Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by southerntofu 131 days ago
Even at the time Bill Clinton was already very much right-wing. When he was in power, he oversaw the destruction of public services and the introduction of neoliberalism. Is that not right-wing?

It's not just me saying this. Ask anyone who was politically active (as a leftist) in the 90s. I'm not sure what was the equivalent of the Democratic Socialists of America (center-left) at that time, but i'm sure there was an equivalent and Bill Clinton was much more right-wing. That's without mentioning actual left-wing parties (like communists, anarchists, black panthers etc).
2 comments
5upplied_demand 131 days ago
> Even at the time Bill Clinton was already very much right-wing.

He raised taxes, lowered military spending, and pursued universal healthcare. Those are not, and have never been, right-wing stances in the US.

link
southerntofu 131 days ago
Not a single of those three things is either left-wing or right-wing. It depends on the actual implementation.

For example, universal health-care is only left-wing if it's a public service. Taking money out of the State's pockets to finance private healthcare and pharmaceutical for-profit corporations is very much a definition of right-wing policy.

link
5upplied_demand 130 days ago
Everything depends on actual implementation. In healthcare, for example, we already had a system where state money was sent to private healthcare and pharmaceutical companies corporations. The problem was that the poorest people still had trouble getting covered. This proposal would have broadened the scope of who can afford that by providing poorer folks with direct government subsidies for coverage. Nobody is calling subsidize childcare in Scandinavian countries a "right-wing policy" because private providers exist.

Lowering military spending by aggressively shrinking active duty troop levels and eliminating weapons programs is certainly left-wing. Raising income taxes on the highest earners and raising the corporate tax rate have always been associated with left-wing policies in the US.

link
southerntofu 130 days ago
Very fair points, thanks.
link
ahmeneeroe-v2 131 days ago
>Is that not right-wing?

I don't think many self-described "right-leaning" people would have called Clinton "right wing" in the 90s.

I 100% see your point and agree with you that he had major policies that I would call right wing today.

link