I am a Progressive Conservative. What does this mean? I am a conservative, which means that I am a 18th century liberal. I believe in human rights as the foundation of my political philosophy. I believe in Individualism, Freedom, Equality and Self-Reliance. These concepts find their root in American values: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Every policy, every government action must find its legitimacy from American values or for advancing American values.
But I am a progressive. This seems contradictory but it isn’t. The values of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness all mean nothing unless there is a force that can protect and guarantee them all. How can someone defend human rights when they are poor, have no social mobility and are living day by day? They can’t. And with that, American values must be advanced in the real world through strong leadership.
In our age, big business interest is that force that threatens American values. Big business individuals buy elections, change laws meant to benefit the common person, cut taxes for themselves, choose politicians to further their interests and act above the law. Aristotle said in his great work “Politics” that the rich create a Plutocracy where they are above the law and destroy the rule of law. We are seeing this in our age. The common person cannot compete against big business interest and must be subservient under them. This creates an unequal society and destroys the American value of the equality of opportunity for all people.
Therefore, there has to be a force of equal or superior influence or power to put big business in their place. And that force is government. Government must be that force that ensures that American values are safeguarded by acting vigorously against big business interests. This is progressive because the common person has the government to stand on their behalf and advance society forward by having both sides have representation in the marketplace of economics and politics.
In short, Progressive Conservativism is a political philosophy that states that conservative ideas of individualism, equality, freedom, and self-reliance are realized when government can act on a common person’s behalf to ensure that their voice and influence is heard and established. In a society where the rich dominate, money and influence erode these rights and the common person cannot compete. The rich would be above the law and would create a society that caters to their interests. In order for the rich to be stopped in this endeavor, government must step in for the common person in order for their interest to have weight. This means policies such as tax reform can have the common person’s input as well as the rich person’s input. Or how tax dollars are spent can have the common person’s input instead of just the rich person’s input. The common person would have a seat in the table in advancing American society equal to that of the rich person thanks to government as their noble benefactor. And with that, American values can progress in society, and that is what Progressive Conservatism is all about.