What does it mean to be "Progressive"?

[newworld]

What does it mean to you to be Progressive? And are there any differences from Liberalism?

I was raised Democrat, and am somewhat new to politics.....but have found it very interesting and have paid more attention to it since the "caveman" has stepped foot in office......I just wanted to here some of your oppinions on the subject.


....trying to not sound too naive here....so go easy.:toast:

[stepnw1f]

1. You Were Raised "Democratic", not democrat (nt)

[newworld]

5. oops!

Forgot to put the "a" in before...:blush:

[RagingInMiami]

2. Progressive is the new liberalism

Now that they turned the word "liberal" into a dirty word where most democratic politicians are afraid to admit they are liberal. Progressive is the exact opposite of "conservative", which basically means you do not want change, that you are happy with the way things are.

Progressive means you believe in progress. In change for the better.

It was progressives who fought for Civil Rights while it was conservatives who fought against them. Progressives are liberals because they believe in liberty and justice for all.

[SoftUnderbelly]

3. wel...

it can mean a lot of things, but briefly i suppose it is used for someone from the left wing of the political spectrum who believes that change should be brought about gradually through reforms of the system, as opposed to revolutionaries who would say that the current system is inherently flawed and cannot be reformed but needs to be replaced altogether - through a revolution.

what does a progressive want? well, generally they favour a progressive system of taxation which means that the more money you earn the more you pay proportionaly (so someone on $20k a year might pay 15%, someone on $200k per year might pay 40%) which differs from many conservatives who are now arguing for a flat rate of tax (so you pay 15% no matter how much you earn)

and the taxation system itself is used as a form of wealth redistribution to pay for social programmes for the less well off (health, educations, welfare, housing) whereas conservatives hate the idea of poor people not starving to death in the streets and prefer all tax money to be spent on guns and prisons.

progressives are also generally very liberal when it comes to so called 'moral issues' and believe a person is free to do what they want as long as it doesnt infringe on the freedom of others - affecting things such as gay marriage, drug legalisation, abortion etc. (however it should be pointed out that some economic conservatives also support these kind of liberal policies - you would call them libertarians in america i believe)

im going to stop here to prevent this turning into an overly long post. i realise theres a lot i left out, but ask some questions on specific topics and im sure people will be happy to clear things up.

[HawkerHurricane]

4. My definition...

Quite simply, I believe that our best days as a country are not behind us, but ahead of us. That we steadily move forward toward the unreachable goal of Utopia, not attempt to move back to a 'Golden Age" that never existed.
"Always look forward, in last year's nests there are no birds." - Miguel De Cervantes

[Thickasabrick]

6. I've always thought of myself as more progressive than liberal.

To me -it's the evolution of human society. It incorporates and welcomes changes that would improve the human condition for all.

[Swede]

7. It's the opposite of regressive.

Pro forward,re backward.

[Odin2005]

8. Progressive is a more inclusive term then Liberal

"progressive" includes both the liberal Left and the Socialist left.

[FtWayneBlue]

9. Look here for clues:

http://www.pdamerica.org/

Progressive Democrats of America Rock!!

[newworld]

10. THANKS!

......for the link!B-)

[sweetheart]

11. It means you believe in hope,

..that tulips will grow in Mordor.
The grass that grows between the pavements,
cut down and trodden brown, undeterred,
with liberty and justice for all.

[calmblueocean]

12. I was just thinking about this today, and here's what I think the difference is in 2006.

There are two ways to be a Democrat.

The first is to be open to new ideas and new solutions. You're essentially nonpartisan. You just want to go with what works. You're not dominated by ideology. You want to follow the facts wherever they lead, and base policy on that. That openness to new ideas makes you a liberal.

The second way to be a Democrat is to be a passionate advocate. You fight for the rights of all people, for economic and social justice. This makes you a progressive.

That's the basic difference today to me. Liberals are merely openminded, progressives are advocates.