Reply #10: Well now that all depends... [View All]

This is one of those lovely questions that you could spend hours discussing, or wrap up in a sentence or two depending on what you're willing to call "progress". There can't be any denying progress in some areas: health, longevity, quality of life, etc... but there's something very appropriate about your question being placed in these forums it occured to me.

Progress (in the sense I believe you mean it) is played out every day in our politics without us really giving it much thought. Liberals have a tendency to be far more "progressive" in their ideas and vision of the future. Conservatives, on the other hand, resist the change. They are more inclined to want the status quo, or even more ideally, the status quo of a hundred years ago. Liberals often press for more inclusion, for more diversity of thought and acceptance of non-mainstream ideas, whereas conservatives think we are moving away from a better time and better ideals; that our quest for inclusivity and diversity is counter to the muted society that they hold as their ideal.

In short, looking at society's politics is a rather good way, it would seem, to judge HOW we are progressing. Whether the change is actually progress, depends on which side of the fence you are looking from.