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• Friday, November 21, 2008 12:23 PM

  A meaningful difference to people on the left

  I am a liberal. My brother is a progessive. I don't mean that metaphorically. I mean that literally.

  There is a meaningful difference between a liberal and progressive, one that people on the left -- especially the further left -- can agree upon, and one that Mr. Lind did not acknowledge.

  There is something rather elitist about liberals/liberalism. They believe that they know what should be done. Of course, they want it done in the interests of the poor, of minorities, of the powerless. But they propose (demand?) the solutions.

  Progressives, on the other hand, have quite a different view. Their goal is empowerment, so that the poor, minorities and powerless can make their decisions. They don't want the elite liberals to make decisions for the powerless, the want the powerless to have the authority to make their own decisions.

  My brother is calling for a greater change than I am. He is calling for a restructing of power dynamics. I am calling for better (and perhaps more) programs. I am calling for the smarted and educated people -- unfortunately, not coming from the powerless classes often enough -- to make decisions, even though that is condescending. He is calling for those folks to stop thinking that they know what the powerless need.

  I think that his goals are too ambitious to be achieved in the short or medium term, and that he discounts exerptise and intelligence too much. He thinks that I am missing the big picture and therefore ignoring the fundamental problems. I think that he is being naive, and he thinks the same of me.

  —ceolaf Read ceolaf's other letters
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