American progressivism is not a secular movement. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.

With the election coming to a close and the dust finally settling on the last decade of American politics there has been a lot of discourse on cable news about who is to blame for the loss of the Democratic party in down ballot races, despite the Democratic party winning in the general election against a resurgent right wing populism. Just like in 2016 both moderate Republicans who backed Joe Biden’s candidacy and democratic incumbents are blaming progressivism for alienating a population that seemed all too willing to embrace authoritarianism in the wake of an economic downturn. But, shouldn’t that be what they’re discussing? Why is it that those of us advocating for progressive policy are the one’s to be demonized when America has already fallen generations behind the rest of the world in terms of health, leisure time, and overall social equity?

There’s a simple answer, and I’ll try to explain this in a way that anyone can understand with or without a political science degree.

They are trying to mystify the public by conflating common sense policies with secular movements. It really is no different from what conservatives and reactionaries have always done to diminish the advocacy of politicians and activists who want a more free and fair society. If you don’t think that this is true, ask yourself if anyone in the UK or Canada would ever call their single payer healthcare system a socialist policy? Even Boris Johnson, one of the most conservative figures in recent history praises the NHS for it’s response to the Coronavirus. There are policies, and then there are movements behind those policies. But, within the organizations pushing for those policies is just as diverse a group as exists in any of the major parties in America.

For the media to try to frame Joe Biden’s victory as a result of independent voters and white suburban housewives voting to maintain the status quo is an insult to the hard work of progressives, and African american organizers who worked around the clock to register voters in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. This was their victory, and they didn’t get out to vote to maintain a status quo that has done nothing but harm them for generations. They got out because they wanted universal childcare, or single payer healthcare, or a higher minimum wage. It was policy that got them to register to vote. Policies that most of the free world enjoy as a basic human right. Policies that ensured that everyone else in the free world could survive the pandemic without so much stress and anxiety for the future. To downplay that advocacy is a racist framing.

These are not socialists, or communists, or anarchists. Nobody, not even Bernie Sanders is asking for a complete overthrow of our system. There are no secular voices involved in the modern progressive movement, no matter how many communist cat memes are posted on Facebook and Twitter. Humane, and sensible policies that ensure the safety of the public don’t belong to ideologies and should not be broad stroked out of the conversation. We need to catch up with the rest of the world if we’re going to survive and thrive. And, it starts with denouncing this bad faith framing of the progressive tendency in our politics.

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the fathers of American progressivism.