Episode #54 | Don’t Confuse Liberalism And Progressivism (Paul D. Miller)

Foreign Policy ProvCast

A couple months ago, Providence contributor Paul D. Miller complained on Twitter about people confused liberalism and progressivism. In this episode hosted by Mark Melton, he explains how the two concepts are different. He specifically makes the case that conservatives wrongly blame liberalism for the excesses of progressivism. He then explains what classical liberalism is, and how this idea can be the solution for the problems progressivism creates. Miller also reviews what he calls “Augustinian liberalism,” which uses the ideas of St. Augustine as a grounding for liberalism, instead of Enlightenment ideas. Miller and Melton then talk about how federalism and localism can help alleviate problems America faces—including the fear that, if “our” side loses a national or presidential election, the country’s over. In fact, he says allowing more federalism and letting subcultures flourish would increase national cohesion, whereas enforcing a common national identity, whether a left-wing or right-wing version, would increase national strife. Miller also reviews viewpoint neutrality, cancel culture, participation in local government, and more. To read Miller’s articles about Augustinian liberalism, see https://providencemag.com/2019/09/augustinian-liberalism-symposium/ and https://providencemag.com/2019/09/augustine-of-hippo-christian-democrat/ His other works for Providence are available here: https://providencemag.com/authors/paul-d-miller/ Other articles and podcasts by Mark Melton are available here: https://providencemag.com/authors/mark-melton/