Why the Difference Between Liberals and Progressives Makes a Difference

In her latest Wall Street Journal column Peggy Noonan sounds impressed by Bill Maher’s criticism of progressives:

“If you think that America is more racist now than ever, more sexist than before women could vote, you have progressophobia,” Mr. Maher said. Look at the changes America has made on disputed issues like gay marriage and marijuana legislation. “Even something like bullying. It still happens, but being outwardly cruel to people who are different is no longer acceptable. That’s progress. Acknowledging progress isn’t saying, ‘We’re done,’ or, ‘We don’t need more.’ And being gloomier doesn’t mean you’re a better person.”

He was asking for perspective, a hard thing to do when you’re a comic because a comic’s tools are exaggeration, satire and sarcasm. But Mr. Maher maintained earnestness.

“In 1958,” he said, “only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. Now Gallup doesn’t even bother asking. But the last time they did, in 2013, 87% approved. An overwhelming majority of Americans now say they want to live in a multiracial neighborhood. That is a sea change from when I was a kid.” Mr. Maher was born in 1956.

He barreled on: “In a country that’s 14% black, 18% of the incoming class at Harvard is black. And since 2017, white students are not even a majority in our public colleges. Employees of color make up 47% of Microsoft, 50% of Target, 55% of the Gap, as companies become desperate to look like their TV commercials.”

She concludes:

Having a sense of perspective about what America is and the progress it has made encourages not only self-respect—maybe you yourself tried to help in some of the social-justice movements of the past 75 years—but respect for this great project we’re all involved in, which is America itself. It’s hard to continue an arduous journey toward something like equality when you’re demoralized, and you become demoralized when you can see no distance from point to point, and are given no credit for pushing on.

America is a funny place, more like a great continuing drama than a country. We’re always sinning, sometimes wildly, and always looking to reform ourselves, redeem ourselves. All our civil-rights movements attest to this. We’re an agitated people constantly looking for betterment. We’re always tearing open our shirt, baring our chest and saying, “There’s something wrong with us!” And there is, a lot! It is revealing that while other countries did quiet conversions, we did great awakenings, that in the 20th century, when other Western countries might experience quiet revivals, we in America flocked to huge rallies for a great man like Billy Graham, who in his way was saying there’s a way to quiet the American heart, any heart, you have got a home, you are not alone, you can become a better person.

I don’t believe it’s “progressophobia” as claimed by Mr. Maher. I think it’s more basic than that. Progressives are not striving for any fixed outcome but for some poorly-defined “progress” which is always just beyond reach. They are vanguardists. They believe their role is to guide the masses to enlightenment.

But that enlightenment is always, as noted, just beyond reach which keeps them relevant, maintains their power. That’s the key difference between liberals and progressives. You can actually measure how liberal a society is; you can’t measure progress because it is not compared to a fixed objective. The net effect is that it’s a form of autocracy. Power becomes its own objective.