Looking the Wrong Way

Brits paint it right on the crosswalks, which way to look. When it comes to politics these days, maybe us Yanks could use crosswalks like that. Can’t seem to tell which way is which.

We’re used to looking to the right and knowing exactly what we’ll see, peering in the other direction and being equally sure what to expect. Except now what we see is no longer what we were accustomed to seeing.

For ages and ages, left meant liberal, a word that comes from the same root as liberty. A synonym for freedom, as in liberal democracy. Confusion sets in when one of today’s “liberals” cancels someone failing to conform to politically correct standards. Left also meant progressive, a devotion to progress, a passion for innovation, imagining better ways that bring about better days. It’s disorienting to see those claiming to be progressive today dedicated to protecting what’s been in place, preserving established institutions and longstanding policies or cherished programs, thinking little of what ne…