Depends on your definition of socialist 😉
I believe in free capitalist markets and a smaller government than what we have, but I also feel we have a duty as society to take care of those most vulnerable.
The west currently is neither socialist nor capitalist.
Let me ask you this.
As a progressive, what are you progressing towards?
My answer to this would be the higher levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Progress towards those higher levels is always the goal.
So you believe the government should be in charge of self esteem? Self actualization? Etc…
You are the first person in this thread to use the word Government.
I’m assuming you’re just trolling. If we’re not talking about government, then who in their right mind would be against people climbing Maslow's hierarchy?
I'm not trolling. We used to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. That's no longer true. Now it's of the corporate donors, by the corporate funded lobbyists and for the corporations. If a law doesn't help a corporation make profits, it's killed in committee. "Government" has failed, entirely, completely, and irreversibly. There is no saving the nation state, it's just a matter of time before it collapses and everything goes to insanity levels.
I'm not trolling, this is what I honestly believe. There is a big difference between government and governance. We absolutely need governance systems that provide a foundation so that markets can build structures and supply chains so that people can live and thrive. The current governments around the world have not been, are not, and will not be capable of managing those governance systems for several decades. But because they control ... everything, there didn't seem to be anything we could do about it. Until Bitcoin, which is a new foundation for a global monetary system that no government can control. Until Nostr, which is a new foundation for information flow that no government can control. With these two established, we can encourage our imaginations and build a system of trust, globally.
I'm not trolling. I'm just willing to question everything we know, because everything we know is built on a foundation of lies and misdirection. It's time for a change.
And it's also a quest on the global level to reach a Type I civilization on the Kardashev scale, utilizing the full potential of the energy our planet receives from the Sun and building a civilization that can reach for the stars.
I’m with you, but what does that have to do with progressive politics?
Partisan Politics is fundamentally, completely and globally broken beyond repair. We need to scrap the entire thing and start over. Progressives in the US House of Representatives or this or that political party are just trying to scrape for votes. It's a silly distraction from what we should be doing.
Ok but you’re answering in response to a political question?
As long as we keep the blinders on, that will be true. This entire space (Bitcoin, Nostr, etc.) gives us the opportunity to take the blinders off. I used to be hard left progressive. Now I just consider those to be useless labels that divide us so we can be conquered.
Let me ask this. Of what use is an attempt for us to define what it means to be progressive when you hold your own view that won't change no matter what we say? If the entire world is a struggle, a war, between Left vs. Right, Progressive vs. Conservative, Us vs. Them, how are we ever going to find common ground and decide to act in cooperation and collaboration towards a shared future?
Progressive TO ME means keeping four things in mind.
Grassroots democracy - if a decision is being made that affects you, your voice should be heard.
The concept of WE - The Earth is a single environment. We should treat it as such. We are in this together.
Understanding the Past - both positive and negative. Learn the lessons of the past so we don't repeat those mistakes.
Looking to the Future - We are creating the world our children will grow up in. What kind of a world do we want that to be?
I don't expect you to agree. And I don't know if you will consider this to be a "political" answer, or just an answer. Maybe I'm wasting my time. But since you asked what we are progressing towards, I thought I would weigh in. I want a world that my sons can live in, and I want them to thrive in that world. And I want that for all children, everywhere.
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