Progressive and politics – what does it mean?

By Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson

A SUPERSPEED® – RF01 PROGRESSIVE wheel

Yes, what does it mean to be progressive or even to be a progressive?

Well firstly we should say that it is strictly an adjective to describe a noun, meaning to go forward as opposed to regressive, to go backwards. Thus you might be a progressive American or perhaps a progressive conservative.

However, with the manipulation of language, it has become today a noun in its own right.

Or given that the politically left wing tend to use the word of themselves, perhaps I should say in its own left!

This link gives some idea of the root meaning.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/progressive#Etymology

But is it a good idea to be called a progressive? Let’s look at some of the history.

Progressive Era

This link sets the background from the perspective of the USA written in the context of the 2016 presidential election.

Then and now: What does it mean to be ‘progressive’?          February 12, 2016

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/12/what-does-progressive-mean

It says

The Progressive Era of the early 20th century was a period that saw widespread social and political activism and reform.

During that time, Progressives sought to eliminate industrial and political corruption:

They attempted to make government more efficient and responsive. (The 17th Amendment allowed voters to elect their own senators — before that, state legislatures elected senators.)

They tackled child labor. (Legislation established a minimum legal age at which children could work.)

They took on the banking system. (The Federal Reserve System was founded in 1913.)

At the same time, the women’s suffrage movement was gaining steam.

As to how much the original aims of the earlier progressives actually worked out in practice would require much more analysis.

However, I would comment briefly on the items mentioned regarding the progressive era as follows:

1. They attempted to make government more efficient and responsive.

In reality government has expanded enormously with extra layers and employing large swathes of the population. The federal system seems necessary to govern the USA which is huge, more like an empire in its own right.

Yet unless you have the time, inclination and money, Washington DC, the centre of the system, is too remote for most people.

So it ends up dominated by a political class who push their own self-interest and allows the wealthy to lobby for and ‘buy’, i.e. bribe, politicians.

And ultimately government is only as good as the people who are part of it, who arise out of the nation. If the nation is corrupt, government will be corrupt.

As the book of Proverbs says

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

2. Child labour

It made sense to protect children from being abused by adults in the workplace. It was replaced by education, yet nowadays that is becoming increasingly indoctrination.

Some might say it was always so. It is written

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

3. They took on the banking system.

The creation of the Federal Reserve System, which no doubt seemed like a good idea to many at the time, did not solve the problems. It was set up and run by those who were creating the problem it was allegedly intended to solve, i.e. the bankers.

The bill was signed into law, the Federal Reserve Act, by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. This article has some interesting things to point out and a link to Woodrow Wilson’s book.

Here is Woodrow Wilson’s book which is well worth reading from an initial look.

The new freedom; a call for the emancipation of the generous energies of a people.           By Woodrow Wilson

New York And Garden City

Doubleday, Page & company, 1913

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14811/pg14811.txt

Here’s a link on the Federal Reserve creation.

A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed

December 23, 2013

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/12/23/256326325/a-locked-door-a-secret-meeting-and-the-birth-of-the-fed

The Federal Reserve Act and its implications would take another post but I see that ‘Federal Reserve Act’ anagrams to these three two word anagrams:

– Defalcate reverers

– Defalcate reverser

– Defalcates reverer

Defalcate means To misuse funds; embezzle.

From

https://www.wordnik.com/words/defalcate

Somehow I feel this sums up what the act has done.

4. Women’s suffrage

It was deemed necessary to get the vote for women, yet the vote is only meaningful in any way when exercised wisely. Indeed, to vote wisely one has to research considerably and understand the character of those voted for.

But a vote will never change people’s hearts and the way they think.

Women’s suffrage was initially for the well-to-do, those who had the time to think and agitate for better or worse. This still left the masses of the population, male and female, vote less until later changes were made.

There is the question above all of how much power does one vote have when the control of the world is invariably in the hands of the wealthy and powerful.

5. Prison reform

Not mentioned in the mpr news link is prison reform. Prisons were harsh and punishments severe, frequently excessive for the crime involved. In the UK we had transportation to Australia for example, although eventually perhaps some benefitted when they we able to establish better lives.

However, given the extreme lockdowns there since 2020 perhaps this was part of the problem!

How the word ‘progressive’ has evolved

Going back to the earlier MPR News link it says

For centuries, progressive was a neutral word that simply meant “having a tendency to go forward.” It was the opposite of regressive. In the medical field, it was used to describe things such as progressive diseases — a cancer that continues to spread, for instance.

At some point in its evolution, the word became associated with innovation.

“This is the crucial moment in the history of the word, when instead of being absolutely neutral — simply going forward, going on — it acquired a certain tinge that it didn’t have before with innovation,” said Anatoly Liberman, a professor at the University of Minnesota who specializes in etymology. “The word clearly acquired only positive connotations.”

And

Eventually, the word came to describe reform in society or advocating for change.

“The opposite was no longer regressive but conservative,” Liberman said.

Now, the term is synonymous with “someone who pulls the progressive policies in the country more and more to the left,” he said. “Someone who is progressive is definitely leftist.”

So it seems we can broadly associate progressive with politically left leaning people.

Interestingly, the word ‘innovation’ will anagram to ‘vain notion’. Is this a clue to how innovation does not necessarily mean something better?

Progressive vs. Liberal: What are the Biggest Differences?

October 12, 2021

https://www.thisnation.com/government/learn/progressive-vs-liberal-what-are-the-biggest-differences/

However, progressives believe that, overall, they are “standing up for the little guy,” even if that means taking on large corporations or other “establishment” entities. Some progressives are “left-leaning,” and want to “distinguish themselves from other Democrats.”

Standing up for the little guy against the large corporations or other “establishment” entities sounds good, but what if the “establishment” is the very government bodies (in effect a corporation) and the one attacking the little guy?

It seems the Democrats in the USA are adopting the word ‘progressive’.

More And More Democrats Embrace The ‘Progressive’ Label. Here’s Why

September 13, 2021

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/13/1035971261/more-and-more-democrats-embrace-the-progressive-label-heres-why

It says in relation to Obama’s presidential campaign

But the question is why “progressive” gained steam in recent years.

“I think there was a lexical gap, basically, meaning that we had need of a word that we didn’t have,” said Nicole Holliday, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Holliday also happened to volunteer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign as a college student in 2008. And she saw a bump in the usage of the word around that time.

“I started to see a lot of people that I knew get frustrated because they felt like he wasn’t as far to the left as they had expected,” she said. “And so I think there were on the ground just some sort of people saying, ‘You know, I don’t really identify so much with what I think the Democratic Party stands for, or what mainstream liberals stand for.'”

That means the word “liberal” has been assailed over the years not only by the right, by Republicans who effectively made the word into an insult, but also the left, by anti-establishment left-leaners who wanted to distinguish themselves from other Democrats.

It says later on

The word “progressive” has become a tool to appeal to those further-left-leaning Americans without alienating the moderates and independents who reject the “liberal” label.

Saying “progressive” dodges that L-word, Kamarck says: “It’s an effort to shed a bad label. That’s why, pure and simple.”

Whether progressive is really such a better label is another matter. Here is someone’s view at the BBC as regards the UK.

So what exactly is ‘progressive’ in politics?

This article is of some age now but sets the scene.

So what exactly is ‘progressive’ in politics?

Published 26 November 2010

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11785483

It says

…the term began to gain currency again in British politics during the Blair years – when many Labour politicians felt uncomfortable about describing themselves as “socialists” or even “left-wing”.

These progressives tend to see themselves as people who believe in reform, in changing society for the better, as opposed to conservatives, who they believe want to keep things the same or even turn the clock back.

They are socially liberal – favouring more rights for women, gay people and minorities. They believe in “modernisation” and technological progress. They also believe in the redistribution of wealth.

So it looks as though those who would label themselves ‘progressive’ consider that they are better than those who are conservative (with a small ‘c’).

However, David Cameron, ex-Conservative prime minster, jumped on board with ‘progressive’.

David Cameron has latched on to the word, he adds, because “it smacks of modest, moderate modernisation, not particularly of the radical right – a counterbalance to the word conservative”.

I suppose he thought his radical Same-Sex Couples Act was ‘modest, moderate modernisation’ rather than one more step on the slippery slope into the pit of destruction of society.

Yet, as indicated by Liberman earlier, progressives are typically seen to be left wing, favouring more rights for some. You would have thought they would be favouring lefts not rights!

But then the emphasis always seems to be on rights rather than responsibilities.

As regards the BBC article I would make the following observations:

1. gay people and minorities.

For gay, I always say homosexual. The word was misappropriated by those who wanted to obscure what they were doing and make it seem acceptable.

Minorities can mean the rest of the LGBTQi+ alphabet which has expanded over time as the activists have become increasingly insane.

But it can mean those with disabilities, mental or physical. The occurrence of such things are being portrayed as ‘normal’. This might include those born intersex, i.e. those

born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex_human_rights

It does not allow for the fact that we have become increasingly poisoned by various chemicals from the pharmaceutical industrial complex. These cause various distortions both physical and mental.

This should of course include the so-called progressives who think they are improving the world rather than reinventing chaos and confusion.

2. Modernisation and technological progress.

It is assumed that modern means better and technological progress is always good. But such things merely change the circumstances, a reinventing of the wheel.

3. Redistribution of wealth.

Richard Angell, of Blairite think tank Progress, says it is not necessary to be left-wing to be a progressive but you do have to believe in wealth redistribution – as well as a basket of other causes such as electoral reform, gay rights and more rights for women, on which he claims Mr Cameron does not measure up.

Except that 3 years later we had that dreadful Same-sex Couples Act. As to basket of other causes, that is why the UK is becoming a basket case!

Richard said

‘The Pride flags made it feel like a real celebration of the UK following the science not stigma when it comes to blood donation.’

Following the science eh? Nobody asked about the long term effects of blood donated by those who have had the mRNA vaccines then?

It says

Richard, who lives with his partner in Barkingside in east London

Do the barking mad living in Barking I wonder?

Anyway the progressives want to redistribute wealth but will they create it and distribute what they earn to those who need it most?

As to Blairite think tank Progress one would consider it dodgy in the first place due to associations with Tony Blair. ‘Progress’ is now ‘Progressive Britain’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Britain#

‘Progressive Britain’ has three longest single word anagrams including ‘verbigeration’. This means

Obsessive repetition of words and phrases, especially as a symptom of mental illness.

From

https://www.wordnik.com/words/verbigeration

‘PS sir verbigeration’ is a full phrase. Do you wonder why we have problems?!

Who is progressive?

Nowadays it seems there is a male/female divide with young males being more conservative and young females being ‘progressive’.

A new global gender divide is emerging

January 26 2024

https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998

It says

In the US, Gallup data shows that after decades where the sexes were each spread roughly equally across liberal and conservative world views, women aged 18 to 30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than their male contemporaries. That gap took just six years to open up.

Germany also now shows a 30-point gap between increasingly conservative young men and progressive female contemporaries, and in the UK the gap is 25 points. In Poland last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 backed the hard-right Confederation party, compared to just a sixth of young women of the same age.

In the UK we have some differences too.

Is there evidence of a growing gender divide in British politics?

08 Mar 2022

https://ukandeu.ac.uk/the-gender-divide-in-british-politics/

It says

The 2019 general election saw the largest difference between men and women in support for the two main parties for more than fifty years. Women were nearly eight percentage points more supportive of Labour than men, and men were around five percentage points more supportive of the Conservatives than women.

Labour is of course seen to be ‘progressive’ although the Conservatives and most other parties are little different in many respects.

How about anagrams of the word ‘progressive’, what might these tell us? These are my selection; I struggle to find anything truly positive in the word.

Anagrams of ‘progressive’

Progressive = 10 letters

Progesiv = 8 individual letters

Single words generally negative include:

– Gossiper

– Grievers

– Overripe

– Reprises

– Reproves

– Revisers

– Erosive

– Griever

– Grieves

– Gripers

– Gropers

– Grosser

– Perosis – a disorder of chicks, turkey poults, and young swans

https://www.britannica.com/science/perosis

– Repress

– Viroses – Portuguese for viruses

– Gorier

– Ogress

– Orgies

– Pisser

– Posers

– Rigors

– Vipers

– Giros

– Gores

– Gross

– Ogres

– Pervs

– Prigs

– Sores

– Spies

– Spivs

– Egos

– Igor

– Pees

– pies

– Pigs

– Rips

– Sops

On the positive side include:

– Givers

– Server

– Serves

– Roses

– Posies

Full phrases

Gossiper

– Gossiper rev

Grievers

– Sop grievers

Revisers

– GOP revisers

GOP as in ‘Grand Old Party’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

Givers/giver

– Or esp givers

– Giver rope SS

– Re sop givers

– Spores giver

Pisser/piss

– Grove pisser

– Ego pisser rv

– Er gov pisser

– Or veg pisser

– Ever piss org

Pervs

– eg or is pervs

– Er is go pervs

– Pervs orgies

– Eros gi pervs

– Sir ego pervs

Ogres/ogress

– I pervs ogres

– I perv ogress

Vipers

– Gorse vipers

– Ogres vipers

Serve

– PS serve giro

As in the welfare state perhaps and giro cheques

– Go rips serve

– Or is serve GP

– I serve sprog

– PS serve Igor

‘Yeth marthter!’

– Or serve pigs

– So serve prig

– I go serves PR

Spivs (petty criminals)

– Err ego spivs

– ere spivs org

– Ergo re spivs

Gov

– I repress gov

– gov ire press

– Err gov spies

– gov IRS spree

IRS as in the USA’s Inland Revenue Service.

Ego

– VP ego risers

– egos PR vires

– PS ego rivers

PR (public relations)

– I gross PR Eve

– Give PR sores

– eg PR viroses

I think the progressives are more keen on promoting ‘the virus’ than conservatives.

Miscellaneous

One can get Greer out of ‘progressive’, reminding me of Germaine Greer.

Or there is this chap who likes progressive policies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Greer

He is Scottish politician who a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Green party. It says he is bisexual and identifies as queer and is a member of the Church of Scotland.

He has been involved in controversy. From his wiki page.

In 2019, Greer was strongly criticised for having posted a tweet, while a secondary school student, in June 2012 which read “I’m not exaggerating when I say nothing would thrill me more than for Buckingham Palace to burn to the ground.”

On 25 January 2019, Greer posted a tweet calling Winston Churchill “a white supremacist mass murderer.” He later went on Good Morning Britain and Politics Live and was challenged on his views.

This was not the first time Greer has been criticised for his comments about the Second World War; a few years prior he was criticised in The Sun after tweeting that “Imperial Britain was happy to live with Hitler” in reference to the policy of Appeasement.

A letter writer considers that

No Ross Greer, your policies aren’t progressive: just stupid

8th May

https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/24304641.no-ross-greer-policies-arent-progressive-just-stupid/

Seems reasonable assessment. He calls himself queer, although insane would do as well. They say greens are good for you.

Not in this case they aren’t.

Summary and final thoughts

Progressive really just means to go forward. That might be to sunlight uplands and order or into the depths of despair and chaos.

As a word it is strictly neutral and it depends on the circumstances and the goals as to whether progressive is good or bad. It is after all an adjective requiring a noun, something to describe an object.

Around the beginning of the 20^th century for the USA and the UK it mainly meant fighting for justice, relief of physical poverty, reducing abuse of children, improving government and prison reform. It included some redistribution of wealth and the push for voting rights for women.

And there were those who lobbied those with power, money and influence to use their resources for the benefit of others. In the UK this led to places like Port Sunlight and Bourneville in England and New Lanark in Scotland.

Progressive now seems to mean supporting abortion, LGBTQi+, and minority rights (whatever that really means). It can include euthanasia too.

So whilst the word has changed to only assume positive connotations, this must be challenged as we can see from the anagrams that there are issues with progressive. Here are some highlighted from those mentioned earlier.

– Gorse vipers

– Sop grievers

– Err gov spies

– Egos PR vires

– Pervs orgies

– Gov IRS spree

– Or pigs serve

These indicate the corruption going on and why language matters as it reveals the heart of the matter.

Progressive means merely reinventing the wheel and progressives forget the heart of mankind is corrupted.

Progress and movement may be great but eventually you will come back to where you started, full circle like a wheel. You may go slow or fast, super speed like the wheel at the top of the article.

But in between you are likely to have created chaos which people will not thank you for!

Nevertheless we should seek justice for the oppressed and as has been written:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

I recommend that if you consider yourself a progressive that you change your mind. The word itself indicates the problem with it.

And in the beginning was the Word…

Look out for the sign of Baldmichael, he will be back!

P.S. I consider this a very good article on ‘progressive’ from a Canadian point of view.

This is an inflection point   by Tom Froer     Feb 8, 2024

This is an inflection point

Anyway, I shall try and look at the word ‘conservative’ in due course for comparison with progressive.

I might even look at ‘progressive American’ and ‘progressive conservative’. Anagrams reveal some surprising things.

This may be useful for further reading.

https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2016/02/15/the-rise-of-the-progressive-orthodoxy/