Certain political terms, such as communist, Nazi, and even socialist, have become politically incorrect in the sense that they have been so successfully demonized that calling someone one of these terms is about equal to using the “n-word” or other derogatory ethnic terms. On the Internet, for example, if someone compares you with Nazis, you can declare yourself the winner of whatever debate you are in.
It is time for the progressive philosophy to join this list of politically unacceptable beliefs. At the moment, many people view “progressive” in a positive way that is not in keeping with its history or the beliefs of many of its current practitioners.
As the Antiplanner noted yesterday, it is ironic that the cities that have promoted policies that make housing unaffordable and push low-income people out like to call themselves progressive. This is only ironic because progressives love to pretend they care about minorities and low-income people. History, however, shows otherwise.
