Welcome to The Non-Progressive Democrat. I decided to start this newsletter to tackle two subjects I often ponder, and the relationship between them: the success or failure of the Democratic Party, and the value of progress as a guiding principle. While there are certainly ways in which progress is a positive force, I worry about excessive faith in it, and I worry that Democrats - of which I have been one since 2003 - hold themselves back electorally by adhering to it too closely.
This faith has many drawbacks. It leads Democrats to overestimate the pace at which human beings can adapt to change. It leads them to have too much confidence in their own virtue and rightness. Most damaging of all, it leads them to dismiss many people - honest, well-meaning people - as ignorant or bigoted. Republicans make their own misjudgments rooted in their conservatism, to be sure, but I’m interested here in the party I want to win.
I hope to write whenever I see a political development where Democrats’ conception of progress comes into play. I will try my best to keep my posts timely, succinct, and different from typical political commentary. I may sometimes miss things, and I will sometimes make mistakes, but I hope readers will come away with a helpful perspective on the subjects I cover.