![\"\"](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/7b\/Recycling_symbol.svg\/220px-Recycling_symbol.svg.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Here is a post for those who think that pointing out the inconsistency between a party’s name and its alleged position on an issue constitutes a decisive refutation of their view.\u00c2\u00a0 That “conservatives” fail to “conserve” or “preserve” or anything else\u00c2\u00a0along those lines does not mean they embody some kind of contradiction.\u00c2\u00a0 George Will\u00c2\u00a0has used this line on\u00c2\u00a0“progressives,” or his army of hollow men in years past<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Here he is the other day<\/a>:<\/p>\n Progressives are remarkably uninterested in progress<\/strong>. Social Security is 78 years old, and myriad social improvements have added 17\u00e2\u20ac\u2030years to life expectancy since 1935, yet progressives insist the program remain frozen, like a fly in amber. Medicare is 48 years old, and the competence and role of medicine have been transformed since 1965, yet progressives cling to Medicare \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as we know it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And they say that the Voting Rights Act<\/a>, another 48-year-old, must remain unchanged, despite dramatic improvements in race relations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What kind of move is this?\u00c2\u00a0 I think it’s an equivocation–a rather textbook variety.\u00c2\u00a0 Clearly “progressive” means something different<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0to “Progressives” (the name a half-hearted\u00c2\u00a0attempt at\u00c2\u00a0rebranding\u00c2\u00a0“liberal,” by the way).\u00c2\u00a0 Will’s thought goes something like this:<\/p>\n your name implies you like progress, but here is progress which you don’t like, so you’re not “progressive.”\u00c2\u00a0 Your self-understanding therefore is laughably contradictory.<\/p>\n The\u00c2\u00a0problem with this is that “progress” (1)–things getting better, more just, etc–and “progress” (2)–things changing–mean different things to alleged “progressives”.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides, what is at issue with voting rights\u00c2\u00a0is an empirical question: has progress been made on voting rights?\u00c2\u00a0 Progressives say, pointing to the recent election,\u00c2\u00a0no; (some) conservatives say yes.<\/p>\n *minor edit for clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fig.1: Conservativism Here is a post for those who think that pointing out the inconsistency between a party’s name and its alleged position on an issue constitutes a decisive refutation of their view.\u00c2\u00a0 That “conservatives” fail to “conserve” or “preserve” or anything else\u00c2\u00a0along those lines does not mean they embody some kind of contradiction.\u00c2\u00a0 George … Continue reading Reduce, reuse, recyle<\/span>