Are the words "progressive" and "reform" leftist conspiracies?

[Traitorfish]

The mistake youse lot are all making is in assuming that "progress" is self-evidently desirable, so "progressive" amounts to call yourself "Team Good Things". But while "progress" is widely assumed to be desirable, it's hardly self-evident: in historical terms, that's a definite novel, a product of a liberal ideological hegemony that only emerges in the 19th century, and especially reenfroced during the postwar period when the two major international ideological blocs, liberal-capitalist and Marxist-Leninist, both claimed to embody historical "progress". Go back two hundred years, even one hundred years in a lot of the world, and "progress" was no more self-evidently desirable than "socialism".

The conservatives shouldn't be mad at the liberals for taking the good words: they should be mad at themselves for uncritically internalising a liberal world-view.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

This reminds me of the word "reform". I think originally it meant to fundamentally improve something. Nowadays German politicians call any change a "reform". Cutting costs? That's a reform, baby.
If truth is the first victim of war, language is the first victim of politics (well and truth I guess).

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

So and what do you believe when you are not a caricature, I wonder?

"It's not easy being green"

 

[Borachio]

"With a taste for pork"?

 

[KMRblue1027]

Has anyone posted this yet?

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm

 

[BvBPL]

It is probably best to simply treat progressive as a term of art that, within politics, has a different meaning than in the general vulgate. Just as a Democrat may not be literally liberal and as modern art has an altogether different meaning then contemporary art.

 

[squadbroken]

Yes it's a conspiracy, you found us out, now we need to come up with new words

 

[BvBPL]

It isn't a secret at all that people try to change the language to suit their political ends.

 

[Mise]

For the life of me I don't know why the right call themselves Teabaggers.

 

[Camikaze]

I think the OP makes a good general point about buzzwords. But the particular meaning of 'progressive' and 'reform' in the American context doesn't necessarily translate well elsewhere. So it's not so much that the words themselves now have a leftist meaning, it just means that they've been appropriated within a particular context. This happens in all political discourses, both on the left and right. In Australia, I'd probably associate 'reform' mostly with 'welfare reform', or the right-wing idea that the welfare system goes too far and should be reined in. But it's not exactly a buzzword of high salience, so others might associate it with something else. 'Progressive' also isn't used much, or doesn't have a particularly loaded meaning.

I still think "boat people" in Australia is one of the more ridiculous rhetorical buzzwords in modern politics. I mean it just sounds like absurdist humour.

The government no longer tells us about 'boat people', because it's a 'national security' issue and they refuse to comment on 'operational matters'.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

We can return to calling ourselves Enrages and Montagnards if you like. Personally I prefer "Conspiracy of Equals."

Anyway, the word "reform" was hijacked by neoliberals about 40 years ago to mean destruction and privatization of the welfare state, so I think we can safely cross that off the "leftist conspiracy" bucket list.

 

[Antilogic]

Everything is a reform now. My stomach is reforming my lunch as we speak.

 

[Borachio]

For the life of me I don't know why the right call themselves Teabaggers.

Isn't it a portmanteau of Tea Party and Carpet Baggers?

 

[bhsup]

Sadly, no, it's vastly more immature than that. I am not sure I can abide by CFC rules and even link to a definition for you.

 

[Antilogic]

Isn't it a portmanteau of Tea Party and Carpet Baggers?

Teabaggers is more of a pejorative derived from the tea party people wearing bags of tea on their hats back in 2010. It is also a naughty thing that you should look up on Urban Dictionary.

EDIT: Shoot, cross-post with VR.

 

[Mise]

(I was mostly just being facetious guys. For future reference, if the thread is not particularly serious, then my responses won't be either )

Moderator Action: The thread is supposed to be RD, so not-particularly-serious posts like your "teabagger" post are spam by RD standards
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[gay_Aleks]

Everything is a reform now. My stomach is reforming my lunch as we speak.

Soon, your now-reformed food will progress through your intestines, so it could exit and then be fully integrated as a minority in the toilet, where water is mostly the majority!

 

[bhsup]

(I was mostly just being facetious guys. For future reference, if the thread is not particularly serious, then my responses won't be either )

Yeah, but this one was meant to be serious. It was my automobile thread I made that was meant to be a lark, and that damned thing took off like a bat out of hell...

 

[Mise]

Yeah, but this one was meant to be serious. It was my automobile thread I made that was meant to be a lark, and that damned thing took off like a bat out of hell...

Oh... Well I answered seriously initially! I guess that sort of makes up for it...

 

[Angst]

In Denmark "reform" is just a rhethorical device for any kind of political change, even if it should be designated a "cut" or what have you. It's not reserved for any side of the political spectrum. Has nothing to do with leftism. In Denmark that is.