What does the word 'progressive' mean? Line up to tell me, take a ticket!

I wouldn't know for sure. I self identify as a liberal.

Even that, though, only fits the US part of the wide world. Or does it? I know others take it as different than we in the US do but I don't know what it means in, say, Estonia.

There are trends that alter meanings. I am glad the progressives call themselves that instead of liberals. They seem to be drifting a bit right, to me.

really? I'm not being cute, I plain don't understand the goings on.

I read from a lot of sites, differing from each other, sometimes at length but not all the time.

I like it when some a2kers speak up. Fbaezer, always.

Most Progressives I know think they are middle of the road. But seem to adhere to slightly conservative views. But than I am a liberal but know in this time very few of my views are popular.

Not conservative (generally opposed to change). Generally in favor of change (viewed as progress).

The whole idea that progressives could be conservative is all new to me.

I probably need lessons.

A "progressive" is someone who is so frightened of the conservatives that he/she won't admit to being a liberal.

Possibly in the US. Not anywhere else in the western world that I am aware of. Liberal here in Oz, for instance, is the name of the conservative party.

Progressive as I know the word just denotes the broad spectrum of political thought that considers itself in opposition to conservatism.

It ranges from mild social democrats such as myself to Maoists.

To me, progressive means Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Yes or Genesis would also qualify.


Heavy man.

"When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom."
Confucius

The intentional obfuscation of the language has been dealt with by several noted authors; George Orwell comes to mind first. His "newspeak" made it virtually impossible to conjure thoughts of dissidence, for example.

The gradual manipulation of the first internet, to basically enact a form of societal servitude, wherein only one form of "truth" is generally available to the public, is not some dystopian nightmare; it's happening in our time.

The word progressive is a positive descriptor, but like the word "liberal", by inference and repeated media obfuscation, has taken on negative overtones.

As mentioned above, the Liberal party in Australia are conservatives. Some in the US would consider most "liberals" to be some form of unwashed hippy, at the very least, and quite possibly socialist or maybe even borderline communist. Such is the power of a corporate-controlled media, and their hidden agenda (newspeak).

A quick peek at the more successful European capitalist nations reveals many successful socialist policies in place, coupled with a strong work ethic, and a well-managed resource-based economy.

Any mention of such successes is quashed in the US media.

Looking in from the outside, it's difficult to imagine how it must be living in a nation where the language itself has been so successfully hijacked by corporate control, that even very basic words that most of us understand, have been twisted to mean the opposite.

It is confusing is`t it?
Music
Progressive (album), "Progressive" (song), Progressive music
Progressive rock (radio format),

Politics
The Progressive, an American left-wing magazine
Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States (ca. 1890–1930)
Progressive Party (disambiguation), any of several political parties
Progressive realism, an American foreign policy paradigm focused on producing measurable results in pursuit of widely supported goals
Progressive tax, a type of tax rate structure
Progressivism, a political philosophy
Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
Congressional Progressive Caucus, members within the Democratic Party in the United States Congress dedicated to the advancement of progressive issues and positions

Business
Progressive Corporation, a U.S. insurance company
Progressive Enterprises, a New Zealand retail cooperative

Religion
Progressive Adventism, a sect of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Progressive Christianity, a movement within contemporary Protestantism
Progressive creationism, a form of Old Earth creationism
World Union for Progressive Judaism, umbrella organisation for Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism
Progressive revelation (Bahá'í), a core teaching of Bahá'í that suggests that religious truth is revealed by God progressively and cyclically over time
Progressive revelation (Christianity), the concept that the sections of the Bible written later contain a fuller revelation of God
Liberal movements within Islam, or "progressive Islam", a modern liberal interpretation of Islam
Liberal religion, or "progressive religion", a religious tradition which embraces theological diversity

Sports

Progressive Field (originally Jacobs Field), home of the Cleveland Indians

Technology

Progressive disclosure, a technique used in human computer interaction
Progressive scan, a form of video transmission

Other uses

Progressive aspect (also called continuous), a verb form that expresses incomplete action
Progressive chess, a chess variant
Progressive education, which emphasizes a hands-on approach to learning
Progressive function, function in mathematics
Progressive illness, an illness that gradually progresses
Progressive jackpot, a jackpot where the value increases for every game played
Progressive lens, a type of corrective eyeglass lenses
Progressive shifting, technique for changing gears in trucks
Progressive stamping, a metalworking technique
Progressive talk radio, a talk radio format devoted to expressing liberal or progressive viewpoints of issues

See also

Progress (disambiguation)
Progression (disambiguation)
Progressive Alliance (disambiguation)
Progressive Party (disambiguation)
Progressive Unionist (disambiguation)
Progressivism (disambiguation)
All pages with titles containing "Progressive"
All pages beginning with "Progressive"

And also Marillion, Fish and Flower Kings.

That's what I've been thinking but hadn't been sure.

Hah!

Rest assured that I confine my observations solely to the US. If I wish to extend my remarks to the dozen or so inhabitants of Australia, I will signify that with the appropriate gesture.

The statement "I am progressive" means: "I am for things getting better and against things getting worse." Of course, the problem is to define what constitutes "better". Since it appears that nobody can agree on a definition, I have concluded that the word "progressive" means nothing in particular at all; it just sounds good.

I second that. And I would add that "progressive" politicians have historically pursued a number of paternalistic, illiberal policies such as eugenics, prohibition, and the locking-up of 100,000 innocent Americans in concentration camps. As you suggest, a nice woman like ossobucco should avoid such shady company and just call herself a liberal.