[lbo-talk] Improvement, not Progress

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>>On the contrary, the Bush team and right-wing pundits have been 
>>making use of the idea of history as progress to exonerate 
>>themselves, essentially saying that our torture is more progressive 
>>than their torture.
>>Yoshie
>Even as the idea of progress is an anathema to conservatives lest we 
>progress ourselves 'away' from that which they seek to conserve.
>
>"The pure conservative is fighting against the essence of the 
>universe." [A.N. Whitehead]
>
>Ian

Raymond Williams, in his entry on the term "progressive" in 
_Keywords_, says that "In its most general and improving sense it is 
an adjective applied, by themselves, to virtually all proposals of 
all parties. . . . It is certainly significant that nearly all 
political tendencies now wish to be described as *progressive* . . ." 
(245).
-- 
Yoshie

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