What does "progressive" mean? Sandwichman wrote: >> As far as I can tell it means dick.
Carrol: > Roughly that. I would also suggest that in practice it usually means > "The movment is everything, the final goal is nothing." Web definitions for "progress," which progressives are pro: # develop in a positive way; "He progressed well in school"; "My plants are coming along"; "Plans are shaping up" # advancement: gradual improvement or growth or development; "advancement of knowledge"; "great progress in the arts" # advance: move forward, also in the metaphorical sense; "Time marches on" # the act of moving forward (as toward a goal) # build up: form or accumulate steadily; "Resistance to the manager's plan built up quickly"; "Pressure is building up at the Indian-Pakistani border" # a movement forward; "he listened for the progress of the troops" (from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=progress) In other words, "progress" and "progressive" don't mean anything if the final goal (the direction of march) is not defined. One could see a movement toward a fascist society as "progress" if one's goal is fascism. Eduard Bernstein's doctrine that "the movement is everything, the final goal nothing," cited by Carrol, is vacuous at best (as we knew already). So the word "progressive" should be avoided unless it's clear what the desired progress is toward. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
