Decline of the Left?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I was inspired to make this thread by a comment from Parrotguy in another thread where he mentioned that "the left" seems to be barely alive in many countries. This struck me as to some extent basically true--the fate of the major center-left or left-wing parties in the UK and Germany for example--but also as very ironic. At least in the US, the cultural divide between those identifying with "the left" and others seems to be widening by the day, and it seems that by-and-large a substantial amount, at least among younger voters, identify with this set of values. Moreover, in formal political terms, we recently had Bernie Sanders come in second in two Democratic primary battles and are observing the rise of "Democratic Socialist" politicians.

So I guess I have a few questions, which could be umbrella'd under the bigger question, "Is 'the left', internationally in the democratic world, generally ascendant, or generally in decline?":
1) Is increasing left-wing ideological identification a trend only among the young?
2) Are other countries experiencing similar movements to that in the US?
2a) Are the "objective conditions" driving the growth of "socialism" in the US distinct from those experienced in Western Europe?
3) Does the lack of left-wing success in some countries reflect (a) genuine "conservative" popular opinion, or (b) a simple disparity between popular sentiments and electoral results?
4) Should we meaningfully differentiate increased left-wing or liberal social values from left-wing political preferences? (At least among my age group, it's rather easy to run into nominally "right-wing" folks--usually dudes--who express generally tolerant views but think that sh#t's gone too far, and/or are more aesthetically right-wing than anything reflecting policy preferences)

(EDIT: apologies for liberal use of scare quotes--I don't really think most of these terms mean what they're intended to communicate, which leads to this type of useless prose)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Thanks for your response, PSOL. So would you say that the situation is more one of underlying conditions and opinions butting up against inertia-laden institutions (be it the media, the electoral system, etc.)? And if so, what's the trajectory?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It was really kind of predictable that a potentially interesting thread would go in this direction, wasn't it?

I stopped reading the replies to my own thread a while ago.