Practical Progressivism

George W. Bush and political sorcerer Karl Rove gave us the “compassionate conservative” during the 2000 presidential campaign. It was brilliant. After 8 years of Bill Clinton’s “big government” we were told that America needed to pull back on the reins of that government, and let individuals grow and prosper unfettered by the shackles of big brother and red tape. But, as Clinton “felt our pain” George W. Bush would compassionately cut our government, allowing for freedoms but ensuring that citizens in real need would not be left to slip through the cracks. We’d have faith-based institutions take a larger role in government. We’d simply empower individuals who were hard-up, because obviously the only thing holding them back was our big, repressive government. Lend a hand up, not a hand out. After all, we’re America! Like I said, as a strategy, it was brilliant.

Now we can discuss the merits of Clinton’s policies and the extent of Bush’s compassion, and we may very well do so at a later date if the mood strikes us. But the point of highlighting this dynamic is that for ideology to resonate with the populace, it needs to be digestible. It needs to be tangible. It needs to be preceded by logical education. It needs to be…practical.

Now I’m not talking about the Obama-style “let’s take what we can get, you should be happy with anything at all” treatment he’s consistently given to progressives, a.k.a. the “professional left” as his spokesman Robert Gibbs so tactfully put it. I’m also not talking about what Dr. Martin Luther King described as the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Practical Progressivism doesn’t have to mean compromising one’s principles, settling for less that what is right and just, or helplessly inching towards an ever-moving goal line.

Practical Progressivism is more than just results. It’s more than a catch phrase. It is obtaining results in a way that focuses on the open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, the collaborative process, and the gaining of a level of understanding of issues that is conducive to productive outcomes. It is the “selling” of ideas in a digestible and collaborative way by helping people understand the merits and benefits of collective progress, gain buy-in through education, and then fight for those shared principles. The process is important, and the means must justify the end, not the other way around.

Practical Progressivism must be focused on the journey as well as the destination, for the sustainability of a movement depends on the ability of it’s ambassadors to engage the community and articulate the shared benefit of the action. It can be accomplished, and the fruits of the movement will prove much more “compassionate” than the alternative.