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It’s not that we’re all going to die. What has died is the myth of progress- the idea that every generation will have it better than the one before. It’s hard
by fallingfrog 3y ago
It’s not that we’re all going to die. What has died is the myth of progress- the idea that every generation will have it better than the one before. It’s hard to be forward thinking if you believe that your country is going to be worse off in 50 years than it is now, no matter what you do. I don’t think people really understand the degree to which any country is held together by belief. Progress is our national religion, and it’s dying right in front of us. Some will find scapegoats, some will lash out in anger, some will respond with denial, some will blame generations that came before. But how can you hold a nation together when they no longer believe in its foundational mythos? That’s what is being lost, and you can’t just gaslight us into believing it again as it becomes more and more clear that it’s really dead.
- mbg721 3y agoThe myth of technological progress may be dead, but the myth of social progress is alive and well. Tearing down the old institutions is the most "progressive" thing you can do.
- giraffe_lady 3y agoWhat's your read on the state of social progress the last decade or so?
- mbg721 3y agoMy read is that America is all falling apart because in the last decade more and more institutions came under the control of self-proclaimed progressives and their ideas don't work. But that doesn't mean progressivism isn't popular conceptually--the usual response is "those weren't really progressives; in fact, their corruption proves they were actually conservative, and now we need real change."
- giraffe_lady 3y agoInteresting. My take is more that progressivism is still popular but is being crushed by an organized reactionary revanchist movement actively dedicated to undoing decades of social progress. We've been dragged backwards on some very significant social issues and it only seems to be accelerating. The idea that social progress will march steadily forward does seem to be a myth in that light.
- mbg721 3y agoMy take is that this "progress" will eventually end in internal ruin, because there will be no "there" there. Pursuing sexual and racial identity for its own sake, under "justice" or any other name, is a recipe for disaster.
- giraffe_lady 3y agoGood thing no one "pursues" those "for its own sake" then.
- fallingfrog 3y agoYou can’t erase leftism or progressivism, because it’s a reaction to injustice. Every ossified social hierarchy has its underclass, so there will always be a reaction to that. You can’t kill leftism any more than you can kill your own shadow. Moreover, climate change didn’t happen because of gay marriage or women’s rights, so trying to force the clock back in terms of social progress won’t make the real problems go away.
- mbg721 3y agoTreating favored social classes as eternally oppressed doesn't fix the injustice, though; it ossifies it by creating an eternal "them" that is unconnected to social problems. Irish and Italians can apply now, and it's not because of any government program (unless you count war).
- fallingfrog 3y agoKeeping any group from achieving equality requires constant violence or the threat of violence. That is mostly what progressives seek to remove.