What's In A Name?

Here is an interesting piece by John C. Wright that you all may enjoy. He approaches the subject of conservatism from a Catholic point of view, and while I may not agree with all of his musings, his insight and wordsmithery (yep, new word!) make it worth the read. A snippet:

"The term ‘conservative’ was invented by the ‘progressives’ to describe anyone who was not a progressive. Like goyim, gentile, or heathen, it is just a word that says what you are not.

Now, obviously, no one is in favor of ‘progress’ without some notion of the goal toward which one is progressing. In the case of Progressives, the goal is socialism in slow stages (Wilsonian Socialism, New Deal Socialism, Fabian Socialism, and Communism).

The word was a propaganda term only, because people like things that are new and exciting. And so the Progressives called themselves ‘NEW!’ and called their enemies ‘OLD!’

But age has nothing to do with anything. The so called Progressives have certain ideals (solipsism, untruth, aberration, death, perversion totalitarianism, nihilism)  and these define their goals. They are driving toward tribalism and a police state, and all the ancient horrors left behind in the bronze age, left behind as two-year-old levels of moral insight. The goal is called progress only in the sense of being precisely the opposite.

Like them, we who oppose them, we have certain ideals, and these define our goals. I identify as a conservative, because when I call myself any other name, no one knows what I mean."