The Pissed-Off Progressive — A New Series
San Francisco, CA — December 29, 2021
“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”
— Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone)
“I cannot stand progressives.” It’s the kind of statement you’d expect to hear coming from some right-wing radio host, or the proverbial uncle at Thanksgiving. But over the course of this year, I’ve found myself being the one to say it, repeatedly.
Here’s the twist though. I count myself as a left-wing progressive, through and through. I wholeheartedly support all of the following policies:
- Medicare for All
- Aggressive action to combat climate change
- Reproductive and sexual health access (including abortions)
- Reducing municipal spending on police
- Higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals
- A system of reparations for Black Americans
Now might be a good opportunity to clear up what seems like a major case of cognitive dissonance.
I support progressive policies, and ideals. I believe in an inclusive, sustainable society that provides equitable access to opportunity, and a strong social safety net.
But I struggle with how progressivism is practiced today. I take issue with the execution behind the pursuit of progressive goals — the priorities, strategies, and tactics. In my opinion, the issues I see lead to us to move slower than we’d like — at best. At worst, our collective poor execution causes otherwise good ideas to backfire, and moves society in the wrong direction.
‘Struggle’ is candidly a euphemism. What I see going wrong with progressivism truly angers me — perhaps to irrational degrees. I would go so far as to say that I have been more fired up over issues in progressivism than about the latest right-wing conspiracy theory about vaccines, or critical race theory supposedly addling the mind of school-aged children.
Why was this the case? After all, it could be argued that I was barking up the wrong tree in a time where a progressive vision of the future seems to be under threat in the US. Why was I so fixated on issues within progressivism itself, when far-right conservatives were savagely curtailing abortion rights in Texas, or furthering vaccine conspiracies that were pointlessly killing thousands every day?
It boiled down to:
- My greatest pet peeve is wasted potential. There have been incredible opportunities in the last couple of years to make rapid strides on issue that matter to progressives. While there have been some wins, there have also been many moments where we as a political force fell flat (“Defund the Police”, I’m looking at you). It drives me up the wall to feel like we may have squandered once-in-a-generation opportunities to make a lasting difference. (There’s a not-so-small part of this anger that’s self-directed. What could I have done differently? Did I even try hard enough?)
- I want to hold my community accountable. I am sick of watching self-proclaimed progressives (particularly those in the Bay Area…more on this in future articles) wring their hands over an issue, and then act in a manner that directly contributes to the existence or exacerbation of said issue. (See some fun examples in this NYT Op-Ed). It can feel like we’re a hockey team that starts a game by aiming for our own net. We can and should expect better of ourselves.
All that said, I think a lot of what ails progressivism is fixable. That’s why I’m ‘pissed-off’, and not ‘burnt out’, or ‘disillusioned’.
This series is going to be my way of constructively critiquing problems in the progressive movement.
Over several subsequent articles, I’m going to share experiences from my day-to-day life that I believe are microcosms of larger issues with progressivism. Every article will cover the following, in some structure:
- The phenomenon, and why it pisses me off
- What negative impact I see it having
- Suggestions for how we could be tackling this differently
The goal of all this isn’t to spark some grand revolution within the world of progressivism. I’m not nearly influential enough (…yet) to do anything like that. Rather, I’d be happy to know that I was able to change a couple minds here and there, or help a few people think differently about how to tackle their activism.
From there, I can only hope that we’re able to do some real good.
A couple of notes and caveats to leave you with.
- I will be the first to admit that I am a hobbyist at best in the social and political sciences — If I’ve written about something, and gotten it wrong, please do reach out and educate me. My goal is to have to revise at least every article once with some detail I missed. That way, I know my audience is engaged.
- If you are a progressive/liberal reader — You may come across material to which you react strongly. If that’s the case, amazing. The goal is to prompt introspection and debate. If you’re open to it, I’d love to hear from you on what struck a nerve (or a chord). I just ask that you take a few moments to reflect on the emotions you felt while reading, and share that as honestly as possible.
- If you are a more conservative reader — This series is not a hall pass to rip on progressives. It is an effort to improve this broad movement in my own little way. That said, I welcome your opinions on any of the subject matter discussed. I’d also encourage you to take up the mantle of attempting a similar exercise within your own political circles.
