Forward to What, Democrats?

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the Patriot Post:

 

Forward to What, Democrats?

 

By Jonah Goldberg · September 12, 2012

"Forward" is a perfectly appropriate slogan for progressives.

Progress suggests forward or upward motion. That's why revolutionaries and radicals as well as liberal incrementalists have always embraced some derivation of the forward trope. So ingrained are these directional concepts in our political language, we often forget they are mere geographic metaphors applied -- and often misapplied -- to policy disputes.

For instance, some on the left might see enrolling more people on food stamps as a step in the right direction, moving us "forward" to a more generous and all-encompassing welfare state. But other self-described progressives might see a swelling of the food stamp rolls to be a step backward, either in strict accounting terms (we are, after all, broke) or even in cultural terms. Some Democrats have even been known to brag when they've gotten people off the food stamp rolls.

In other words, even for progressives, what counts as moving forward depends entirely on where you want to go -- and where you think you've been.