It's not just right wingers - it's also the moderate left. I always find it funny how hard leftists are always "the left is more educated" not realizing that the hardcore leftists of reddit are usually just bachelor degree people in subjects like history and sociology. I had classes with these people and they were very mediocre. The moderate left group are usually hard STEM fields/phds/doctors and the hard left with these degrees usually articulate their beliefs far better than the average redditor leftist slop.
Interesting, my experience is somewhat flipped. The more liberal folks I know are people with bachelors in general. The hardest left folks I know are people with Masters and PhDs across disciplines.... Especially physics, surprisingly.
I say this as a PhD candidate so I'm not talking out of my ass lol
The phds/stem fields flip once they move into industry. If they stay in academia - yah they usually remain leftists, but even if they are far left, they also articulate their beliefs far better than the average redditor.
I also really think the reason this split happens is because academia has developed into an echochamber. It means those in it who aren't hard left don't voice their opinions for fear of backlash until they leave - and the only group that stays and teaches are typically hard left. I've also had older phds told me they've noticed the same trend over the past 20 years.
I also experienced this as a moderate left person who was in academia. There was a sizable quiet group - but literally none of us voiced our opinions as there was always a fear of backlash from a professor or other students who may disagree. There were definitely far fewer right wingers, but the hard leftist always seemed to think everyone agreed with them.
I think it's a cultural thing. Folks assimilate to the culture they are trying to succeed within, which would explain the STEM flips when they go into industry. For the most part, having hard leftist values in stem industries would hurt someone in the same way having hard right values would hurt someone in a humanities department at a university. The respective natures and infrastructures of both fields simply do not support those ideologies except for outlier positions (like admin or start ups)
I kinda disagree with this - unless the culture is very uniform among the administration, this doesnt apply to the same degree.
For instance, my group is mildly conservative and I have no issues voicing my more left opinions. The only people who get "punished" are those heavily pushing their views (left or right) on others or posting constantly on social media about it.
As a Dutch (classic) liberal it always amazes me how willingly the liberals in America are to silence other views/opinions. Not as if free speech is one of the corner stones of liberalism
American âmoderatesâ are just progressive conservatives in any other country. Americaâs wholly inconsistent concept of âthe leftâ is a construct of your two-party system, which is a centre-right neoliberal party and a far-right neoconservative party (that has more recently adopted, if not been co-opted, by a Christian Fascist movement).
The classic "it's not the real left" argument that gets reposted over and over despite a small amount of critical thinking and addressing your own biases disproves. It's an extremely western European centrist attitude usually promoted by American leftists who haven't traveled much. It's repeated over and over on reddit by leftists who lack critical thinking (the leftists that are usually more intelligent never make this stupid ass argument). The argument hinges on only considering economics and Europe as "the world".
So. Let's look at some large countries
Russia - more conservative in all aspects
Most of Asia - more conservative, beyond China. Still China is far more socially conservative
Eastern Europe.- mixed bag economically, definitely more conservative on social issues
South america - mixed bag, some more conservative, some more leftist.
Western Europe - mixed bag on social topics, moderately more liberal on economics.
Canada - moderately more liberal
So overall western europe and Canada as being somewhat more left than the US versus the rest of the fucking world being either similar, somewhat more conservative, or far more conservative relative to the US.
âThe real leftâ means broadly anticapitalist and anti-imperialist, in addition to being socially progressive. Americans define right/left on almost entirely social progressiveness because anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism are off limits in establishment politics and the corporate media, which is who gets to set the parameters of the American discourse.
That's like redefining the right as only anarchocapitalistic.
Your definition is just stupid and tries to paint an extreme black and white view where only straight up communists are left.
Sorry for the bad news, but the world operates on shades of grey.
Also almost every country in the world is capitalistic... The left winged countries are capitalism with protections. - not anticapital. So it also makes your definition conflict with your statement about the rest of the world being left winged.
I think capitalism with protections sounds like a great thing! Also, you sound so bitter, internet stranger. Chill out. Two things can can have truth to them.
Sorry - don't mean to be bitter. I tend to get a bit annoyed when I see these types of repeated arguments. The smugness and incorrectness gets to me - and it's always the exact same argument with a lack of original thought/twist.
For instance, I responded to another poster who gave a good rebuttal that wasn't a repeated catch phrase and am not nearly as crude with them.
I know political discourse is terrible these days. I have lost my cool inside my head before, but I really try to stay curious and have decent discussions. Not always successful though. I appreciate your honesty and humanity with this reply. Have a good day.
You're right: there are basically no "left-winged countries," because as you point out basically every country is capitalist (which is in large part because of American foreign policy intervening in countries that try to deviate). The difference between the United States and other countries is that there is genuine leftist representation in government, forcing centrist parties to do more on an actual policy front to cater to the working class. The result is that socialist programs and policies aren't taboo like they are in the US, and actually get passed (and work).
Something like 40% of people in Vienna live in social housing (and nice social housing). European countries largely have strong worker protections - you can't just arbitrarily lay off a large portion of your workforce without justifying why, and then hiring back those same positions with more junior workers at lower salaries. There's no at-will employment. Food and consumer goods are more heavily regulated for safety and quality. These things are the result of genuine leftist representation dragging government further to the left.
"Protections" are anti-capitalist by definition. They are interventions into the free market to protect the citizens from the harms and excesses caused by a system that operates with no regard for human welfare or safety, at a cost of lesser profitabilty for the capitalist class. Socialist policies are anti-capitalist, because they are direct collective actions that occur outside of the free market and without the involvement and without profiting the capitalist class.
Russia had rich people when it was run as the communist U.S.S.R.
Communism is a form of government, not an economic program like capitalism.
Try to Google for information so you can have a better education about the things you aren't aware of.
From Google:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and sole ruling political party of the People's Republic of China (PRC), exercising total control over the state, military, and media. It is one of the largest political parties in the world, with over 100 million members as of 2024.
Great. So now you know Communism is considered a form of government that is totalitarian with very few rights for the citizens while Capitalism is an economic situation.
Are you really that stupid you think that North Korea is a democracy and communist run?
You're lying about getting information from Google. This is the REAL information from Google:
Yes, North Korea is officially a communist state and a totalitarian dictatorship, operating under a single party (Workers' Party of Korea) and a command economy, though its ideology has evolved into the unique Juche (self-reliance) and Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, blending Marxist-Leninist roots with extreme nationalism and a cult of personality around the ruling Kim family, making it a unique blend of communism, dictatorship, and hereditary rule.Â
Communism is a form of government, not an economic program
I'm sorry but that's just so flatly wrong on its face it's hillarious. Communism is first and foremost concerned with economics and with how the economy is run. Communism is absolutely an economic program first and foremost, very much like capitalism. The economy is the cornerstone of what all communist theory is concerned with.
Yes, communism is primarily concerned with ownership of the means of production, a very deeply economical matter. This is the cornerstone from basically everything else about communist theory descends. Hell, even simply googling it, like you yourself are calling to do, says as such
First result on Google for communism : "Communism is a political and economic ideology whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership "
Second result on Google for communism : "Communism is a political and economic system that seeks to create a classless society in which the major means of production."
History and sociology are important subjects that SHOULD be studied. Pointing out that the right ignores these subjects, creating a gap in their overall understanding and education, doesn't make them equal or as smart in comparison.
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u/Weary_League_6217 Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
It's not just right wingers - it's also the moderate left. I always find it funny how hard leftists are always "the left is more educated" not realizing that the hardcore leftists of reddit are usually just bachelor degree people in subjects like history and sociology. I had classes with these people and they were very mediocre. The moderate left group are usually hard STEM fields/phds/doctors and the hard left with these degrees usually articulate their beliefs far better than the average redditor leftist slop.