The so-called progressive sect purports to be forward-thinking, tolerant, and enlightened when it comes to the nation’s most pressing social and economic issues. Whether it be DEI, CRT, ESG, the Green New Deal, reparations, newly revised/lowered physical requirements for military/fire/police duty or anything else, compared to conservatives, progressives insist that they know more about the facts of the matter, they feel more deeply and are more compassionate and understanding, and most importantly, progressives contend that their positions are the only ones that will benefit the country.

All high-profile progressives not only claim that they are correct about a given topic, they consistently maintain that conservative positions are not only wrong, but they are designed to deliberately diminish the quality of life for specific demographic groups that progressives think conservatives wish to harm.

A highly educated, successful, retired friend of mine is a self-described “lifelong liberal Democrat.” Nice enough guy. We share interests in old movies, music, sports, BBQ and other things. I know better than to get involved with him in political discussion. Every day on a popular social media site he posts remarkably uninformed, clichéd progressive talking points that betray an astonishing lack of true factual understanding of the current political/social/economic events. One of his latest rants was, “I oppose the current GOP not because it tolerates hate, misogyny, racism and ignorance, but because it EMBRACES them!” [Capital letters in the original quote.] He sounds like a mirror for the diatribe-du-jour from CNN.

“Bob” (not his real name, obviously) is a smart guy, but his responses to conservatives and the issues of the day are totally emotional, not fact-based at all. There is also a strong egotistical/legacy component to his thought process, which is common among upper-crust progressives. The notion that factual input may prove that they’re wrong is too emotionally threatening to allow them to open their minds and engage in any rational, measured discussion. The idea that “this is the way I and my family have always voted” is also a powerful impediment to any possibility of changing their minds.

The reality of progressives being essentially totally controlled by their emotions and ego is particularly obvious in light of today’s most high-profile issues and the astounding hypocrisy with which most progressives conduct their personal affairs.

Let’s look at a few of them:

Gun Ownership

Many progressives own guns, shoot regularly, and would never give them up. Many more progressives are protected by armed personnel and relish the concomitant security and peace of mind. They are not opposed to guns per se. They are simply opposed to conservatives having guns.

“Gender-Affirming” Healthcare

In plain language, this refers to minors undergoing either permanent disfiguring surgery or the taking of huge amounts of body-altering drugs in a misguided, potentially deadly effort to somehow repeal their natural XX/XY chromosome status. No amount of drugs, no matter how extreme or harmful, can change male chromosomes into female or vice-versa. No sane parent would allow their 12-year-old child to decide this for themselves. But progressive politicians and spokespeople pretend that it is ok for other people’s children to do this.

Capitalism

Progressives can rail all they want about the unfairness of capitalism, but when it comes to their own personal financial situations, they certainly know how to operate the system to their own financial benefit. Al Gore, John Kerry, and many others have leveraged the “Climate Crisis” -- supposedly caused by capitalism -- into speeches, books, presentations, consultations, etc. that have netted them millions of dollars.

“Mr. Socialism” Bernie Sanders has collected book royalties, made investments and the like to the point where he has several homes and all manner of luxurious affectations in his life -- a lifestyle impossible to achieve on the salary of a lifelong public servant.

Nancy Pelosi lives in an outlandishly opulent lifestyle, courtesy of her family’s highly profitable wine business and her apparent willingness to participate in somewhat “questionable” stock-trading schemes. She is the poster child for reaping both the legitimate and illegitimate fruits of the capitalism tree.

Hiring/Admission Demographic Quotas

Progressives claim that they are in favor of using racial/ethnic/gender quotas to redress past inequities in hiring, promotions and admissions. Yet if a progressive owns a law firm or a factory or a retail operation, one can rest assured that the vast majority of all hiring and promotion activities are based on merit and performance, not on demographic categorization, since such activities directly affect the financial circumstances of the individual progressive company head. He/she is not about to let ethnicity detract from their own personal wealth.

But they will tell you to do so.

Elimination of Fossil Fuels

When progressives assert that fossil fuels need to be banished, they knowingly ignore the fact that no large-scale, financially plausible replacement exists at this time. They knowingly ignore the fact that our electrical grid couldn’t support recharging a nationwide fleet of electric cars. They knowingly ignore the fact that mining for the rare-earth minerals needed for EVs is more environmentally harmful than drilling for oil and natural gas. They knowingly ignore the fact that U.S. oil extraction procedures are the cleanest and safest in the world, yet they shut down the American oil industry and export it to countries where terrorism and pollution are out of control. But progressives equate fossil fuels with conservative Republicans, so, consistent with their rampant emotionalism, fossil fuels must be bad.

There are many other categories that illustrate the emotional/hypocritical operating practices of most progressives: Open borders/unrestricted illegal immigration, defund the police, elimination of high grading standards in the newly dumbed-down public school curricula, etc. As in the examples detailed above, in every one of these instances, progressive politicians favor the new America-harmful approach, as long as those harmful effects do not impact their own personal life.

For progressive politicians, it’s all about virtue signaling, not logic. For progressive voters, it’s all about the emotional/egotistical attachment to one side over the other, even if supporting the progressive side harms their own personal interests.

Progressives will vote for candidates who support such policies, because it’s “compassionate” and that’s the way “they’ve always voted.” They are deaf to logic, facts, and reason. Progressives are slaves to misplaced emotionalism and unfounded “team” loyalty. Uncontrolled progressivism is ruining the country and time is running out to reverse the damage.

Image: PxFuel