Perhaps it is obvious, but it is my contention that progressivism is preeminently principle based, that the foremost principle is that what is best for life as a whole is always the correct choice and that, therefore, no true progressive can ever be loyal to any particular person or group of people over this principle or to any and all moral and spiritual principles and ideas and political and commercial policies and concepts that branch from and serve this prime principle. Pursuing the highest possible quality of life for life as a whole, and everything that depends upon this is, in other words, inviolable. That is, progressivism is defined by discovering and serving the methods and means providing for the best interests of life as a whole, and can never permit this conviction to be compromised by anything, by any person, place or organization or any other thing which conflicts with the prime principle, including not just one’s nation, but one’s family and even one’s self. A narrow sense of ‘patriotism,’ for example, cannot be allowed to conflict with the service of the totality of nation’s serving life as a whole, nor can a true progressive permit his or her self to serve his or her self-perceived interests or those of his or her family if such service betrays what is best for a greater number of other individuals and families. This is the driving force of true progress, and to allow any type of narrow, ego-based identification, tribal thought or personal, familial, national or organizational interest to interfere with this force is to betray true progressivism and the relative extent to which one belongs within its select sect of most honorable members.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." - Martin Luther King Jr.