Reactionary progressives

Regular comment maestro Sam Vega left this interesting observation on a recent post.

What I find interesting here is the fact that whereas some are protesting about his racism and sexism, others blame him for global warming, some object to his war-mongering, some to his support for capitalism, and some just think he is personally boorish and uncouth. Not even Hitler gets it from so many directions.

All this suggests a group of people trained to think critically who are in search of something to object to, rather than anything about the man himself.

It raises a question about progressives generally because we tend to define them via their strident standpoints. Sounds like the obvious thing to do but it is also instructive to turn it around. In other words it may be useful to recall that progressives are defined by what they oppose as well as what they promote which can be remarkably incoherent. They hate Donald Trump and as Sam writes - Not even Hitler gets it from so many directions

There are other factors, but to put it as simply as possible, progressives oppose the world of the free market bourgeoisie built by the West. There is nothing remarkable in that, it is something progressives have been doing for a very long time indeed. Yet there has always been a curious bond between reactionary elites and people we might usefully refer to as reactionary progressives. The social forces behind that bond may reside in the obvious power of the free market bourgeoisie to instigate unpredictable change such as social mobility.

Most people see power as naturally top down whether they are elites looking down from the top or progressives who also take a top down view of how things ought to be. In spite of a reputation for conservatism, the free market bourgeoisie are always liable to subvert top down power in unpredictable ways. Their money, tastes and ambitions sway both markets and political narratives.

Perhaps this is the key to progressive paranoia, the banners and the borderline hysteria. In one sense they are progressive but in a deeper sense they are paranoid reactionaries. They want social stasis and they want it with a passion. Trump is one of their bogeymen because he is seen to represent change instigated by voters rather than the elite. Hence the borderline hysteria whenever he is seen to challenge the progressive narrative. It looks like hysteria because it is.