I wrote a post reflecting on the election results in Whitewater, and one thing stood out to me: progressives have done well in the city on statewide referenda and races. That’s why I pointed out that
Although I am not always in agreement with the progressives, it’s easy to see that they are increasingly successful in town, on significant issues that affect our state. In time, they may come to shape a new direction in our city. They have not achieved that result, but the momentum is theirs.
There are two things that progressives don’t have, however.
First, they have not had success at the local level, in several Council elections, etc. They can command majorities citywide, but they have not had that success at the Council district level.
Second, they have as their principal political competitors not libertarians, moderates, or conservatives, but anti-market reactionaries, committed ferociously to an agenda that directs government action down all sorts of anti-growth alleys.
These men and women are not conventional conservatives. If one considers an opportunity conservative like, for example, Jack Kemp, and then considers one council member’s anti-student housing, anti-dumpster crusade, there’s no comparison. None. Lacking an understanding of economics, and thus any coherent economic argument, they want what they want, without understanding or caring about the consequences of their desires.
That’s why when progressives seek a government-business partnership, to create a community (using a smart growth slogan) where “people will live, work, and play,” they find that their use of government is different from the rabid anti-market faction. That status quo group takes the machinery and tools of government, and channels its more benign uses toward a path of anti-market bias, fear of outsiders, grudges, and score-settling.
These anti-market crusaders are also lazy and dissipated: they have not arguments in their favor, but merely narrow personal tastes to impose on a community. They have long since abandoned the need to reason carefully. It’s all bile and desire now.
The progressives want to be right, and to create a better community; the anti-market town faction is convinced (falsely) that it’s right, doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, and will say and do what it feels it must to win.
I have, as any libertarian would, fundamental doubts about the progressive project, but I do not doubt their intentions. As a political matter, however, if the progressives are to advance in this city, they’ll need to see how rabid and selfish their true opponents are, and advance their case recognizing that opposition for what it is.