What Americans abroad know about Bernie Sanders and you should know too

[portlander23]

What Americans abroad know about Bernie Sanders and you should know too
Susan Neiman
LA Times

As the prospect of Donald Trump in the White House moves from ludicrous to terrifying, it’s time to reconsider the electability question. Despite polls suggesting that Hillary Clinton is more likely to lose the general election than Bernie Sanders, her supporters routinely argue that Sanders’ program is too radically utopian to have a chance. Often a note of condescension is injected: Young people support Sanders because they want free stuff. Once his proposals are seriously considered, it’s argued, any adult will reject them out of hand.

Of the 8 million Americans who live abroad, 34,700 participated in the global Democratic primary. Although the sampling is not huge, it’s considerably larger than that used for polls that play crucial roles in the electoral process. While we are wondering what drives young Latinas or older white men to support this or that candidate, we ought to consider why 69% of Democratic voters who live in 40 countries preferred Bernie Sanders.

The answer is quite simple: The Sanders proposals that may strike Americans who have never lived in other countries as impractical and outlandish are simply common sense elsewhere — especially in Canada and Western Europe, where the majority of Democrats Abroad voters live. Universal healthcare? The U.S. is the only developed country that lacks it. Family leave? While it is nice that San Francisco just mandated six weeks of paid leave for new parents, Germany mandates 14 months — 16 if both parents share the time spent at home. Free college tuition? Britain recently tripled its college tuition fees, though it’s still the case that a year at Oxford will cost you a fraction of a year at a middling American college. In the rest of Europe, free tuition, and interest-free loans for living expenses, are the rule.

Real knowledge of daily working life abroad has shown expats that the revolution Sanders proposes for the United States could be just a matter of course. Voters at home should take heed.

Yep.

[auntpurl]

1. 69% of Democratic voters WHO PARTICIPATED IN DEMOCRATS ABROAD preferred Bernie Sanders

So 69% of 34,700 votes.

The vast majority of expats mail in their votes to their home state. Like me - I live in the UK and vote in PA (I voted for Hillary). Democrats Abroad is representative of such a minuscule percentage of expats as to be negligible. It is certainly not statistically significant enough to base a whole article around.

[Jitter65]

2. Then they ought to also know the economic issues facing those countries and the social unrest that

is facing them because those systems are slowly bankrupting and destabilizing their comfort zones. If they had to stop receiving their Social Security payments from the US and the other forms of compensation they receive, see how they would vote then.

[Doctor_J]

7. We're already bankrupt, with none of those conveniences

Your post is right wing bullshit

[upaloopa]

3. "The Sanders proposals" are just that proposals.

If you are out of the country with nothing to risk if Trump wins then supporting "Bernie's" proposals is easy.

When the primary began the cry was that Hillary had greater name recognition than Bernie. While polls showing Bernie beats Trump He still isn't known by most of the country. The MSM hasn't pounded him day after day as they do Hillary.

Also polls taken before the general do not represent the reality of life during a general election. To bank everything on those polls is insane. It is slim reason to pick Sanders over Hillary. Yet is the string Bernie's campaign is hanging on by.

[hootinholler]

4. Needs a kick.

Not that anyone here will listen to this.

[Doctor_J]

5. Americans are brainwashed with right wing propaganda, and very authoritarian

Mrs Clinton says that our worst in the world healthcare system is just fine, so her supporters scream about people who want to fix it. She says that poverty level wage is fine, so her supporters jump on that bandwagon. She says that she doesn't want to pay for trumps kids college (exactly what one might hear on Fox), and that becomes the day's talking point. We're so brainwashed and ignorant of the way the successful countries work, our entire frame of reference makes progress impossible.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. I remember having similar thoughts when these results were reported

I work regularly with people in Europe and have close relatives in Canada.

Our policies are a cruel embarrassment in comparison
Most Americans don't realize what a huge impact on overall wellbeing Sanders' plans could have.

[JudyM]

8. We are no doubt too provincial in our perspective.

And it dumbs us down. Add to that the vortex of policies & media drowning us in 1% commercialization of our culture for the real benefit of the few. Listen to newscasts from abroad - they discuss world news with far greater breadth. We're busy staring at our navels.

It takes wisdom to step outside the psychological blinders of status quo; adapt, America.

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, portlander.

[bigwillq]

10. K and R (nt)

[vintx]

11. "a year at Oxford will cost you a fraction of a year at a middling American college"

This while people like Hillary tell us she has to increase H1-B visas because there aren't enough skilled workers here

1. That's a lie
2. Do something about the cost of education then! AND I DON'T MEAN BETTER LOAN TERMS ON THE EXORBITANT AMOUNTS