Watch this. Kamala Harris was referred to as the most radically left member of the Senate. Is she even more far left than Bernie Sanders?

[RingOfFire]

[lightbulb27]

can't believe anything she says, because she will say anything in the moment. Think of her more like "gumby" than Wonder woman.

She will play a side and bend and shift and contort. I doubt a clear policy could be determined, but yes, probably naturally left until pulled right.

[Skinhead-1979]

No offence meant... But as someone from Europe I always need to laugh when Americans label some of their politicians as [radical] Left.

Even your most [radical] Left-Wing politicians are still Centre-Right/ Right-Wing in Europe 😉

[RingOfFire]

These early warnings are exactly why Americans are not following Europeans down the Marxist rathole.

[RingOfFire]

No offense meant.

[Skinhead-1979]

That's rather extreme... Even our most Left-Wing Political parties are still far removed from Marxism; we do not have Socialist nor Communist Political parties:

The Conservatives like to style themselves as 'Centre-Right' but they are really Right-Wing.

The Labour Party is supposed to be Centre-Left, but they are now on the same level as the Conservatives and on some points surpass the Conservates on the Right.

The Liberal Democrats are 'Conservatives Lite', Centre-Right

The Green Party is Centre-Left.

Change UK is Far-Right.

I will refrain from listing the political parties in Wales, Scotland and N-Ireland... but they follow a similar pattern.

(While I am most certainly far on the left; I am not a Marxist. I agree with some points of the ideology, but I can also understand why you oppose it; or at least why there is opposition against some parts of it. I am neutral about Marxist-Leninism and Trotskyism; I firmly oppose Stalinism and Maoism)

What's so horrible about a good, healthy public sector and taxation?

-Our Tax system is not more 'punitive' than the US tax system is... Ours is way more straight forward, and our taxes are being used to finance the public sector.

-One of the greatest benefits is that out healthcare service is 'free-at-the-point-of-delivery'. So when you need medical care, you will not be billed Thousands of Pounds.

-Education is free up till 'Tertiary Education' and costs for further education are much lower than in the US meaning students leave their education with far lower Study Debts and thus financially prosper much faster due to not buckling under a massive debt load.

-When you've lost your job, the State will provide funds, benefits, to ensure you will not end up starving and living out on the street; same goes for when you are unable to work, either temporarily or permanently.

[Skinhead-1979]

I will say our taxation system is unfair and favours the wealthy over the poor. Since Margaret Thatcher came to power, the bulk of the tax load has been shifted from the wealthy to the poor. The highest Income tax rate got reduced from from 83% to 60% and then abolished all together... while at the same time VAT (Value Added Tax on goods) went up from 8% to 15% (and currently stands at 20%).

Direct Taxation, e. g. Income Tax, Business Tax, Inheritance Tax, affects the wealthy the most; Indirect Taxation, e. g. VAT, affects the poorest the most.
Tax breaks and reductions are constantly being dished out (of course a lot around election time); while the proposals are being presented as benefitting everyone; realistically the wealthy benefit more. Any kind of financial benefit the poor get from Tax Reductions will disappear due to the 'Cost of Living'.

(I have nothing against people who are wealthy; good on them. No envy/ jealousy there; I do not aspire a wealthy life. I am quite happy would I just have the 'basics'... but I do feel the wealthy should contribute more to society. Society ensures that they do well business/ financially wise, so to me it makes sense that they transfer some of their acquired wealthy back into society. There are 100s of millionaires and billionaires in the world who have signed a petition to force their governments to tax them more, so some of the wealthy are not opposed to higher taxation... but our governments refuse because they are too invested in the private sector)

[Skinhead-1979]

The downside of the benefits system is that because the government tops up low incomes, employers feel less compelled to pay decent wages (though lets be honest, if employers would be free to set the wages themselves; they would still not pay people a decent living wage). We have a minimum wage system, but minimum wage is not sufficient to live off. 9 million workers, out of a total working population of 33 million, have to rely on state benefits to make ends-meet. Even children of working parents go to school hungry; out of 12.7 million children, 4.7 million live in 'Relative Poverty'. Would we really be living in a Socialist or Communist State, this would not be the case.
The Benefits system is the biggest 'drain' on the public purse; this can be simply remedied by increasing wages to a decent standard, meaning people have more money in their pocket and can thus 'invest' that into the economy, higher rates of taxation can be applied without it affecting people's livelihood in any meaningful way, and the money which will be saved on benefits can be invested in other parts of society. To me this just makes sense... Money needs to roll for an economy to grow, but in our economies the wealthy are hoarding at the top while the poor do not have the means to have much of an impact on the economy to make it grow more.

[Skinhead-1979]

I understand if you feel a need to refer to the USSR and how [badly] the living standards of people declined towards the end of its existence; but it is of course more complex than simply Communism being at fault... and I will instantly bring up China. While China is most certainly *not* Communist/ Socialist when it comes down to the Economical side of things (It's State Capitalism; Capitalism is strictly regulated by the State and Chinese Communist Party), under their Communist Political and Social system the country has massively improved over the past 5 decades and flourished. I am sure you and I agree that their political system is not for us, in general Chinese people are satisfied (in every country there will always be dissident, so naturally there is also dissident in China)

(I do not support the USSR... To me it was an abomination; so much has gone wrong in Russia after the Tzarist Regime had been toppled; Lenin has of course made many mistakes... and others... but none have been as damaging as that shit stain of a 'human being' Stalin. To me Stalinism, but also Maoism, are 'Red Fascism'; and many others agree)

[Skinhead-1979]

I am not trying to convince you and change your mind... I am just telling you what my point of view is 😉

[Anonymous]

that's why she's absolutely perfect for the leftists

the Democrats are gonna milk the shit out of her identities as a POC queer woman

[ManInChains]

She’s as far left as anyone could possibly get

[paledreams]

I'm a Harris fanman and I'd say she's not left ⬅️

[RingOfFire]

Yes but you people also believe that men can have babies so who cares?

[paledreams]

@RingOfFire and let's all enjoy that life is bliss because winners keep on winning 🏆

[RingOfFire]

That implies that losers keep losing. I hope you are right since Harris is the poster child for losers.

[paledreams]

@RingOfFire I know sir you'll take the ring 💍 lol from Gandalf and vote for Democrats hahahahaha I'm an Aussie so whatever, hooray lefties hooray 🎉🎉🎉🎉 anyways. It's all the same, it's all politicians, it's all - blah.

[Pterodon]

Yes she is