Over time, words change meaning. Technology, epochs, or intentional theft often explain why certain terms or ideas took on meanings different from their original ones. In our modern age, we have seen technology change the meaning of cloud, mouse, and virus. Culturally, words like gay, queer, and rainbow elicit altered meanings from previous generations. Slang terms like awesome, sick, or relatable have also taken on new definitions. Some dandies are no longer with us or have fallen out of use. Examples? Lunting described someone walking while smoking a pipe. My mother used to scurryfunge (do a hurried cleaning) just before guests arrived. And a snollygoster simply describes an unprincipled or shrewd politician (sounds familiar). All this to introduce a word high on the usage chart, but often overused, misused, and even abused. The word? Progressive.
The word progressive comes from the Latin word progredi, which means “to step or walk forward.” The word entered the English language around 1600 and meant to move or advance physically. In the 1800s, the word took on meanings in medicine (to describe the movement of a disease) or in finance (referring to taxation, where the rate increases as income rises). By the second half of the nineteenth century, the term shifted from neutral to positive, often associated with change or reform. It was around 1865 that the word progressive came to signify someone who favoured bringing about changes in society. In the late 20th century, as the word “liberal” acquired negative connotations, progressive became a more neutral, positive-sounding label. But people from different parties, in different ways, have used the word to characterize their ideas or movements. Who are we to believe? How can we determine who is a political progressive when so many shades of meaning exist? Who determines such things?
Liberals in Canada and Democrats in the United States would claim political ownership of the term progressive. Their ideas, they argue, advance the common cause of political social justice. Like the Theodore Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson administrations in the early 20th century, progressives define themselves as those who use government for the greater good. Ask a modern progressive, and they will tell you that any social injustice deserves a government program in response. Governments, they posit, do not seek profit; they are best suited to decide how to address issues effectively and fairly in culture, the workplace, or even at home. Whatever initiative comes from a progressive mindset inevitably adds value to a circumstance because its motives are pure, its intent righteous, and its ideals superior. This allows liberals to declare rightful ownership of the word because their noble cause of redistributing wealth, creating a fair deal, and one devoted to the welfare of all its citizens, best encapsulates the idea of advancement or progression.
Interestingly, this only addresses part of the left and does not fully encompass the more purist progressivism practiced on the far left, such as the radical wing of the Democratic Party or Canada’s socialists, also known as the NDP (New Democratic Party). These folks equate advancement with the basic elimination of war, the replacement of police officers with peace officers, and the wholesale deconstruction of capitalism. These progressives claim they are advancing society into a more tolerant place. At the recent NDP convention, displays of this worldview proliferated. The Premier of Manitoba, Wab Kinew, articulated his belief that human rights are indeed being infringed upon within the context of the Iran conflict, and he firmly asserted that Canadian soldiers ought never to be placed in perilous situations for a war instigated by U.S. President Donald Trump. He also said, “I’ll go a step further, and I’ll say no American either. No American child from the blue-collar or middle class should have to die in Iran. Let the Epstein class fight the Epstein war.” This far-left contingent has become very cozy with those interested in undermining our civilization, protesting against Israeli nationhood, and allowing ugly chants to be heard on our city streets regarding the end of the Jewish people. Yet they remain comfortable accusing Trump of being Hitler. The irony drips.
These self-proclaimed progressives are not living up to the word’s meaning and should be called out. How do people devoted to women’s rights defend a clerical regime most interested in treating women like it’s the eighth century? In what world do progressives see a regime committed to the elimination of homosexuals worth shielding? Finally, knowing the long track record of the Iranian regime’s efforts to build terrorist networks, ally itself with other outlaw nations, and its recent (2025) agreement with China and Russia, how does the word progressive aptly match the Iranian government’s activities? And what about Cuba and the outrage our made-in-Canada progressives feel about the effort to bring freedom there? The propaganda machine is working overtime to convince Canadians that Cubans prefer the political oligarchy they live in now, eking out a meagre living as opposed to potentially higher incomes, increased freedoms, and constitutional liberties a new regime may bring. A vast gap exists between those who identify as progressives and the word’s true meaning. Today’s self-identifying progressives seem more focused on anything anti-Western, even if it contradicts their personal beliefs. Their purpose has become to oppose Trump, regardless of his policies. Taking them seriously in our current age has become as difficult as trusting them when they talk about promoting democracy, ordered liberty, or Western values.
The new NDP sums up the modern progressive. Intent on resetting our economy, they embrace ideas that undermine our history, question our values, and upend our way of life. Their permission structure allows them to normalize the irrationality of so-called “progressives” siding with an Islamic Republic that has, as recently as January, slaughtered up to 40,000 citizens who dared to protest the regime. The modern progressive mindset does everything but advance society or make things better for average folks. Elitists have perpetuated this ideology using entertainment, media, academia, and public sector unions to indoctrinate the young, fill the airwaves, restrain freedoms, and normalize what once seemed weird. Nothing is new under the sun, wrote the teacher in Ecclesiastes. The people warning us of tyranny on the right ought to check over their left shoulder. The coming army they should fear wears no uniforms and drops no bombs. They merely use government legislation to strip away rights, confiscate wealth, and empower themselves. If progressives weren’t deadly serious about their aims, one could laugh. Unfortunately, those who cherish economic liberty and fundamental freedoms must once again stand on guard for thee.
Dave Redekop is a retired elementary resource teacher who worked part-time at the St. Catharines Courthouse as a Registrar until being appointed Executive Director at Redeemer Bible Church in October 2023. He has worked on political campaigns since high school and attended university in South Carolina for five years, earning a Master’s in American History with a specialization in Civil Rights. Dave loves reading biographies.
