By Joshua Bandoch
Sunday, July 02, 2023
As the 2024 election cycle intensifies, we’ll hear much from the Left about “liberal” and “progressive” values. That’s a savvy strategy, since few political words have more persuasive appeal than liberty and progress. They’re at the heart of America: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That’s why the first word in Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign launch video is “freedom” (a.k.a liberty).
Unfortunately, conservatives have allowed the Left to capture these powerful words. That’s a mistake, since it cedes the moral high ground to the Left. It’s also inaccurate, because conservative principles and policies advance liberty and progress far more effectively.
There’s a simple remedy: Adopt the term “leftist” to refer to the ideological Left and stop referring to them as “liberals” or “progressives.”
Liberty and progress represent the moral high ground in political, economic, and social discussions. Appeals to liberty are persuasive because, as moral-psychology research shows, liberty is part of everyone’s morality. A 2022 survey from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement showed that 63 percent of Americans view “liberty” positively, and another 25 percent view it neutrally.
Progress inspires us because it’s forward-looking and optimistic. Things are better today than yesterday, and they’ll be even better tomorrow. Who’s against that?
Another good reason for prying “liberal” and “progressive” away from the Left is that they aren’t accurate terms for leftists. A true liberal holds liberty as a primary value and supports the principles and policies necessary to promote political, economic, and individual freedom. That’s how “liberal” is used everywhere.
Except in America, oddly. Research shows that leftist morality is driven primarily by equality (meaning equal outcomes or “equity”) and care (sensitivity to signs of suffering). Liberty is of secondary importance.
To the extent that leftists emphasize liberty, they generally adhere to a positive notion of liberty. It’s “positive” not because it’s good but because it requires actions to achieve liberty — actions like redistribution, regulation, and paternalism, all of which are coercive.
Progress is about making things better. Are only leftists concerned with improving the status quo? Do conservatives look to stunt progress, thrusting us back to the bad old days? No to both.
When conservatives allow leftists to rhetorically monopolize “progress,” leftists define it as equity and social justice, values that drive the DIE (diversity, inclusion, equity) agenda.
Conservatives protect liberty by defending strong institutions (like the Constitution), separation of powers in government, and rights such as free speech that are central to political and social progress. Conversely, the Left’s attempts to delegitimize the Supreme Court and erode support on the left for free speech (especially on college campuses) threaten liberty.
Economic “progress” rightly means less poverty and more prosperity and wealth, especially for the least well off. Free markets and capitalism have lifted billions of people out of poverty and given us “superabundance.” Capitalism — or, at least a measure of economic freedom — put the United Nations’ goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 within reach, unfortunately sidetracked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two 20th-century experiments are illustrative. Two nations were divided and given different economic systems. West Germany and South Korea became market-oriented, while East Germany and North Korea became leftist. The results were unequivocal: liberty and prosperity versus oppression and poverty, respectively.
How can conservatives reengage people about liberty and progress?
One tack some have taken is to recapture the term “liberal” with the label “classical liberal.” That could confuse Americans, who’ll focus on the “liberal” part and assume the person is on the left. The “classical” portion might sound outdated, like the classics. Most important, it concedes that the left is “liberal” in some sense, when it isn’t.
A three-pronged strategy can enhance conservatives’ persuasiveness.
First, disassociate the ideological Left from the terms “liberal” and “progressive” by adopting the term “leftist.” If we consistently speak this way, people will gradually stop associating these persuasive words with the Left.
Second, show how conservative ideas promote liberty and progress better. Data and logic are necessary, not sufficient. Instead, lead with emotional intelligence. Help people feel the power of liberty and progress by appealing to them directly, especially through stories about how liberty most helps the poorest among us.
Third, explain how leftist policies are opposed to liberty and progress in practice. For example, welfare without work creates dependence on government, which makes recipients less free. It stunts progress by robbing recipients of the dignity inherent in work. Republicans’ insistence in the debt-ceiling negotiations on linking work and welfare was morally right and politically popular.
By demonstrating what it really means to be liberal and progressive, we’ll move closer to the ideal of America as a place where everyone can pursue happiness.
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