As outrageous as many of the things he's said are, there are indeed a few places where the American progressive can find common ground with GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump. These areas of common ground such as healthcare (maybe?), tax code, and entitlement programs are pushed further to the right by the other candidates but are embraced by the self-proclaimed conservatives throughout much of western Europe.
If an American conservative such as their beloved radio host Dennis Prager were to go across the pond, he would probably ask his European counterparts what makes them conservatives.
"Are you for lower taxes on big corporations?" he would ask. And he would probably get a reply similar to "Oh, well of course not! It's only common sense to raise their taxes." After that, he may ask a similar question such as, "Well, are you in favor of de-universalizing healthcare for all people?". Just like before, he would most likely hear, "Not at all. Our countries have some of the highest citizen approval ratings for the healthcare system. It would be bad for our people to take it away from them."
After getting a bit aggravated at this so-called "conservative" and his annoying answers, Mr. Prager would next ask, "Well what one thing that makes you a conservative then?". Depending on the home country of the questioned, he is likely to respond with "Well I would prefer an England for the English" or a "I want a Germany for the actual Germans! To hell with the Turkish!"
Does this sound a tad bit familiar? Immigration is obviously one of the most important political divisions in Europe. It's easy to understand that due to their improved rates of wealth inequality, there is less political polarization on a vast number of issues compared to that of the United States. One thing that I always found fascinating about the English treatment of immigrants is the fact that they were once a vast empire who colonized native lands and exploited the people living in that territory -- and yet they complain about people from those countries wanting to come to their land? I'm not trying to say that modern-day English people are responsible for their ancestors' imperialism, but it is an amusing thought nonetheless.
But getting back to Donald Trump, undocumented immigration has been his most noticeable issue despite the fact he has not come close to explaining how he would deport 11 million people. Additionally, he has not said much about Obamacare other than he will repeal it and "replace it with something great." Problem solved, right? But to give Trump credit, he has given favorable views about a single-payer healthcare system in the past and he recently said that "It works great in Canada." That's already a lot better than what his colleagues have said about that system.
Regarding taxes, he has been very vocal about our "broken system" and he is annoyed by all the "hedge fund people" who make a fortune and pay very little in taxes. He has gone as far a to call it "Unfair to the middle class." I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound very American conservative-like to me.
The issues that he is correct about are quite small compared to his fallacies, but it does strike me that this could spark a potential paradigm shift whereby American conservatives start to take similar positions to those of Europeans. Would that be better for this country as a whole? I would say, "Probably."
