In 2015, a horse named American Pharaoh became the first horse since 1978 to win the triple crown — winning the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, and the Preakness; in politics, however, the triple crown is even rarer.
Before President Obama and the Democrats held all three from 2008 to 2010, the last time a single party controlled the White House and a majority in both legislative houses was in 1969. The polls leading into the election predicted that a single party had a large chance of taking the triple crown of politics in the 2016 cycle — what the polls got wrong, however, was which party that was going to claim the crown.
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Progressives were cheering in the early stages of the primaries as they saw the disruption in the Republican Party as the political outsider, Donald J. Trump, entered the race for the presidency. With more traditional conservatives, like Mitt Romney and many others, denouncing Trump and his philosophies, progressives saw a clear, paved path to the White House.
However, the Progressives lost. To their shock and dismay, the Republicans claimed the elusive triple crown.
Progressives and the Left should not hold their breath for an upset turnaround for elections anytime soon. More and more people, including myself, are leaving the Left, and they are leaving by the day. Still ardent progressives throw their hands in the air in dismay over how people are trending towards ring-wing ideals. They clamor, “do you not believe in equality?” and “how can you support white-supremacists?” in their social media posts, which have been ‘liked’ by oh-so-many of their friends in this close-knit, affirmative circle of progressives.
The current decay of the Left can largely be blamed on one principle: collectivism. In order to understand it, one must go back to August 28th, 1963. On this day, a true liberal stood at the podium overlooking thousands of people surrounding the Lincoln Memorial. A capturing voice boomed, “I have a dream,” as the crowd stood captured in awe when Martin Luther King delivered his famous address. “I have a dream,” Mr. King said, “that my four little children… will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Despite how much progressives revere this man, these iconic words seem to have been largely forgotten.
In an ironic 180 degree twist, instead of judging a man by his character, progressives judge his fellow man by his skin color; diversity is sought after, as long as it is diversity of skin color and gender — not diversity of thought. Progressives have strayed from the true liberal ideal of ‘I may not agree with what you’re saying, but I’ll fight until the death for your right to say it,’ to censoring speech they don’t agree with. Progressives are turning university campuses from a place reserved for free-thinking, into a place of conformity and a place where safe-zones and trigger warnings are cherished, and where speakers of differing opinions are shunned or even barred.
Liberalism was never meant to be what it has become known as today. It is not the idea that your skin color justifies how you are treated or the given opportunities you are given. Liberalism is not the idea that people ought to be taxed at extremely high margins in order to pay for entitlement programs. Liberalism is not the idea that speakers should be silenced, just because you don’t agree with that they are saying. Liberalism was and is the complete opposite of all of these ideas. Unfortunately, the Left of today has completely abandoned true liberal ideals; they are simply liberal in name only.
As the Left veers further away from liberalism, and further away from Dr. King’s message, progressives will have to scramble for what few votes can be secured in their dwindling electoral base — a base which will be but a shadow of its former self.
