Have Progressives Lost Their Moral Compass?

February 26th, 2009

Posted by: Roger Pielke, Jr.

I have seen some ugly, ugly things this week. Some of them have focused on me for views that I have, but others involve people I know and respect. People who know better, or should know better, are engaging in tactics that can only be described as bullying, strong arming, character assassination, threatening, and McCarthy-esque. Most of these people characterize themselves as progressives. Below is how the Center for American Progress defines a progressive. Have some progressives lost their moral compass, or is it the case that all is fair in love, war, and politics?

22 Responses to “Have Progressives Lost Their Moral Compass?”

    1
  1. Parse Error Says:

    In my late teens I had several friends who were of liberal/progressive persuasion, and always found them to be quite amicable and very open-minded. They liked to listen to what was on your mind even if it offended their sensibilities, stated their disagreement respectfully, and politely put forth several convincing counterpoints. Within just a few short years though, I found it impossible to communicate with different individuals who, at least nominally, subscribed to the same ideologies; in fact I often found them to be somewhat more intolerant and hostile than the stereotype of the bigoted conservative. I’ve always wondered what happened, or whether anything did – perhaps the people I knew before were simply exceptional individuals – so it is certainly interesting now to hear somebody on a much higher level register a similar complaint.

  2. 2
  3. stan Says:

    Here is a book review which discusses a variety of books on environmentalism by authors from the left side of the spectrum. http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1588/article_detail.asp

    Apparently, democracy is seen as a major impediment (I’m shocked, shocked.) But a few of the authors are beginning to see the ugly underbelly of their own movement. “Useless Arithmetic” looks particularly interesting.

  4. 3
  5. stan Says:

    BTW, the CAP’s definition of what a progressive is and is not is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. The absence of any self-awareness, the hubris, the ….

    Amazing.

  6. 4
  7. Reid Says:

    The political term “progressive” has constantly changed meaning but the one constant is antagonism to free markets (freedom) and a belief in more government to protect (control) the people. The original progressive was Teddy Roosevelt the trustbuster. Then came Prohibition which progressives campaigned for as a way to boost productivity and reduce social problems. Before World War II the progressive movement was obsessed with eugenics and wanted to sterilize those with low IQ as a way to breed higher quality more productive humans. Eugenics lost favor after Nazi atrocities and today most progressives don’t even acknowledge the reality of IQ.

    I view progressives as those who have a total belief in the ability of government to improve economic conditions and reduce social problems. And they have complete disregard for the unintended consequences of government involvement in the economy and social sphere.

  8. 5
  9. PaddikJ Says:

    The dark side of liberal progressivism has been a part of it for quite a while. As an undergraduate in the early 70’s, I recall a friend’s disgusted remark about the campus radicals: “They’re everything they claim to hate.”

    I’ve never payed a lot of attention, but it does seem there is a distinct and unpleasant strain of Hobbesian elitism in the Progressive movement: The masses are asses, and need a Nanny Government to keep them out of trouble. It would interesting to know how this attitude has waxed and waned through the decades.

    But Roger, you’re being coy: You claim there has been much ugliness this week, but the only example I’ve found here at Prometheus is that your interview was not published. Have you gotten feedback (or pushback?) via other channels? Are you going to share?

  10. 6
  11. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:

    PaddickJ- The interview not being published is not at all ugly, fairly silly actually. On what I’ve seen and experienced this week, you’ll just have to take my word for it I’m afraid.

  12. 7
  13. jae Says:

    What Stan says! Roger your chart is labeled exactly backwards! Labels are rather unfair, but I don’t think I know of anyone who calls himself a “progressive” and who is also far left on the political spectrum who will ever sit down and calmly discuss a contentious issue. But I know many “conservatives” who will do that all day long. Well, maybe Combes, who used to be on the Hannity and Combe show is an example ??

  14. 8
  15. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:

    jae- It is not my chart, it is from the Center for American Progress.

  16. 9
  17. jae Says:

    I know, sorry for the confusion.

  18. 10
  19. darwin Says:

    Roger, your word is always good enough for me.
    Still, while bad actors in climate debate are rife from all sides, do you have examples of some progressives, conservatives and others, like yourself, who engage in the debate in an appropriate manner? People always can use some good role models to follow, as a contrast to the bad examples.
    And as for all being fair in love, war or politics, didn’t our new president just say no to all forms of torture despite our war on terrorism? The Nuremburg trials and the Geneva Convention likewise seemed to say otherwise. I think there are laws against murdering a rival for your love interest, as well. And even in political campaigns you can’t say or do anything you want. It would be passing strange if progressives wanted to revert to the law of the jungle. So what you’re really asking those self-described progressives is do they view progress as going backwards.

  20. 11
  21. PaddikJ Says:

    Darwin:

    Is that your real name, or a “blog handle”? Either way, it’s eerily apropos of the theme of your comment

  22. 12
  23. Roger Pielke Jr. - Noble victim of threats and McCarthyite oppression « The Way Things Break Says:

    [...] are getting truly ugly. And you don’t have to take Roger’s word for it- Oh, wait: On what I’ve seen and experienced this week, you’ll just have to take my word for it I’m [...]

  24. 13
  25. Alex B Says:

    Sorry to hear about your bad experiences Roger. I think your doing great work so hold your head up.

  26. 14
  27. David Bruggeman Says:

    Sorry to be a link hog, Roger, but I’d like to take a look at where that chart is, on the off chance that it could be aspirational rather than proscriptive. Yeah, I occasionally retain some optimism in humanity. That and I have interacted with enough people who work or have worked for CAP and write for them to know that there are just a few bad apples there. That you managed to interact with most or all of them is unfortunate.

  28. 15
  29. jessicaweinkle Says:

    Isn’t this written like a newspaper horoscope? Anyone can be a progressive and anyone who is not all those other things is a progressive. Are there people who hope not to be called progressive or rather “no thank you, I’d rather be called selfish”? If one is trying to divide progressives from others the pie chart doesn’t necessarily do a good job. I suppose if I choose not to align with progressives I am in turn a self absorbed idiot. It’s right up there with not wanting to be the one to leave a child behind. While it does call non-progressives names, it in a sense, makes everyone progressive- just like things will change for you on the 3rd so look out for a new person in your life.

  30. 16
  31. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:

    14- I got it from this post by Ted Nordhaus:

    http://thebreakthrough.org/blog/2008/04/deconstructing_joe_romm_a_prim.shtml

  32. 17
  33. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:

    http://www.examiner.com/x-4112-Skepticism-Examiner~y2009m2d26-Who-is-Roger-Pielke-Jr

  34. 18
  35. docpine Says:

    Roger,
    visiting the link above “Who is Roger Pielke jr.” above, I looked at the comments and realized how civilized Prometheus bloggers are compared to others. Thank you Roger for sharing your opinions, and thank you Promethe-ites for sticking to mostly respectful, thoughtful discourse.

  36. 19
  37. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:

    Thanks docpine, it is a pleasure to have your contributions here.

  38. 20
  39. David Bruggeman Says:

    Roger,

    Here’s the link to the original graphic, hosted at the Center for American Progress’s Action Fund (a related entity to CAP, focused on Congressional and statehouse action).

    http://www.americanprogressaction.org/aboutus

    You’ll need to scroll down a bit.

    Too bad there’s not an ombudsman or similar person at CAP to which one could complain. Romm and company are, hopefully unintentionally, denigrating the good work of a lot of other people that can have civil debate.

  40. 21
  41. Charlie (Colorado) Says:

    Roger, I think the graphic is actually quite good.

    Maybe the point here is to ask who the real progressives are?

  42. 22
  43. stan Says:

    (18) docpine,

    What he said! Roger deserves major props. And the other authors. They do a great job, especially given the wide range of beliefs evident among the commenters here.