I'm a Liberal and I'm damn proud of it. I'm sure as hell not a "progressive." Why? Because it sounds stupid, that's why. Actually there's a lot more to it than that, and I'll get more in depth, but at the base of it is that "liberal" sounds a lot better than "progressive." (I'll stop with the quotation marks now.)
Progressive sounds so cumbersome. If you're going to have an ideology, why not have it sound convincing? To me, progressive sounds and awful lot like you're trying to repackage liberal with something that is newer and has fewer negative connotations. Progressive sounds like you want to label everyone who disagrees with you as against progress, and, while that might be true, is a little too obvious. It ends up seeming more like you're afraid than for progress.
So that's my first reason for liberal over progressive. Secondly I want to address the issue that there might be fundamental differences between liberalism and progressivism. I think that idea is well grounded in history and is also completely irrelevant.
This is my (very brief) understanding of the history of this. If I've made any mistakes or left out something huge, let me know. Progressivism in America comes largely from the progressive era around the turn of the last century. Liberalism at this time was focused on civil liberties and laissez-faire capitalism. That was classical liberalism, something I believe is closer to liberalism today in Europe. Then in the 1930s, FDR reinvigorated liberalism and gave it its current meaning – support for both civil rights and a strong welfare state.
I'm not sure when liberals in America began to use progressive again, but I do think it's a bad idea, and self-defeating. I think that people who prefer progressive are also afraid of being labeled, and find that progressive is vacuous enough to fill it with whatever they believe. Instead of running from labels, or trying to make a new one, I think that everyone on the left in this country should return to the Liberal (I do like it with a capital L) label, and take it as their own. Conservatives, as countless books have pointed out, have stuck by their label and built a fairly successful brand around it. I know that we can be more successful. Doing some research online I found some quote claiming that progressivism is more flexible than liberalism since liberalism is an ideology and progressivism is a way of thinking. (I'll link to that soon.) I'm not sure that I really get the point – an ideology is a way of thinking, and liberalism is only what we want to make of it.
The reason I finally decided I was a Liberal and not a Progressive was when I considered public opinion. The vast majority of the public already divides politics into liberal, conservative, and everything in between. When people view a progressive who denies being a liberal, the suspicion that he's hiding something will always be there. Liberal is already in the minds of Americans, and if it has a negative association, then we can change that. Start calling yourselves Liberals when someone asks. Hell, even when they don't ask.
I'm adding a list of books, etc. and people who have taken a side in the Liberal/Progressive debate. If you know any more, comment.
Pro-Liberal
Bill Scher – he devotes a chapter of Wait! Don't Move to Canada! to liberalism. It's called "Embrace the L-Word and Win the Center." He also runs LiberalOasis.com.
Elizabeth Clementson and Robert Lasner – Co-publishers of Ig Publishing, edited "Proud to Be Liberal"
Robert B. Reich – Former Secretary of Labor under Clinton, he wrote "Reason, Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America."
Peter Beinart – Editor of the New Republic. I'm still not sure what I think of him. He supported the War in Iraq, then decided against it in his book "The Good Fight: Why Liberals - and Only Liberals – Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again." I've only read a little of it, and I know that Beinart has been called a paleo-liberal and a hawk, but I share his ambivalence against liberals who are against all wars, not just this one. Maybe I'm a paleo-liberal too, but I'll make my mind up on that later.
Paul Wellstone – Deceased Senator from Minnesota. He is claimed by many to be a progressive, but he also wrote "The Conscience of a Liberal" modeled after "The Conscience of a Conservative" by Barry Goldwater. I don't have any specific quotes by Wellstone on the matter, but they're probably out there.
John F. Kennedy – At a meeting of the New York Liberal Party he claimed to be a liberal, but also started it by being very defensive.
I will post some sources and liberal quotes soon. I plan on posting a few times very shortly about words and ideology, and where we should go from here.
PS
I'd Also like to add:
LiberalOasis.com - a great blog with lots of awesome links
trueblueliberal.com - another great blog with cool t-shirts and bracelets, I have two of the bracelets
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