Politics, Inc.

John's new book "Politics, Inc" is now available for ordering on line.

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The Progressive Conservative
The Politics of the New Millennium

Progressive Conservative. It rolls off the tongue about as easily as reactionary liberal. At first blush, it sounds like an oxymoron. Or a play on George W. Bush’s patter about compassionate conservatism. Or a provocation for liberals who think they have a patent on all that is progressive.

I welcome the confusion. Progressive Conservative is a wrenching idea, pulling you up short, and forcing you to consider possible meanings beyond the usual political labels and cant. Understanding its meaning requires some thought, something increasingly precious in today’s political discourse.

Progressive conservatism is more than a list of political positions, a party platform designed to appeal to this group here and that group there. It is a comprehensive, overriding philosophy that revels in the advance of human understanding, improved living standards and, yes, enjoyment of life.

We all want progress of some sort. For some, it’s a bigger savings account. For others, a better job. Or, children. A family. In the political realm, progress is the discovery of solutions to the problems that face our great country: threats from abroad, particularly terrorism in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; a public education system that fails to perform its job where it is most needed–our inner cities; a health care system whose technology leads the world but which is becoming ever less accessible to increasing numbers; a tax and regulatory system that stifles economic growth and initiative instead of encouraging it. The list goes on.

Enter the Progressive Conservative—someone who wants progress, yet in a conservative sense, by using private markets and private actions instead of looking to government exclusively or almost exclusively. For many years, the Democrats and liberals have adopted the progressive label as their own to signify that they are the ones interested in progress. This is bunk. Conservatives are just as interested in progress; we just want the private sector to lead the way, not government. Is this just another form of compassionate conservatism? Not at all. Compassion is an emotion; certainly a beneficial one that moves people to acts of good works. But Progressive Conservatism is more than a feeling of wanting to help people; it is a rational approach to actually helping people. It is more than a goodhearted motive, but a way to actually improve the lives of real people by proven means. Progressive Conservatism is determined to preserve those means against an onslaught of well intentioned, but flawed, experimentation.