You may be a progressive if...just what does it mean to be "progressive"?

[civildisoBDence]

The old quote attributed to Churchill goes like this:

"Any young man who is not a liberal has no heart; any old man who is not a conservative has no head."

I hated that quote in my twenties, then loved it in my thirties, and am bemused by it in my forties.

As one of many who started his adult life on the far left then drifted to the center and a little to the right, I was moved by a column in a local magazine called "You May Be a Progressive." I knew that during the Bush misadministration I had drifted back to the left, but this really put things in perspective for me. (And I 'm pretty sure I have a head, though some brain cells went missing during the 70's. And 80's. And 90's. And so on.)

You May Be a Progressive If...

The author is Pete McCommons, and the publication is a music/culture magazine called "Flagpole" out of Athens, GA.

A few snippets:

You may be a progressive if:

You know that poverty is endemic right here in the middle of our charming community, and rather than retreat to your out-of-town enclave, you support governmental, charitable and religious efforts to help out and to address the causes of poverty: ignorance, low or no pay, lack of medical care, limited transportation, prejudice, etc.

You live in a neighborhood or know somebody who does and believe that neighborhoods, rather than condos or gated developments, are the basic units of our community and should be protected from encroachment by roads, hospitals, subdivisions and students.

You like to drink water and realize how important it is for people and all growing things. You know that water has to be protected at its source—our rivers, streams and springs—by adequate buffers of trees and undergrowth.

You like trees and understand how important they are for filtering our air and shading our town. You are offended for yourself and our community when acres of trees are bulldozed and the hills are scraped flat.

You understand that people differ in infinite varieties and all should have the equal opportunity to make themselves members of our community regardless of their religious, sexual, ethnic or political differences.

You grasp the importance of good schools to a good community and are committed to making our public schools better.

You believe that democracy functions best when it is open to all citizens, and you support efforts to involve people in the decisions that affect their lives.

To sum up all of the above, you believe that our community is an ecosystem in which we all have an impact on each other and that government should assure that no one be allowed to harm the common good through crime, greed or disregard. You also believe that government should provide the services that enable people to live better while not encroaching on their freedom to make their own choices, as long as those choices do not limit somebody else’s freedom.

Thanks, Pete (and due credit to Jeff Foxworthy.)

Newsprism

[Nite Owl]

1. I never understood that saying either

If anything I have become more liberal as I get older. As you age you should understand the world better, you should be more empathetic not less because you have seen more and just what harm conservatism has done. Our country was founded on liberal principles, maybe that's why conservatives hate the Constitution.