Grumpy old man mumbling

The word ‘progressive’ makes me hiccup whenever I stumble over it. Recently it became a buzzword of the left. It is well known that the left often usurp words that they are using in a way totally opposing to their original meaning. Orwellian pattern. They call themselves and make others call them liberals. And it is exactly like progressive. OK, liberalism is a vaguely defined concept that allows for various interpretations. It would take infinitely long time to come to an agreement on the very definition of liberalism. But progress may already be better defined. In my humble opinion progress means a movement where direction is set. It means that the movement happens from what was in the past toward what will be in the future. When those people speak about progressive they pretend they know how and where the history moves. While it is far far from being clear if there is a direction in the history or if there is movement at all. True, Karl Marx claimed that he had proved it for certain. As Lenin said “Marxism is omnipotent because it is true”. And the religious Marxists know (believe) where the history goes. But people do not have to share this belief. Particularly after so many faux pas of the recent century. So when I hear or read the left self-acclaimed “progressives” I have my hiccup.