I think people have lost track of what being ‘a progressive’ actually is. Being a progressive is not following the political status quo. It is not yelling out tried and tested slogans, or patting yourself on the back with the occasional virtuous hashtag. To me, I think being a progressive is rocking the boat and challenging people with new and innovative ideas. It is asking difficult questions, and enduring uncomfortable silences. It is to say ‘what if’, ‘maybe’ or ‘however’. It is to throw rocks at cherished beliefs or institutions, to set fire to conventional wisdom and withstand the finger jabbing, fist shaking backlash. Progressive is to be an iconoclast, scary and new, and by definition, it is to be… un-popular. To be a progressive likely won’t win you much applause or make you many friends. In fact, for the time being, it will probably do the opposite. But fear not, as the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” So what is progressive to you? ~ ONS Stranger Violence https://tinyurl.com/2ua7fkn7 Education Gap https://tinyurl.com/2tz6n9a6 Women in STEM https://tinyurl.com/4r9s7bun Men in Caring Professions https://tinyurl.com/2xurkk7n Image by Luke Jones of Unsplash

2022-10-04