would prevent me from voting Republican, but it doesn’t even get there because the dictator thing is a non-starter.
Even if Trump agreed with all my views I couldn't support him. It goes beyond politics. Such a patently selfish, cruel, megalomaniac should not have access to one of the largest nuclear arsenals on the planet, nor the country's law enforcement apparatus. From January 6, to the rape allegations, to the lying about Haitians eating cats, to whatever the hell the Rob Reiner tweet was, it has been incredibly frustrating watching millions of people convince themselves to lower their most basic standards of human decency so that he can get his bone-spurred legs over them.
Funny enough, I know conservatives who just can’t vote Republican until he’s out of the picture for this exact reason. I don’t think they would vote Democrat either but I think for now they just sit out elections or vote third-party.
I mean there are entire media organizations focused on this view. I've followed The Dispatch since day 1, and while they almost always frustrate me to no end (especially after David French left), they're very consistent on this point. To their credit.
It’s really bad when both parties get captured by their loony factions.
I've voted L, R, and D. Depended on the candidate and the office. But never again, and it doesn't boil down to policy as much as authoritarianism and elections. Do I like feeling forced to vote D? No, but I blame the Rs for turning their party into simply the political arm of an insurgency. (And I worry that Ds are not exactly emerging as the party of liberalism, either. I fear Ds with ambition hoping to hold onto Trump's expansion of presidential power "but for good.")
As for resistlibs, you can make fun (please do) but there's very few things they predicted about Trump that he didn't eventually do, usually after 1-2 years of respectable libs saying oh no, he wouldn't go that far.
I think of myself as center-left, but as I've gotten older I've definitely drifted rightward. To the point where I now wonder whether I might have voted for, say, GHWB (in 88 at least). But I will never vote for a Republican now.
I wasn't able to vote in 88 or 92, but I suspect I would have voted for him. I also suspect I would have voted for him in the 1980 primary. And regardless of how I'd have voted, I think he did a remarkable job in winning the peace. But that's because more than right or left, I'm a globalist.
I think I may actually agree with everything you said here. Maybe I can nitpick some parts but otherwise, I think you and I are very closely aligned on politics.
Which is why I can’t fathom how anyone could confuse you with a Republican. It would have to be either a Republican who thinks everyone left of center is Karl Marx, or a Marxist who thinks that anyone to the right of Mamdani is Ronald Reagan.
How do you identify yourself politically? “Liberal”? Or something more specific?
I consider myself a standard progressive. I want universal healthcare, I’m very socially left wing, but I part with other progressives when it comes to Gaza and Israel. I agree that Israel’s gone too far, but I don’t think it’s as simple as progressives make it seem because Hamas did start it.
As far as politicians go, I tend to prefer progressives over moderates. I’m a big fan of Mamdani for example, and I want 2028 to be AOC’s year.
I would not call myself a Marxist because I don’t agree with communism, and because I simply don’t care about economics enough to have a firm opinion about that. If you tried to explain Keynesian economics to me and why you think they’re better or worse than Chicago School, I would do what Homer did when Flanders tried to explain the difference between apple juice and apple cider.
Side note, but it kinda bugs me when people distinguish between liberals and leftists because a leftist, by definition, is anyone left of center, which American liberals definitely are. So I’d prefer it if the narrative was liberals vs progressives.
^^^^ How is this not the majority position?
Several of my lib friends are a steady steam of Palestinian advocacy or convictions of limitless state support for the "oppressed" at the expense of "billionaires". How are they so oblivious to the deep unrelatability of such a tunnel vision approach to such matters? It's like an active choice that trade-offs don't matter.
I think the problem, even if you set antisemitism aside, is that a lot of leftist have this unfortunate habit of instinctively siding with whomever they perceive as the underdog, regardless of who’s right.
So they see Israel “illegally” occupying the region and fighting a war against a weaker enemy, and they automatically see Israel as the bad guy without understanding the nuance.
(Shaq meme, for progressives)
Russia bombards Ukraine into oblivion, in the most cruel ways imaginable, simply for existing and exercising sovereignty: *I sleep*
As extension of modern human civilization-duration conflict, Iran-aligned Hamas launches brutal, murderous campaign against Israelis, inflicting heavy casualties. Israel responds with its own brutal, murderous response: *Real shit*
"Hamas did start it" - Hamas did not exist in 1948, just saying.
"And even J.D. Vance once called Trump “America’s Hitler,” although if you look at his Twitter mutuals, he might have meant it as a compliment." - LOL, got 'em!
Well said, regarding authoritarianism/democracy and immigration enforcement. I often struggle to cut through the blizzard of nonsense around Trump and summarize why he really is a bad president - and those two points are near the top.
It takes guts to write something like this, because now, people will be forever referring back to this article, saying “but wait, doesn’t that contradict what you wrote in ‘Why I’m Not A Republican’?”.
I do think some of the reasons you are “Republican-coded” are silly nonsense where Republicans decide that something completely normal and bipartisan like marriage or eating meat or liking your family somehow belongs to them.
I want to underline that bit about Republicans claiming normal, common, average things as theirs.
It's reminiscent of conservative commentary complaining that Obama has a stable loving marriage, but doesn't spend all of his time yelling at single mothers.
This is kind of Matt Yglesias' Common Sense Democrat Manifesto, but written for normal people.
My dad has always been a "lower my marginal income tax, damn the consequences" kind of Republican, which I didn't agree with, but at least understood. Still cannot understand my evangelical christian relatives looking at Trump and saying, "That's great!" I mean, Dems twisted themselves into a pretzel (in some cases) keeping greasy old Bill Clinton in the tent, but then seemed to take a lesson from it and kicked John Edwards right to the moon, and it was fine. If Republicans can't just vote for better Republicans, I'm not sure what the future has in store for us all.
I love any CHH article where she has to make up a twitter handle!
LOL thank you. Admittedly, I've overused AryanRapist1488
Ha, it’s a shame that that one NEEDS repeating!
I hereby send a referral to the Hague for your advocacy of genocide here.
- your typical BlueSky user, probably
(Note: it is painful to me that this is not an extremely obvious, supermajority policy platform; I have considered the idea our current moment is grounded in social movement politics which demand ever-more extreme positions in service of the tribe, and there is a squishy, uninspiring impotence around thoughtful consideration of tradeoffs in American life that fails to inspire voters to the polls absent the aforementioned toxicity)
I have a clear idea of CHH as an old school slightly left of center Democrat. Which is insanely provocative these days!
I couldn't place myself on the US political spectrum if you held a gun to my head. What do you call someone who believes that crime and disorder are terrible, wants more police on the street, wants universal health care, parental leave for all, and clean, fast public transportation?
Ultimately, I also don't want a president with personality - the next president could be an adding machine for all I care. I want them to operate in the background and out of my sight.
Those people are usually called Democrats.
I suspect most people are still like that, but the nature of media (whether social or traditional) is that it needs to grab our attention by being interesting, so it's over-represented by the views of the most "interesting" people, rather than the more normal and boring majority.
"Abundance lib"
Ezra Klein's granny I guess lol
Just realized I used the term "adding machine" which no one on here will remember unless they were listening hard to their grandparents do their taxes.
Genuine, non-snarky inquiry: what’s insanely provocative about being an old school slightly left of center democrat?
She certainly gets a lot of comments on her posts! Something is pulling us all here and compelling us to respond to her.
Of course, it could just be writing talent, making the ordinary extraordinary and all that.
Another normie married mom here agreeing with you! I'm a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats believer, and so, imo, if we take care of our most poor and vulnerable, we all benefit. We can recognize the deep humanity in all individuals AND not tolerate anti-social behavior. My personal list would also include lack of govt interference in medical care (including that IVF should be accessible and abortion should be safe, legal, and rare), as well as belief that science is important.
This is mostly common-sense “puppies are cute and chocolate is yummy” stuff here that nobody reasonably should quibble with much — in my opinion!
Look, I am 60, wear dresses mostly, have hair even longer than yours, bake my own bread, absolutely adored my SAHM years, am happily married, etc etc — but I’m a bit to the left of you. I’m probably judgier than you in that I refuse to associate with anyone who supports Trump, ICE and the existential harm being done to our country.
A hearty high-five on the economic inequality stuff — that’s my entire subject and because I’m writing from the bottom of the K, I always appreciate the backup from those writing from the top.
We’d be centrists, not libs, in much of Europe. My husband, a citizen of the Netherlands, denied being liberal when he first moved here. But here, he’s ragingly liberal! His views didn’t change.
Incidentally, when we talk to people all over the political spectrum, MOST of us want the same things — we just disagree with the right path to them.
Every single time I get to visit Europe (which we couldn’t afford for years and now we can’t do safely thanks to MAGA) I think the same thing: “We could have nice things, too, if there were not always a Republican objecting to every good thing.”
It’s impossible to spend time in Europe, talking to real Europeans living average lives, seeing how they live, and not feel extremely jealous of their healthcare, time off, better-quality food, better childcare, better work-life balance etc etc.
Anyway, I look forward to reading the rest of the comments now.
I think whether we would be more left or right in Europe would probably have more to do with our beliefs on immigration! And I guess I got into that via ice, but I’m probably pretty left of center on that. Strong vetting to prevent previous violent criminals from entering the country, but very very for highly skilled immigrants and other people who are fleeing political violence.
If I’d moved to the Netherlands, I’d be welcomed but would be required to take free Dutch lessons which honestly seems quite reasonable. Here, Republicans get mad if people don’t learn English but would bristle at the notion of paying for language and culture classes. The Democrats might object to anyone being “indoctrinated” by being forced to learn the language and culture.
Yeah, I do think part of immigration should be some degree of assimilation. And many immigrants are excited to learn English and be part of America’s culture (and it’s a melting pot, so why not?) I agree that having sequestered immigrants populations that don’t interact with the broader populace is probably not great, here or anywhere. But my view is, if you want to be an American and you’re an honest working person who wants to find a job and raise a family, join the fun and bring your culture along!
I follow your writing, and I think you live in a much more politically mixed area, which I’m guessing CHH doesn’t. My mom is a normie liberal (and until recently apolitical except voting) and lives in a Republican-dominated rural area in a very blue state, and it’s very painful and hard for her to see her neighbors and community cheer on literal fascism. It’s much easier to be compassionate toward the worst republicans when you don’t have to live in community with them.
Yeah, the “worst” conservatives I know still think ICE has gone too far. Granted I just don’t know that many people because I’m a loser lol
This made me laugh…I think your great contribution to modern online dialogue is being a normal person who struggles admits to make friends. Which is all of us at various times, we are just too embarrassed to admit it. Different but similar, I remember telling a coworker that I was doing online dating and she immediately perked up and was like OK. You’re normal. I’m going to do it too. I didn’t know many normal people doing it, this was years ago, I’ll admit it’s way more normal to do now!
I live in a ruby-red, gritty, working class small town in central Illinois. Red area in a blue state. We are really only blue because of Chicago. I am surrounded by trumpers although I have plenty of lib friends here. No area is 100 percent.
OMG, Quizno’s erotica 😂
“role play thing where you have to be a Quizno’s employee dealing with an excessively chatty customer“
I honestly thought: Maybe I'll try that Quizno's thing with my husband. It will confuse the hell out of him but what is life without surprises?
I’ll have the “Spicy Monterey”
Fair arguments! It would be very interesting to transpose these viewpoints onto countries with less insane political systems - compared to most developed countries, the US has very ‘out-there’ parties on both ends that tend to lead to people polarising over positions that would be considered wildly outlandish to even debate in Europe.
None of the key issues you point to that dictate your vote (free healthcare, social safety nets, reasonable police enforcement etc) would go anywhere towards dictating whether eg you’d vote for the Conservatives or Labour in the UK, so at some point it would be really interesting to see you do your own deep-dive into some of these other political systems as it would enable a far more nuanced view of your political opinions than a simple ‘do you like Trump or not’ test does in the US.
I'm not sure the UK for the past ten or so years would be anyone's idea of a country with sane politics.
True. Our NHS is quietly being dismantled, the rich are getting richer while poverty rates rise, homelessness is on the rise, the tax system is skewed in favour of the rich (even though they'll try and convince you otherwise)… and this is under a 'Labour' government. If everyone took the time to interrogate the depths of their political beliefs to this extent and triangulated them with actual party manifestos we probably wouldn't be in this mess in the UK but here we are.