I am confused please help.

[William769]

What is the difference between a progressive & a liberal? I know what the difference is when you add a moderate & a conservative, but progressive & liberal has me confused.

The reason I ask is I saw a poll this morning on DU asking which of the four are you.

[htuttle]

1. Hmm....I'd draw the line between them around economics

Progressives would tend to favor more populist, anti-corporate economics, while traditional liberals would favor more corporate-oriented economics. But there really isn't a bright line between 'progressive' and 'liberal' -- it's more of a self-declared thing (though many wish to recall populists like Bob LaFollette when they say they are 'progressive', etc...).

[William769]

2. Thanks for your reply.

[ChiciB1]

4. I Consider Myself A LIBERAL... I Don't Feel Anything Close To Backing

Pro-Corporate favoritism. Personally, I think the term "progressive" actually is simply a more palatable word to "soften" the use of Liberal!

Since the 80's & Ronald Raygun, the term Liberal has come to have a negative connotation. I will admit there is "some" differentiation between the two, but on the whole that's my theory.

[Vincardog]

3. Progressive is what liberals call themselves after the Radical right made

LIBERRRRALLLL a bad word.

[ChiciB1]

5. Looks Like We Had The Same Idea At Almost The Same Time!

As I was formulating my reply, you beat me to the punch!

[Vincardog]

7. Great minds

[ChiciB1]

12. Think Alike!

[William769]

6. Now I'm really confused.

I have always been a proud liberal & thought it was the in thing to do. I guess i didn't get the memo that Liberals were bad.

[Vincardog]

8. You didn't hear after 9/11 The right wanted to strike back and the LIBERAL

wanted to offer counseling? The the Chimp is strong and manly and liberals are weak and girlie men? The right wants to balance the budget no matter how many schools it has to close and the Liberals are terrorist loving apologists?

Do you own a TV? Or a radio Go ask RUSH

[Justitia]

9. It's an interparty distinction only, really. Outside the party, it isn't

well understood.

All progressives are liberals, not all liberals are progressives.

To give you a very basic example of how the two may differ in their approach to a problem....

Consider high heating costs -

A liberal will set aside budget money for heating subsidies for the poor.

A progressive endorses this action, but also wants to examine the ability of the heating company to set prices and create the condition of unaffordable heating bills.

Progressives look to analyze existing policy and to create new policy to affect root causes.
Much of it can be economically based.

Progressives are generally ardent supporters of balanced budgets as they believe social justice is only afforded by economic stability / viability. This is supported by the GOPs attempts to "Starve The Beast" and "drown the gov't in a bathtub". When the federal budget is swimming in red ink, the first action of congress is to cut social programs - very convenient, eh?

Some RWers have seized on this interparty distinction and tried to make it some kind of ugly interparty dispute. I DO NOT believe that progressives use the term "progressive" to run away from some kind of "liberal" stigma. You may have figured out that I consider myself a "progressive" - ha.

HOWEVER, I ONLY use that distinction when talking to other Dems, like now. I am proud to be called a liberal, a progressive, and most proud of the label "Member of the Opposition Party", which should include everyone that opposes this criminal administration. I don't identify myself as a progressive to anyone who is not a member of the Democratic party, as the difference is both lost and meaningless to them.

Does that help at all?

-Your Liberal Brethren in the Progressive Opposition :)


edited to add: when RWers try to attack the word "liberal", I tell them how beautiful I think the word is - it comes from the same Latin base as does the word "liberty" - LIBER - "to be free"

[William769]

11. Thank you for a well thought answer.

It has helped me alot. :)

[ChiciB1]

13. Well Then I'm A Liberal Progressive Simply By Agreeing With

much of what you stated!

I feel that welfare is a GOOD thing for those who need it, BUT I also feel that there is a great deal of fraud connected with it. But then, how much fraud is connected to Corporate Welfare??

When RWers call me a "bleeding heart liberal," I refer them to a dictionary. I'm still not sure there's that MUCH distinction between the two. The RWers DID in fact try and have mostly succeeded in making LIBERAL a negative reality!

As a Liberal, I say HOGWASH!

[Justitia]

15. There isn't much distinction, it's more a policy wonk type of approach.

I consider myself a bleeding heart liberal sometimes. My heart sometimes feels like it's bleeding over the injustices of my fellow man and I look for ways to correct those conditions. The Democratic difference simply lies in the approach and also the timeline of the response.

Remember again, that ALL progressives ARE liberals.

But both progressives and plain 'ole liberals are necessary to our party. Progressives tend to look at the longer term strategy of fixing the problem, which can make our solutions seem "radical" or "extreme" to others - we are directly challenging the way things are done, and proposing new and different ways to do it. It may seem radical to take on the status quo. This scares some folks who need to find an answer that is palatable for today.

We need our liberals to get things done in the here and now - I mean people can't feed their kids on ideas and concepts. Our liberal legislators are the ones who get things enacted by the end of the budget session (like the heating subsidies I mentioned). It takes longer to fight the status quo. I think this is why you see Dem legislators as mostly liberal vs progressive - they have agendas to act on. They leave strategy and long term vision to the party diehard progressives, who are also willing to take the requisite body blows for unconventional thinking at times.

Being the policy wonk that I am, I do want to speak to an impression you made in your post....

Fraud in existing welfare programs amounts to less than 1/2 of 1% of the combined federal budget.

Back when I was in the corporate world, if I had less than 1/2 of 1% written off to fraud, I would have been dancing in the aisles of our boardroom.

The real fraud is the outrageous gobs of $$$$ illicit money we give to bailout corporations, fund pork projects akin to bribery (Bridge to Nowhere anyone?), no bid contract workers who simply lose the money (9 BIL - Halliburton) or just out and out line the pockets of our political ally bad guys (Chalabi and Abramoff). Welfare fraud will never sum up to a drop in the ocean of those numbers, or even simply approach what we spend in paying for health insurance for our federal employees as a benefit.

Sorry if I climbed on my soapbox there! I just try to wipe out the myth of "Welfare queens" that has been so skillfully employed by the evil side for so many years. Now, you can see why I'm a policy wonk!!! ha, ha!

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. As a progressive,

I most conservatively cling to my liberal precepts.

:shrug:

[Jai4WKC08]

14. I saw an interesting distinction made in another thread

Someone there said the real difference lies not between progressives and liberals, but between progressive liberals and radical liberals. Paraphrasing broadly (since I remember only the gist), the progressive liberals want to improve the system incrementally, making more gradual progress toward the left, whereas the radical liberal tends to believe the system itself is so corrupt, it must be overturned as fast and as far as possible.

I dunno if these definitions are true or not, but they gave me something to think about and might be worth some further discussion. I've always tended to believe progressive was just a word some people choose to get away from the word itself since the GOP turned "liberal" into a dirty word. For that reason, I have tended to cling to the word "liberal"; I think that it's important to stand up for our Democratic values and that means reclaiming the words that describe them. I also don't like it when Democrats fall prey to the GOP tactic of setting us against each other, and when moderates (and I tend to be fairly moderate) run away from the liberal label, they do so at the expense of an important part of our party and what we stand for.

[AtomicKitten]

16. interesting analysis

and I think you're on to something there. It's not that liberals and progressive don't believe and want the same things, I just think those brave enough to cling to the word liberal are more realistic about achieving the goals. I read somewhere on DU from a progressive that we should disregard the 10% of redneck cow-pies that are too stupid to know the issues, but IMO that's not democracy. Some people get too wrapped up in what they perceive to be their own political savvy. And that's why they lose sight of the very basis of our democracy, an inclusive democracy. Some progressives have become prickly thinking they are persecuted by the liberals and moderates within the Dem party, but IMO they are ostracizing themselves by their behavior, not their ideology. I think we all agree we need some radical change in America. It's strategizing how to get there that causes people to part company. We are no longer working together.

[ChiciB1]

18. I'll "KICK" Here Too!

[ChiciB1]

17. I Concur With Your Reply More So Than The Previous One!

I'm almost offended when Democrats "shy" away from being Liberal. The word and terminology is "inclusive!"

[AtomicKitten]

19. say it loud and say it proud! n/t

[ChiciB1]

21. You Betcha... Baby!!

[G Edward Cook]

20. Progressive liberal?

I think I am a Progressive Liberal but I could be a Liberal Progressive. I guess it depends on which side of the bed you get out of in the morning.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi G Edward Cook!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[CTyankee]

23. Progressive is better because

to be the opposite of progressive you would have to be regressive and that sounds bad, like you're a caveman. So I prefer progressive, but I consider the two to be interchangeable.