American progressivism is on the march. New York City will, barring a miracle, have a socialist mayor next year. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been packing arenas in their “Fight the Oligarchy” tour. The chances of the Democrats nominating a Democratic Socialist presidential candidate have never been higher. The left’s moderates, meanwhile, are struggling for attention—or an answer to the question of how to tackle Trump.
And yet, even as American progressivism is having a moment, it has drifted so far from the values that it was founded on as to be unrecognizable. Today’s progressivism is both by and for young, well-off, and well-educated urbanites. But that wasn’t always the case. Allow me to explain.
Progressives once sought to make life better for ordinary people by emphasizing their universal interests across racial, ethnic, and cultural divisions. They wanted to ensure universal fair treatment for everyone. They promoted universal standards of merit, achievement, and truth. And they believed in providing universal access to America’s bounty, from scientific achievement to economic growth to healthcare. The core concept was that if Americans were treated in this fashion, the country would prosper—and that existing social and governmental arrangements should be pushed in that direction.
A progressive, after all, was supposed to be for progress. Today’s progressives are different. They have rejected the universal approach and instead embraced professional-class cultural priorities and policy preferences. In that sense, they have lost the right to call themselves “progressives.” Instead, they now stand in the way of progress as they used to define it—indeed, progress as most ordinary voters would recognize it.
Here are some of the ways that progressives have bid farewell to progress.
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Author: Ruy Teixeira
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