Who are the Progressives/Conservatives today?
The political world seems to have turned on its head. Once again, the pundit-led media picked the wrong presidential candidate to win. In addition, the Republicans had a surprising (to some) clean sweep in Congress. Some people have been talking about a “political realignment.” I guess they mean a swing back towards the Right.
Perhaps, but I see a different, and more impactful change. It deals with the position of conservative and progressive. In the broad sense, the definition of conservative is: “averse to change or innovation.” Progressive implies “favoring new ideas” or “moving forward.” For some reason, the Left has been able to capture the moniker of “Progressives,” as if to depict the Right as opposed to change. I have always found this misleading, and the current environment would seem to prove the point.
In fact, I will make the assertion that in many fundamental ways, the Left is now the defender of the status quo, and the Right is now the voice of change. How did this happen (so fast)?
For the past two decades (with some interruptions) the country has shifted towards the “Left” (both philosophically and in practice). There has been a significant enhancement of government influence on the direction of the economy and society (i.e., towards socialism). I won’t get into the radical arguments on either side, but it is fairly clear that we have moved in that direction.
Budgets have blown up. Government has expanded (in both size and regulatory reach). The central government now dictates the parameters of all manner of activity from medical care to school policies and beyond. The “social safety net” (government programs, entitlements, and benefits) has dramatically expanded. In Congress, this has been led by Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s “Squad” (They honestly do have a socialist agenda).
Diversity has been reimagined from accepting a wide variety of different viewpoints to only tolerating the DEI – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion agenda (whose concepts I whole-heartedly support, but execution reject). Those with alternative perspectives have been banned from academic institutions and routinely routed from the stage.
As it stands today, an (admittedly quite moderate) form of Democratic Socialism is becoming the orthodoxy (or at least aspirational model). It is now the base-line from which all political discussions must start. It is the de facto “status quo.”
In this altered landscape we must now grapple with the notion of what “conservatism” means and what type of “change” represents “progressive.” Does retrenchment in the newly established left of center status and rejection of any shift away from this point now define “conservative?” Is movement away (regardless of direction) progressive? I would posit that both are likely. If so, the tables have turned.
In this respect, the Left is the defender of this status quo. They are resistant to change. If fact, they seem terrified by the prosect that the precipitous slide to the left may be coming to an end.
The new administration has promised to “change” things. The Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (both entrepreneurs) has promised “radical” reduction of the government bureaucracy and regulations.
Changes appear imminent in virtually every realm of government. A forming “America First” approach will disrupt both foreign and economic policy. Likewise, the nature of outside agreements and alliances, like NATO (a holdover from the early Cold War days) are going to be scrutinized. Collectively, these policies appear the very antithesis of conservative.
One might reasonably argue that some of the changes are not a new direction but rather a return to previous policy. In some cases that may be true, but they will still need to unhinge currently entrenched interests. I also wonder if the old axiom might apply, that sometimes you need to “take a step back to move forward.” It is like making an error on a math problem. You can’t get it right until you go back to the place you made a mistake and start again. No amount of machinations from where you are will get you to where you want to be.
Perhaps I make too strong a statement. Both sides have interests they want to protect. Both sides want the government to interfere; they just want it to impose itself in different places. Neither will likely make a substantive dent in the Federal deficit. Ultimately, they both want “their kind” of change.
However, we should reevaluate our terminology. Whether a Party is Conservative or Progressive really depends on your perspective. As they say, “Where you stand depends on where you sit.”
