Unfortunately, mainstream U.S. politics simply does not have anyone who is “through and through” a Leftist. When you think of “the Left” in the U.S, average people have varied perceptions, but will often think of AOC or Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, but the reality is that none of them are true Leftists and it’s blatantly obvious. 

Joe Biden has very much been on the right of politics his whole life and any revelation that he is now a Marxist or even a Leftist is absurd. Foundationally, Biden is center to center-right, traditionally even further to the right. Bernie Sanders and AOC play a significant role for Leftism’s future in the United States, as many of their fundamental beliefs, such as Universal Healthcare and a Green New Deal, are simply stepping stones in shifting the U.S. political system. Sad to say though, they are not Leftists, but merely they swim in the region of centrism to the left of centre, especially in comparison to European politics. 

So what defines a Leftist? Fundamentally, Leftism is an umbrella term for most politics, which aligns with left-wing values, such as seizing the means of production or public ownership of major industries. Primarily, to be a Leftist is to be anti-capitalist, that has to be the baseline ideology, this needs to be behind a political party or candidate for them to qualify as a Leftist. 

So why isn’t Bernie Sanders or AOC a Leftist? They’re social democrats and their views do not leave the region of the center-left. In the scope of the U.S. political system, they might look like these Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries, but they’re nothing more than progressives seeking change within an ultra-capitalist right-wing country. 

In comparison with European politics, specifically in this case Germany, the ideals that AOC and Bernie Sanders have would not leave the realms, or exist far from, that of Angela Merkel’s own ideology. Throughout Europe, centrist or centre-left parties preach the same rhetoric and have similar policies to that of Sanders and AOC.

Considering the U.S. has had a stagnated political alignment since the “red scare” and the Cold War, they’ve managed to stay within the realm of “to-the-right” politics. Embedded within the frameworks of the constitution and enacted policies, are fundamentally right-wing ideals, regardless of whether the bill was enacted by the Democrats or Republicans.  

By: J. Muir