Labour vs. the Democratic Party

Faust Arp

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is there a worse western "centre-left" party than starmer's labour? maybe the danish social democrats but that's the only one that immediately comes to mind as comparable

demoucratic

is there a worse western "centre-left" party than starmer's labour?

Probably not but that's only because the Democratic Party isn't centre left.

they both disgust me more than any of the more transparently, openly racist and evil centre-right parties, both wretched parties effectively are toxic fatbergs of corruption and racism that will never let even the mildest forms of socialism past them.

I think the Dems somehow have more actual human beings left in them

the dems, for all their countless flaws, are clearly superior to uk labour whose politics are mostly indistinguishable from the far-right these days except for their incoherent emphasis on being 'sensible'

pic.twitter.com/wlm4vdxzI7

— Tony Robinson (@Tony_Robinson) July 4, 2024

celeb Labour supporters vs celeb Dem supporters, which are the most nauseating? Not really a question they all deserve to be murdered.

Hustorically there's probably more in the labour party to at least critically support, but all that stuff is long gone.

Rancid as the dems are I think the difference between them and the republicans is larger than current labour vs tories. If the tories got in now there wouldn't be the kind of major shifts we're seeing in the US, just a continuation of the bipartisan project of blood and soil.

I dunno,it's a tough and depressing question.

*historically, fuck my mobile typing skills

Rancid as the dems are I think the difference between them and the republicans is larger than current labour vs tories

This is it for me, these shouldn't be compares as though they are in vacuums, they should be compared within their respective contexts. For this reason alone, the Democrats are exponentially better than Labour

is there a worse western "centre-left" party than starmer's labour? maybe the danish social democrats but that's the only one that immediately comes to mind as comparable

― ufo, 13. august 2025 09:58 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Danish Social Democrats are competent at the (evil) thing they do. Whether or not that makes them better or worse is up to you, but they aren't going to lose the next election to Reform.

arguably a lot of people living on the edge of poverty were actually better off under the last 18 months of the Tory govt because they received material help through cost of living payments and energy bill assistance payments that have all finished. Since Labour got in it's pledges & missions and nothing changing and no payments, GB energy is an investment vehicle ... etc.

but yeah, it's probably accurate that there is nothing really between the Tory/Labour style of governance on fiscal and immigration issues. Hitchens was probably right about Cameronism just being continuity Blairism.

This is like two poles of shit fighting in a sack

I like how this poll reifies the political reality - gotta vote for one of 'em

Abstained, obv

Woah it was 1945 Labour vs. 1938 Dems

that much venerated '45 Labour that built a health service from colonial plunder and bloodily put down the communists in Malaya etc .. etc

https://i.imgur.com/G7grluy.jpeg

Danish Social Democrats are competent at the (evil) thing they do. Whether or not that makes them better or worse is up to you, but they aren't going to lose the next election to Reform.

― Frederik B, Wednesday, 13 August 2025 bookmarkflaglink

Lab won't be losing because of lack of competence as Lab are a black hole of personality and any strong ideas.

Also: the thing that Lab and Reform share is following the US lead, and that probably won't be a thing come the next election.

Weirdly the Tories and Democrats seem to be a similar boat in terms of an identity crisis, and where to go next, because of various challenges from their right or left.

🖼

Is that the Potsdam Conference? I was at the site a couple years ago. Fascinating!

Yup. I can imagine Stalin's sense of vertigo. Churchill going down? Fine. But Harry Truman?!

Also I should have said “1940” Democrats because while they still had racist Southern Dems, Henry Wallace, probably the most left wing politician to get elected to a federal office, was Roosevelt’s running mate.

Of course then Roosevelt dumped him in ‘44 for Truman.

compare how labour have treated Sultana / Abbot to how the democrats have treated The Squad.

Truman was a pretty good domestic policy Dem by the time he got to 1948.

it seems to me that uk political parties have a lot more rules and rigor around when you "have to " vote with your party vs when you can vote freely, and more formal tools for punishment, but yeah the general point stands

us political parties are very unusual by the standards of pretty much every other democracy due to their open primaries, being more ballot lines than centralised organisations, lack of party discipline, and so on. they're very weak as institutions. this is one reason to be somewhat optimistic about the future of the us dems - their voter base seems to be increasingly frustrated with the leadership's uselessness in response to trump and things seem to be trending in a positive direction, and the leadership can't really do that much if they're completely loathed by their own voters.

australia is a good example of the other end of the spectrum where power is incredibly centralised & party discipline is the strongest in the world. aus labor still largely adheres to a version of democratic centralism which can be quite absurd at times

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