re: #167 The Sanity Inspector

It was actually a move back, recovering “progressive” from an earlier political era. It eventually succumbed to creeping irony, and “liberal” was adopted. It, too, met the same fate by the end of the Reagan years. Now here we are back again with “progressive”.

Myself, I’d rather stick with liberal, so that I can accommodate liberals’ wish to not be conflated with leftists. “Progressive” has been a stalking horse for much leftist mischief over the years, and is thus harder to define in practical terms.

I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations; capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature.
— Sidney Hook

Well I did not know that! The History of the Word, Progressive.

But why don’t liberals want to be conflated with leftists? Isn’t that what we are? We ain’t righties.

I used to have such a problem with the two words, but now I just assume they are umbrella terms. Saying I’m a Liberal or I’m a Conservative really means which side of the spectrum MOSTLY defines you. Certainly not everything you believe in. There are liberals like me who support a tougher foreign policy and there are conservatives out there who support abortion. I use it as a jumping off point, but I try not to hold anyone to a preconceived idea until I investigate further.