Part II: Americans are conservative

(for part I see: America is big. No, really, America is BIG!)

A few months ago, Reubin Askew, former Democratic governor of Florida who also served in the Carter administration, was a guest on the BBC political show “Question Time.” After spending some time in the UK, Askew explained to the audience, “As far as I can tell, everybody in the UK is a Democrat.”

After living in swing state Florida and unruly Minnesota–not to mention red state Georgia–I was shocked. Everyone in the UK a Democrat? Who was Askew kidding?

Six months later, I get it. Askew has a point. Actually, I’d say most people in the UK would vote Democrat, and a fair amount would vote for more liberal independent parties.

Here’s why: on many many issues over which there’s a Republican/Democrat divide, Brits have long-settled in favor of the Democrat position.

In the UK, folks overwhelmingly:

• are in favor of universal healthcare
• are against the death penalty
• are for very strong gun control (knives too, actually)
• accept the reality of human-caused climate change and favor strict governmental moves to curb it
• are against political tactics that prey on fear, hate, and dividing one from another
• are for full civil rights for glbt persons
• value conversation and partnership among nations rather than unilateral bullying from a position of power

Now I’m not writing this to push away my Republican friends, nor do I think pointing to another country–with plenty of its own problems–and cherry-picking major issues is a great way forward for conversation. But I do think the US is much more conservative than the UK, and that Askew’s claim is accurate.

I’d say much of our conservatism comes from a certain form of Christianity, much of it reflects a fortress mentality, much of it points to the fact that so many Americans live in cultural bubbles without enough exposure to the other.

If this were a sermon, I’d move to the call to action part now. But it’s not, so I won’t. Instead, just a simply summary: America is pretty darn conservative, compared to the UK at least. For better or for worse, that’s good to remember.