The radical left has taken over the culture. From racialized and sexualized curriculum in K-12 to the American Medical Association policing the language of its members to ensure that it is “inclusive,” the ideologies from the university sociology department are being shoved down America’s throat. You are not supposed to believe your own lying eyes, and a person’s lived experience supersedes all objective data. Now, the word “woke” is problematic, even though the progressives coined it.
If you violate the ever-changing rules of the woke coalition, you can lose your social media account, your reputation, and even your job. They govern what you can watch, how movies get cast, and who wins the awards. Even comedians, who are supposed to touch the third rail, are subjected to the wrath of their offense. Words are violence, and violence is speech. Men can be women and shut up bigots.
These narratives are so overwhelming that one may assume that a large portion of the population shares them. However, a new Pew Research study debunks that idea. So the next time you are sitting in a corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion training session, remember that only 6% of the population thinks this way. Pew Research refers to them as the Progressive Left. According to the study results:
Progressive Left are more liberal than the three other Democratic-oriented groups on many issues. For example, while majorities in all four of these groups favor a bigger government providing more services, Progressive Left are most likely to express this view. When asked a follow-up question about how much bigger the government should be, 63% of Progressive Left say government services should “greatly expand” from current levels – a far higher share than any other group.
Their liberal outlook is not limited to issues related to the size and scope of government. Their views on race and racial equality also distinguish them from other typology groups: Sizable majorities say White people benefit from societal advantages that Black people do not have and that most U.S. institutions need to be completely rebuilt to ensure equal rights for all Americans regardless of race or ethnicity.
Based on the views this group expresses, you might assume that it is a very diverse coalition. Again, not exactly. Nearly seven in ten are white adults, making them the least diverse group in the Democrat coalition. Almost three-quarters of them are under 50, so it is no surprise that nearly half of them went to college. They are highly secular, with only 52% reporting a religious affiliation. They don’t realize how their political ideology has taken on religious fervor. From climate change to anti-racism, the requirements to be a good progressive take on all the features of religion, except for any form of forgiveness for transgressions.
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Their latest catechism is a belief in science rather than respect for the scientific process. Because of progressives, you can buy an Anthony Fauci prayer candle. It should come as no surprise that progressives report masking indoors 79% of the time, and 94% say they have all the shots required to be considered fully vaccinated. It should not be surprising that they often act and appear in mobs since they prefer to live close to others in smaller homes.
Despite being the smallest group among all of the political typologies and the tiniest fraction in the Democrat coalition, they are the most politically engaged on the Left:
The typology groups at either end of the political spectrum, Faith and Flag Conservatives and Progressive Left, are also the most politically engaged – that is, they voted at the highest rates in the 2020 presidential election, and they are most likely to say they post about politics on social media and that they donated to campaigns. The groups in the middle of the ideological spectrum have much lower levels of political engagement.
In the current moment, a small number of white, college-educated progressives who strongly believe that America is no great shakes are co-opting the country. Professor-in-exile Bret Weinstein warned that the far left authoritarian ideology would spill out of the college campuses in 2018. After the riots during the summer of 2020, it happened at breakneck speed. Now, the loudest progressive voices that are willing to whip up action in the streets and want to reform our institutions completely have an outsized influence on the Biden administration.
Yet, 94% of Americans disagree. A recent Harvard Harris poll confirms that the ideas and policies advocated by progressives are not popular with a large majority of Americans. Remember that the next time you see something about a mob coming for someone who offended the progressive orthodoxy. Or when your child comes home with racialized content that assigns characteristics to children based on the color of their skin. Often it only takes one or two people to stand against the mob before others rise up. Be the one who takes a stand.
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