Who/What are progressives?

I don't know if its just me, but I've witnessed a noticeable change of terminology being used for those who may be considered left of centre on the political spectrum. Progressive, seems to be replacing the usual "leftist", "Liberal" and "socialist" on ATS. I'm quite interested to see if anyone else has noticed this? Or whether its just my confirmation bias.

In the UK our conservative government claims to be progressive. They are quite liberal for a Conservative party, but still believe in privatisation and capitalist principles.

What is the opposite of progressive? Regressive? Or Conservative with a big C. As in socially conservative? Surely progress is inevitable and isn't really a very good description of someone's political beliefs.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


I use the term "progressive" to describe anyone who is pro-government, pro-LARGE government, pro authoritarian government.

Progressive could be republican or democrat, in my humble.

Progressives are not friends to those whom espouse individuality, personal responsibility, freedoms, liberties.

Progressives are all about the expansion of government, the expansion of government programmes, the growth of government oversight, the loss of privacy,, the loss of freedoms.

They espouse the Collective over the individual. Social justice over responsibility.

Of course this is just my opinion.

Its got nothing to do with how big you want the government to be.

Progressivism is contrasted to conservativism to the right and revolutionaries on the left. Unlike revolutionaries, progressives feel that slow change over a period of time is more achievable. Conservatives would rather things not keep progressing at all, and that things were once quite good so why change. Revolutionaries think the system is so rotten to the core that it needs to be torn down in order to start with a solid foundation... that last one is what I would identify as.

Generally there is progress, for instance the rights of black people in America have improved immensely over the last 50 years, women are more liberated, homosexuals more accepted... all this progress was generally supported by the left progressives and was opposed by the conservatives.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
I don't know if its just me, but I've witnessed a noticeable change of terminology being used for those who may be considered left of centre on the political spectrum. Progressive, seems to be replacing the usual "leftist", "Liberal" and "socialist" on ATS.

Its not just you, I've noticed it too.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
In the UK our conservative government claims to be progressive. They are quite liberal for a Conservative party, but still believe in privatisation and capitalist principles.

I guess it all depends on what direction you want to progress? Usually the term refers to left wing ideologies. But terms can mean different things. In Australia the right wing conservative party is called the "Liberal Party", hence why many people say small L liberal.

Maybe we need a small P progressive term too?

IMO, Progressives/Liberals/Statists are all the same and all the enemies of individualism and liberty.

reply to post by woodwardjnr

Its a cooler way to say Liberal.

Liberal, Conservative. What do they really mean anyway? Both Parties push the same general agendas: endless wars, loss of freedoms, runaway debt, banker bailouts etc.

Regardless, Libertarianism is the way to go.

The only progressive that matters is the sort that rocks. All the blather about how one describes ones politics is just another way for people to fool themselves, and everyone else, into believing that thier opinions are so important, that a name needs to be developed to describe them.

Its all tosh really. The left, right paradigm is best used only to describe radical politics anyway, since mainstream politicians have the same basic idea no matter which "side" they are on, its just how they lie thier way to office that differs. Even worse than that, is that the only continent which actually uses left and right paradigms correctly is Europe, where that type of political structure was first developed. The US is full of people who constantly fail to correctly identify right and left. They mistakenly believe that the Nazis were leftist, when actually they were right wing extremists, dressed up as socialists to confuse people.

Mistakes like that are idiotic, and mean that most people who even comment on lefties and so on, wouldnt know a dictatorial, right wing fascism from a communist democratic nation.

All parties are the same.

True answer to OP's question:

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
IMO, Progressives/Liberals/Statists are all the same and all the enemies of individualism and liberty.

I've often noticed that those that aren't "progressive" are so into individualism and liberty...as long as it's THEIR version of said. I guess the progressive got the right "progress" there too.

Originally posted by beezzer

Beezer's got it right as far as i use the term & the way i've seen it used elsewhere.

I do not use the term 'Liberal' as it has the opposite meaning of what it originally meant.
Thomas Jefferson was a Liberal. TJ would roll in his grave if you said he was the same as today's liberal.
Most of our founders were Liberals, or perhaps more accurately, 'Classical Liberals".

Progressives are "Collectivists" & "Protectionists". They want to collect power into fewer & fewer hands; big government, etc. They want to protect us from ourselves with Big Gulp soda bans & suspends kids eating pop tarts into the shape of guns. They are the antithesis of what this country once was. They are the enemy of America.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


its just the slur term du jour for "liberal".

It is some stupid term that start showing up a couple of years ago, and has gained traction among the "Tea Party" types (another stupid term, to be honest).

I tell you, the whole world of politics is just as stupid as you can make it. It all reminds me of some corny, national level West Side Story.

Silly people and their tribal mentality.

reply to post by beezzer


I am just curious...why "Progressive"? Is the term "progress" a bad thing?

I would suppose so, if you are one for civil liberties. As "progress" can only mean the reduction in rights, or various encroachments on rights. Would it be "progress" if we were like the UK, where you could be jailed for using the N word? On a positive side note, that might be a way to improve the musical tastes of the modern era, by jailing all the "musicians" that use words like that repeatedly in their music.

That aside, however, is it that in America "progress" is a bad thing? What is it that we are progressing to, anyway? An EU style of government? Jesus, if I ever had to go through something as comical as Italian court I may just have to end it all for myself.

So, what do you think? Why "progressive"? What made you begin to associate that word with that meaning?

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


It's the "Fluffy Baby Kitten" syndrome.

Everyone likes fluffy baby kittens, don't they? Anyone against or hating on fluffy baby kittens would be evil and bad and terrible. But if you label something with fluffy baby kitten, or "progress" then how can it be a bad thing?

Liberals or conservatives, both see problems and their only difference is the solution that they bring to the table.

Progressives? They are in both parties. They see the solution, any solution being something that has to involve government.

But if they say, "It's for the children" or they call paying taxes, "Patriotic", then they can get away with just about anything using the "Fluffy Baby Kitten" meme.