Are we all progressives?

A progressive cannot be defined by which actions he/she supports on political issues.  A progressive is defined by which he/she seeks to achieve as a whole, that is, someone who seeks improvement or positive change.  If anyone says the world is perfect, or even that this nation is perfect, then they are highly misinformed and unaware of all the struggles, sufferings, and injustices currently happening and constantly occurring in our society.

To believe that we are perfect also inclines that there is no more knowledge that we can seek, no new technology to be developed, no new discoveries to be found and that we have reach the point of complete understanding.  The truth is we know very little.  Our understanding of things is constantly evolving and developing.  The more we learn the more we are able to rethink earlier convictions. 

Our society may never reach perfection, for I believe it is impossible for our minds to grasp the true nature of perfection.  Nevertheless, we must not abandon our attempts to achieve it, for only if we continue on this path can we hope to improve.  Only if we continue to seek more knowledge and better understanding, are we able to better ourselves. 

If we can conclude that our society, however you define it, is less than perfect, then we can conclude that there is improvement to be made.  Knowing that, we should all be progressives at heart.  We should all wish for improvement.  Those who wish to stay stagnate in an ever evolving and dynamic world, will get left behind and be ignorant to new discoveries of truth. 

Progressives don’t always have to agree.  Two people with the same goal may see two different paths in reaching that goal.  There are multiple possibilities for the outcome of these two paths.  They both can be right, they both can be wrong, or one can be right and one wrong.  There are also different levels in degree of success that can be applied.  Let's say both their paths reach the goal, but one path does it quicker than the other.  The path that achieves it quicker would have a higher degree of success.  Another possibility is if they both reach the goal, but one has more negative effects along the way than the other, then that path would have a lower degree of success. 

One thing I don’t like about political parties is that they start to forget that they all have similar goals.  They all want what's best for the country (peace, liberty, and happiness), but they just have different ideas on how to achieve this.  They spend more time fighting with the other side than they do trying to work together and figure out what is truly the best way to go. 

Another problem with politics is people like to stick behind an idea, even if it is wrong.  They may start to agree with a certain idea for good reasons, but they get so cemented in that course of action that when someone tries to show them a flaw with it, they fight back defiantly.  It has become more about being right than actually solving problems.  What I mean by this is that people care more about trying to appear right in their original convictions than they do about what is actually right, so much so that they will ignore true facts and create falsified facts.

A piece of advice (even for the average person living the average life): if someone shows you a flaw in your plans or beliefs, don't attack them, focus on fixing your plan or rethinking your beliefs. 

Now, there are some of you out there that may disagree with progressive thinking, and wish to stay locked in a stagnant world without improvement.  You may think that if things are kept simple the way they are you will be happy.  But, you must not forget that just because something suits you it does not mean it suits everyone.  In the past, there were plenty of land owning white males that would be more than happy to keep slaves, have power over women, and have sole political control.  It suited them.  They were fine with it, able to live prosperous lives with the support of their wives and slaves.  To them, life was simple and good.  They had nothing shitty to deal with. 

I am asking you to not think like that.  I am asking you to be aware of how things affect other people.  We as humans must all work together.  We must leave selfishness behind and look out for everyone.  We must look out for the ones less fortunate than us.  We must be aware of the impact we have on others.  We must be aware of the impact others have on us.  We owe so much of our lives to millions of different of people from all over the world, from all different classes of society.  Whether you like it or not, you are connected to everyone, and everyone is connected to you.  Some more directly than others but a connection can be made between everyone. 

So if anyone ever asks you if you are a progressive, don't be afraid to answer yes.