Rationalizations Don’t Have to Make Sense
3rd April 2024
President Obama often said that he was confident in the success of his leftist policies because modern progressives “…are on the right side of history”. I always thought that was just a clever way to acknowledge the obvious flaws in his thinking, while convincing people to do as he says anyway: “Yeah, I know this goes against your ethics, patriotism, experience, religion, and logic. But all those things are temporary. Once we change all those things to something else, then believe me, you’ll wish you had just agreed with us initially.”
The concept that there is a ‘right side of history’, and that they are on that side, is the essence of the creed of progressivism. It stems from Hegel (as lifted and polished up by Marx) that there is an inevitable arc to history and that you all had better get on board the train if you don’t want to be left by the side of the tracks.