Or: Why I am a Liberal, Part 4
We as Progressives/Liberals have an unspoken, almost unspeakable vision within us. We look around at the current world and want to change it. Some of us would be content with relatively minor changes. Others see the existing world, see what is wrong with it, and want to take the changes needed all the way to their logical end. To create a new and different world based on Progressive principles, to get ‘there.’
We have The Idea, even though we are not really able to articulate it cleanly and clearly right now. The Idea of a world far different from this one. A world based on equality and justice, on freedom and on the worth and dignity of the individual. A planetary society based on and adhering to real, universally human, moral principles, but without the moral dogmatism and hypocrisy of our current, failed model. A world, to put in the current frame, where the economy (and everything else) is based on benefit of ALL the people, not for the very few. A world where “the greatest good of all concerned” is the driving paradigm. Where people are as, if not more, important than profit. A world where political, economic, and moral decisions are NOT arrived at solely because they benefit those making the decision. A world based on cooperating for the greater good, not competing against every other human for personal or ‘tribal’ advantage.
And above all, by necessity, a world that has ‘solved’ the Climate Crisis, with a healthy atmosphere fit for humans to breath and oceans that are not vast pits of acidic brew incapable of supporting life. A world we can leave to our grandchildren and the next Seven Generations with a clear conscious.
That sort of thing. Something closer, at least, to a utopia not a dystopia. Creating this better world, or as much of it as we can get, is what is at the heart of Progressivism.
Or to put it strictly in terms of contrast, a world without the ideologies of Republicanism and its outdated worldviews and policies of separation and hate and conquering….everything and everybody. Again in the current context, a world without Class War, where the well being of the privileged Ruling Class is based on ensuring and continuing the suffering of the poor and middle class. A world, if it is possible, without a Ruling Class. An egalitarian world where hard work and intelligence is still rewarded, but not at the expense of the ‘average guy.’ And especially not at the expense of the poor and the weakest members of society, since society, ideally, exists to protect the weak and less fortunate from the strong and powerful.
Civilization and the Rule of Law, not the Rule of the Jungle…..which somehow the privileged and strong always seem to try to create.
As one Progressive put it: “Some people look at the world as it is and say why, I look at the world as it could be and say …why not?
