Progressive Conservatism (Part 2)

By Contributing Editor Christian Fong

Yesterday, in Part 1, I wrote that to our personal peril and our collective destruction, we don't know what we don't know.  As a result, we each should be willing to disrupt our own ideas to find those unknowns.

Able to adapt, and in doing so, to avoid becoming dinosaurs – lumbering around with old ideas, inferior methods, obsolete thinking or robotic reactions lacking imagination. Those who adopt the discipline of thinking that examines old ideas, disrupting and improving them in order to move forward are called Progressives.

Progressive. A label for Conservatives to wear with pride.

The week of June 13, 2008, when the flood waters rose in Iowa, I took a plane ride with Congressman Loebsack (D, IA-2 District), sharing the exit row so that we could get a good look at Cedar Rapids, Amana and Iowa City/Coralville. We talked about what it would take to meet the challenges of the flood, and chatted about life in Washington D.C. as a freshman congressman. I asked him if he considered himself a moderate, "Oh no," he said, "I’m a Progressive. But I still can work with Republicans."

It was an odd exchange. There is no logic to considering Progressive and Republican as being on opposite sides of the spectrum. Or to think Moderate and Progressive are mutually exclusive. But a hundred years of brand management from the left has made it seem so.

By now, pundits routinely, and mistakenly, interchange "liberal" for "progressive." Liberals have done a wonderful job not just labeling Conservatives as knee-jerk reactionaries, but of taking some of the best terms for themselves!

(An aside on labeling those who disagree with us. My 6 year old might call someone "a stinky", and be reminded that he needs to show some maturity by his teacher. An adult labeling an opponent as "extremist" deserves the same reaction. Childish attacks should have no place in the civic discourse. Yet if you are the recipient of such an attack, you should consider yourself blessed, since it usually means your opponent can find no flaw in your logic and has retreated to juvenilities. Or that we’ve allowed the political process to lower itself to the level of a playground insult war).

But it is one thing to label someone negatively, and another to wisely manage one’s own reputation. It is a good thing to be described as "open-minded" or "progressive." It will be good when pundits start attaching those words to Conservatives. And, best yet, when careful brand management is backed up with reality.

To get there, Conservatives have to be willing to identify which of our old ideas are inadequate for the needs of today, and publicly say, "This is who we were. It wasn’t good enough. We’re moving forward." We have to offer our solutions, because we have tested them and found them to be relevant ideas for today’s problems.

The Republican Party will only rebuild itself, and restore some desperately needed balance to the political landscape, if it pursues forward-looking ideas and follows visionary leaders who can both communicate and execute those ideas.

Solutions for our time. Relevance for real problems. Willingness to disrupt the old way of doing things, and find new leaders, to revolutionize the political landscape. That’s a winning strategy!

What makes this conservative? Modern conservatism focuses on the individual’s responsibility. We ask for action from ourselves, as individuals, first. We believe that it is at the individual level that we see honor, truthfulness, bravery, integrity, and other foundational values. But we don’t stop there. We believe that this change at the individual level has the power to transform our society, including government, for the good. Using the words of Abraham Lincoln, "government of the people" comes first, leading to "government by the people", and only then do we obtain good government "for the people." Good government springs out of the power of Progressive, individual transformation.

So what is a Progressive Conservative?

Progressive Conservatives have the self-discipline to make personal demands on their own thinking. They believe that collective change comes from the effect of many individuals, each disrupting his or her own political paradigm. Each saying, "I take personal responsibility to make the change in my own heart, then to allow that to transform my thinking, finally letting it spill out of me to revolutionize my world."

In fact, they are our most celebrated political conservatives. Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, Ronald Reagan. All share this trait: each was willing to disrupt his own thinking, and then the accepted political philosophy of their day, to advance themselves and their country. Is it you? The Armchair Economist challenges you to be a progressive. Find something today that disrupts what you believe. Not just "to win elections," but to "win in the marketplace of ideas." (Though this attitude will win Iowa elections more often than the arrogant I’m-right-you’re-wrong, closed-minded approach).

How do we Conservatives apply this? Start with your self-described political identity and paradigm.

Are you an ardent libertarian? Good; big government is too often the problem. And the time seems ripe for America to rediscover that.

But stop for a moment and think of a time when massive government intervention has made, or can make, the world better.

Are you a principled "Strong America," military supporter? Fantastic, I’m with you. But ask yourself if physical might, in the absence of spiritual and cultural authority, is a good thing. (Try the Roman Empire for a start.)

Are you anti-IRS? Well, who isn’t? But ask yourself what America would be like if taxes were optional, or if there were none. Or why Lincoln was willing to stake the existence of a country fighting the poisonous idea that supporting the federal government was optional. In that fight, it was Lincoln himself that started the income tax and the IRS (history here). Wrestle with the tension of why that matters. 

Disrupt your ideas and, like light to a prism, your perspective fractures, leading to the discovery that the difference between black and white is never the end of the analysis. Doing so will make you a stronger thinker. A more grounded, smarter Conservative. And a bit less of a sucker.

What’s your disruptive idea? Twitter me (or follow my tweets) here.

  Part 3: I am, proudly, a Progressive Conservative. What does that mean to Iowa?

Comments

[smurfyhoser]

You're right about this. That's why tax cuts are the answer to every ill ever conceived. Always has been. Surpluses? Tax cuts needed. Deficits? Tax cuts needed. Progressive means never having to rethink your answer to any problem.

Gay marriage is bad because *you* have the right (via consitutational amendment!) to tell someone else who they can and cannot marry because of your progressive beliefs.

Spending is bad! Except when Bush did it, enacting at the time massive medicare spending, war spending. There were no tea parties then.

In the end, you're absolutely right: conservatives do need to be more progressive. And that means rethinking old ideas that failed. I'm watching for that change with anticipation. So far, I've seen little change from anyone in the conservative movement, aside from noticing there's a "D" after the name of the current president.

What changes does the party need to make? I don't see any specifics here about what the party needs to change.

[anonomous guy]

Christian, I couldn't disagree with you more. I think by making all the compromises we have is why we now lose elections. i think there are now 3 distinct types of republicans. the paleo-conservative (Pat Buchanan,ron Paul types),the religous right (huckabee types) and the moderate-liberal republicans (McCain types). a candidate needs to appeal to 2 of these 3 groups to win. were not likely to find another Reagan who appealed to all 3 groups. but we cant just abandon our principals in order to get along with everyone.

[Lucius]

Good Day. Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. Help me! Please help find sites for: Dow jones stock market. I found only this - stock market history graph.  Fed leaves rates unchanged, says economy is leveling out mins ago. For first time bloggers, a free blogging website is a nifty way to get started in the blogosphere. Waiting for a reply :eek:, Lucius from Congo.