>>Quote "^ Here the left-center-right spectrum is relative to specific national norms, by European standards, the US democratic party would be center right, at least as it has been thru summer 2008. "
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>>Also: http://forums.modojo.com/showthread.php?t=153999
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>So your point all along was not that there is no political left here, but rather that there is no European political left here...

Well it has been my statement has been that according to the european political compass there is no significant left in the US. So each time that americans talk about leftish, we are looking with strange eyes and the things beeing discussed are not leftish in our books. IOW, left in the US cannot be compared to left in Europe, even though that is often implied.

>I would still disagree. A politician's views and policies often swerve to the center during a presidential election in order to gain the most votes across the board. They will swerve right back afterwards.

Same up here, but in a lesser extend because we have many more significantly sized parties.

>Also, it is more to do with our outlook and culture:
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>This anarchic spirit was summed up by Ronald Reagan: “The ten most dangerous words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you’.” In Europe, by contrast, the public expect government to solve all problems, and the media try to hold politicians accountable for everything. The result is a culture of dependency that extends far beyond the welfare state, to business and to the worlds of education, medicine, arts and science.

Yes and no. First off all our politicians are trying to tell the same story here that people cannot hold the government responsible for everything. They need to get active as well. This esspecially is a hot topic the last couple of years.

OTOH, we do expect that basic things are taken care off by the governement. Healthcare, Basic pensions, Safety, Infrastructure, Environment, military etc. So not that much different from the US. The main difference might be on quality. I find that in the US there is more of a thinking that things must be as cheap as possible for something to work. (often also refered to if it does not generate any money it is without value). This is far less so up here. There is a lot more eye for design, estetics and enviroment and the government is willing/obligated to spend money on it.

Also a phrase often heard: An american is living to work. An european works to live. The emphasis up here is more on beeing happy rather than beeing rich.

But make no mistake, socialism as refered to in the articles is not the same as communism.This an often made mistake. We up here also expect people to know and take their own responsibilities. However we do expect from the government to have laid the foundation that should be accessible for everyone. And we do expect that we are being taken care of in the case we cannot take care of ourselves anymore.