Progressive vs. Conservative

At the root of the word progressive, and at the root of being a Progressive is the word progress. At the root of the word conservative is the conserve, the concept of keeping what we have. But what we have now is an unsustainable way of life. A way of life increasingly based on not keeping what we have, but on taking what others have to preserve a concept of American exceptionalism. A concept that dictates that we destroy others to take their resources for ourselves. Not to survive, per se, but to conserve what certain Americans see as a divine right, the “American Lifestyle.”

A lifestyle based on a confusion of concepts, a deliberate confusion. The Conservatives have convinced Americans that the ideals of freedom consist not of the liberties of Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Assemble, Freedom of the Press, Freedom from Unreasonable Search and Seizure, etc. The Conservatives seem to consider those as outdated. Not the Freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution that lead to real liberty and toleration and individual expression and the equality of all men and women no matter what race, creed, color or orientation. The Conservatives have convinced America that Freedom means…the freedom to consume.

The modern Conservative creed of freedom is based on one main concept, the freedom from the civic responsibility of paying taxes. The freedom to keep and spend their money that would go to the betterment of the society in which they live, on for instance, gas guzzling SUV’s. On the American Lifestyle of consumption. The consumption of not just America’s resources, but the worlds. Americans comprise less than 5% of the world’s population, yet consume around 30-35% of the worlds resources, to fuel the American Lifestyle. Lifestyle based wholly on the consumption of oil. A resource that America is for all intents and purposes, out of. And so, to preserve the American lifestyle, Americans MUST obtain the Lifestyle’s lifeblood….oil. But the lifeblood is not just running out in America, it is running out in the entire world. The American Lifestyle is unsustainable.  

As they have proven,  the leaders of the Conservatives are willing to, for political power and personal profit, invade sovereign countries that have done us no harm and to kill to sustain it as long as possible.

They are willing to strip Americans of their Constitutional rights to dissent against the policies of their own government. They are willing to….against all that America used to hold sacred, illegally spy on American citizens to both quash dissent and pursue political power.

They are willing to politicize every area of government in order to increase and maintain their power. They are willing to falsely prosecute political enemies like Governor Don Siegelman order to gain political advantage. They are willing to expose entire networks in the intelligence community to punish political rivals.

They are willing to torture.

All of these acts are antithetical to the American Ideal of Freedom, yet they revel in engaging in them, ironically, in the name of Conserving the American Lifestyle. Throwing everything America is supposed to stand for on the rubbish heap, to preserve an unsustainable Lifestyle, and their own power, for a few more years. They are in short, willing to throw away everything meaningful about an America that they are allegedly trying to Conserve, in favor of Conserving one thing, the “right” of America to consume.

Progressives on the other hand, want Progress. We believe in progress. We believe we can progress to a better world, instead of trying to Conserve an old flawed world model. We have confidence in our nations and our worlds ability to create a better future, instead of Conserving a past that has been proven not just unsustainable, but intolerant, unjust, inequitable, and designed for the benefit of the few over the benefit of the whole. We believe that by cooperating with each other and the world we can avoid war. We believe that by honoring individualism instead of punishing it, that all people can achieve a prosperous balanced lifestyle. We believe that human life is more valuable than a Lifestyle. We believe that, dammit, all men and women ARE created equal and that one of the roles of government is to level the playing field, not continuously tip it for the benefit of the existing power structure. We believe that our tax dollars should go to help those LESS fortunate, not MORE fortunate.

We believe that, if given the chance and not defeated preemptively by the existing power structure, humans are capable of creating a harmonious, sustainable world where each person has the same opportunities and rights, where disputes are settled through diplomacy, not wholesale death. Where each person and the earth herself is respected and valued. And most of all, we believe in TRUE Freedom for the individual to pursue their own vision of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom of religion…and freedom from religion. Freedom to express ourselves, even if that expression is contrary to the cultural ‘norm’ of the time. Freedom to dissent, and thus hold our government accountable. Freedom from the injustices perpetrated by a politicized justice system. Freedom in our bedrooms and freedom of the mind. Freedom and sovereignty over our own bodies. Freedom from fear. Freedom for EVERYONE, not a privileged few.

This is what it means to be a Progressive, a Liberal, a Democrat….this is what we are fighting for. This is the world WE want to create. The Conservative model and ideology has failed. It is time to create a new model uninformed by and free from failed Conservative principles.