What is the difference between "progressive" and "liberal"?
David Sirota, in a syndicated column published 3/26/10 wrote (and I simplify here) that liberalism was essentially government writing of checks for this or that, whereas progressivism wanted government regulations to follow the government's money.
In 2008, our own Vikingkingq wrote Progressive vs. Liberal - What's in a Name?
A Pew Research Center poll (7/11/11)found that 67% of people had a positive reaction to the word "progressive" and only 22% had a negative one. "Liberal" drew 50% positive, and 39% negative, with "conservative" hauling in 62% positive and 30% negative. From the poll summary:
Public reactions to the word progressive are far more favorable than to the word liberal; two-thirds have a positive reaction to the former compared with just half for the latter. There is very little difference among Democrats – who view both terms favorably. The largest difference is among Republicans most (55%) of whom have a positive reaction to the word progressive, and a negative (70%) reaction to the word liberal.
So it looks like brand-wise, the thing to do is to slap on the progressive label.
Me however I prefer the term "liberal" to describe myself, although, I think in many ways "liberals" are the conservative party these days, and those that call themselves "conservatives" are actually "reactionaries" or "radicals", take your pick.
The chief advantage of the term "liberal", at least if you're trolling right wing sites, is the wonderful slab of opprobrium that gets heaped on you. Conservapedia, that shining star of nescience, includes this bit of scholarship:
A study found that "Psychiatric patients were found to have a statistically significant higher prevalence rate (55%) of bestiality than the control groups (10% and 15% respectively)."[30] The atheist population has a higher suicide rate and lower marriage rates than the general population (see: Atheism and suicide and Atheism and marriageability and Atheism and health). In addition, Wired magazine made the observation that atheists tend to be quarrelsome, socially challenged men.[31]
For more information please see:
* Atheism and bestiality
* Evolutionary belief and bestiality
* Liberalism and bestiality
* Homosexuality and bestiality
* Liberal American entertainment industry and bestiality
* Wikipedia on bestiality
* Liberal Sweden and bestiality
* Godless Britain and bestiality
* Denmark, Sweden, evolutionary belief and bestiality
* The liberal Netherlands and bestiality
* Skeptic Skatje Myers' comments on bestiality
* Joseph Stalin's ape-men experiments
Ah, yeah. Not too much of an obsession there.
OTOH, Conservapedia doesn't have much to say about "progressive", but they've got a lot more to say about liberals. There's so much to choose from, my favorite is this:
Liberals claimed a monopoly on compassion, decency, and social justice (as defined by themselves), posing as the sole defenders of civic virtue against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics.
Ayup. Got that one right. Guilty as charged.