Commentary
In recent editions, I have written about the political ideological turnaround of journalist Matt Taibbi, who discovered how the government was censoring what the social media published when Elon Musk selected him to review the Twitter files.
Once the contributing editor to the leftist Rolling Stone magazine, the enlightened Taibbi (he may not like that description) asks in his Racket column, “Where Have All The Liberals Gone?” citing the lack of concern over free speech on the left.
“I have to ask: where are the rest of the ‘card-carrying’ liberals from the seventies, eighties, and nineties – people like me – who always reflexively opposed restrictions on speech?
“Is your belief that new forms of speech constitute ‘harm’ and ‘offense’ to such a degree that censorship is warranted?
Noting that the change in thinking of traditional American liberals is the only part of this censorship picture that doesn’t compute for him, he wrote that he would like to hear from anyone who has an explanation.
A woman by the name of Lillia Gajewski responded: “I think the answer is quite simple. Where once you had liberals who were Democrats, today you have Democrats who call themselves liberals but aren’t really. It’s party over principle. In short, you’re confused because you assume people in parties have principles. They don’t, other than the perpetuation of party power. That’s it.”
I was reminded of my free lance writing days in the Texas hill country before I started this blog. In 2009, a weekly newspaper gave me space to respond to a few contributors to a regular Democrat Party column, Progressive Views.
I took great joy in poking fun of their attempt to hide their liberal beliefs behind the label of progressive, a term they found more palatable. One of them blamed conservatives for “befouling the word liberal to the point that many who possess the qualities of a liberal have abandoned the term in favor of progressive.”
Economist philosopher Freidrich Hayek wrote that “Liberalism is The Road to Serfdom.”
You may recall in 2015 how Hillary Clinton insisted that she was a progressive, hoping to avoid the label of liberal.
We’ve seen a rise in progressivism among traditional liberalism within the political left, led by Representatives Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and Pramila Jayapal, who emphasize political activism over old fashioned advocating through persuasion and consensus building. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and now Hakeim Jeffries have allowed the progressive movement to radically change the face of liberalism in the Democrat Party.
Today, as we struggle with higher prices and inflation, we see the Democrat Biden administration supporting a more progressive tax structure with the wealthiest Americans paying the highest rate, referring to it as “paying their fair share,” while supporting more government spending.
The Heritage Foundation simply notes that conservatives ask: “What can I do for myself, my family, my community and my fellow citizens? Progressives ask “What is unfair.” “What am I owed?.” “What has offended me today?” “What can my country to for me?”
Recognizing that many Americans do not fit easily into one Republican or Democrat coalition – conservative, liberal, or progressive – the Pew Research Center, following a survey of 10,221 adults, divided the public into nine distinct groups based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. It is provided here for you to see.
It’s two years old, but it does provide a bit of insight into the differences in political leanings.
Pew sees the progressive left having very liberal views on virtually every issue and support far-reaching changes to address racial injustice and expand the social safety net. Conversely, they view liberals far less persuaded of the need for sweeping change.
“Far from representing a kind of endpoint of political evolution, untrammeled liberalism has left us with social ruin. In the economic field, the pursuit of market extremism has led to the devastation of traditional industrial communities, in the political and social fields, the fetishization of individual choice has created a landscape of anomic and despair, pockmarked by all the familiar social pathologies of addiction, isolation and family collapse.” – Gerard Baker, from “Don’t Blame Liberalism for Illiberal Progressives,” Wall Street Journal.
My father would be disheartened.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
