“It was a new era. Liberals- those weak, wishy-washy compromisers, the hemmers and hawers- were out. Washing them away was the New Progressive. They came with politics built on the idea that people are profoundly good, denatured only by capitalism, by colonialism and whiteness and heteronormativity.” – Morning After the Revolution
Entrepreneur Elon Musk recently posted a meme exhibiting how his center-left political stance has dramatically shifted as Democrats have continually pivoted farther and farther to the left, leaving him center-right on the right/left continuum. A longtime Democrat, Musk regularly supported left-leaning policies like green energy and Universal Basic Income. Now Musk is advocating for the right, acknowledging his political transformation to the Republican side of the aisle. Like Musk, many old-school liberals have also found themselves politically homeless, as a small but loud faction of the far left has completely usurped Democrat party politics, moving it to a place that few wish to go.
Classical liberalism defined by limited government, free markets, the rule of law, and individual rights sprung from the philosophies of Adam Smith and John Locke. By the 1960s, however, a new left-leaning version of liberalism redefined its original intent by focusing its activism on women’s rights, gay rights, environmentalism, equality of outcomes, and a move toward bigger government. Although impressive gains were made in nearly every sector of modern liberalism, a new radicalized progressive movement arrived seeking greater opposition with a cult-like rage against anyone who refused to go along.
In Nellie Bowles's 2024 book, “Morning After the Revolution”, one-time New York Times reporter Bowles, herself openly gay and progressive, tells the story of how the left resistance lost their senses and began veering far from neoliberalism's initial objective, losing her support in the process. Demanding allegiance to an increasingly nonsensical fringe, neo-progressivism made it impossible for those who cheered hard-fought achievements to support the new orthodoxy.
As a journalist, Bowles recounts the expanding list of topics deemed off-limits for investigation or reporting, forcing her to ignore the reality of the violence surrounding George Floyd's death, the COVID lab leak theory, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and the increasing gender madness. Against her journalistic nature to question power and authority on both sides of the aisle, new progressive rules led to the black/white tribal thinking that defines modern times, even within the Democrat Party.
Even as improvements for women and minorities inched towards parity, intersectionality, a hierarchy of victimhood, became the new rallying cry against whites and their perceived supremacy. Neo-progressivism birthed a new movement of anti-racist racism led by Kendi X. Ibram, Nicole Hannah Jones, and Robin D’Angelo, where sensical values and realities like 2+2 = 4, the nuclear family, and objective truths were dismissed as privileged propaganda. All whites were deemed racist by default, including white liberals, who were also required to atone or be canceled. Participation in group discussions was prioritized by levels of victimhood, with whites and white-adjacent voices pushed to the bottom.
Even the once-revered LGB movement became obsolete when the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual pioneers were asked to take a back seat to TQIA2+ (Trans, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual, and Two-spirited) and every other wannabe sect of the group. Gay rights were quickly surpassed by trans rights, especially the insertion of biological men into women’s locker rooms, and sports. Autogynephilia by sex offenders could not be questioned, even as these trans women were caught in full bloom in spas, prisons, and women’s locker rooms. All women, including feminists, faced erasure as they lost jobs, titles, and medals to transwomen in business, sports, and even beauty pageants. Frankenstein made a return in every transgender surgery for children.
As compassionate neo-progressive policies were implemented in the bluest of cities, its results were disastrous. San Francisco’s progressive leaders were the first to jump the shark by introducing new policies whose outcomes made their great city unlivable. Drug possession and theft were downgraded to petty misdemeanors, and rehabilitation became the preferred solution over jail, causing chronic property theft, burglaries, and shoplifting. Crime and homelessness grew even as budgets expanded. Everything from food, housing, and medical care was provided free by the great citizens of California. After George Floyd’s death, BLM joined forces with Antifa, and violence became an acceptable arrow in the neo-progressive quiver. Blowback from the defunding of the police movement, and mismanagement of BLM’s money, came and went without question. Criminals became the victims, as poverty, addiction, and mental health were deemed beyond their control.
Over at HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, another liberal, was experiencing his own red pilling against neo-progressivism as he, too, increasingly began to condemn their incoherent positions. Like Musk and Bowles, Maher became a part of a growing list of Democrat party dissidents. As a result, the worst aspects of the far-left mania are beginning to experience their comeuppance with recalls and condemnations. When you've lost the liberals, you’ve lost the party.
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