June 5, 2023

In Brief: Why Leftists Shouldn’t Be Called ‘Progressives’

It’s not “progress” they’re after, so let’s call them what they really are.

People of the Left love redefining words, so it’s no wonder what they call themselves — progressives — is misleading. Political analyst Robert Spencer argues that no one should go along with their “misleading and dangerous” game.

One of the most important aspects of combating the Left’s assault on freedom and rationality itself is to counter its manipulation of language. “Gender-affirming care” isn’t gender-affirming care, it’s the mutilation of healthy people in the pursuit of delusions. “Book-banning” isn’t a resurgence of fascist thought control, it’s the cleansing of our libraries and schools from the pornography and propaganda with which Leftists have filled them. Abortion isn’t “women’s healthcare,” it’s the murder of a child. And behind all of the Left’s language-bending is the fundamental lie that Leftists are “progressives.”

This one has become so generally accepted in American culture today that the likes of AOC and Bernie are regularly called “progressives” even by their opponents. This is not simply the benign name of a political faction. It implies that those who bear the name are on the right side of a grand progression of history. Human experience, the “progressives” contend, is moving inexorably toward an inevitable outcome. History, they say, is a science, and that science demonstrates that the world is moving toward a messianic age of earthly justice, in which everyone gives according to his or her or xis ability, and receives according to his or her or xis needs.

Does that sound familiar? It should. It’s Marxism.

It is not inevitable that human history is marching toward the Left’s idea of utopia, yet that is what leftists claim with the “progressive” label, and Spencer says if Patriots call them such, “they’re unwittingly endorsing the entire world view of an inexorable progression of history. We must throw off this usage and refuse to accept the Leftist mindset.” Indeed, he says, “if we stop calling them ‘progressives,’ we will stop tacitly acknowledging the inevitability of their victory.” Besides, “There will be no earthly paradise.” Leftist “solutions” will only make our problems worse.

He concludes:

Instead of calling them “progressives,” then, patriots should call them what they are: statists, enemies of freedom, believers in all-encompassing government control, foes of the freedom of speech, foes of the freedom of religion, advocates of government coercion, and the like. Calling things by their right names, after decades of Leftists twisting words in order to fool people into supporting them, will go a long way toward restoring our nation to societal health.

Read the whole thing here.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.