If you think “woke” progressivism is a disaster, University of Colorado philosophy professor Michael Huemer has out a new book for you, “Progressive Myths.” Huemer takes on a variety of myths: “Trayvon Martin was murdered due to racism,” “blacks are regularly killed by police due to racism,” “most people have implicit racist attitudes,” “women in the United States earn much less than men do for the same work, due to sexism,” “gender is a social construct,” “the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes,” “scientists say that global warming is likely to destroy civilization if we don’t take drastic action very soon,” and many more.
Although broadly relevant to the United States and beyond, Huemer’s book has particular relevance for Colorado, where progressive Democrats now totally dominate the political scene. In terms of legislation, the most meaningful political fight now is not between “liberal” progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans but between left-typical progressive Democrats and hard-left Democratic Socialists. But, regardless of their particular stripes, most leftists in Colorado embrace most of the myths that Huemer describes. (A disclaimer: I personally know Huemer, and I commented on an early draft of the book.)
Progressive tribal signaling
In his introduction and final part of the book, Huemer frames the broader issues. “I have written this book,” Huemer begins, “because I think truth matters. Society cannot be reliably improved through lies, exaggerations, and misleading stories; it requires knowledge of the real, factual situation we face, in whatever area we seek to improve matters. I also believe that contemporary progressive political ideology is a deeply misguided belief system that causes great harm to society.”
According to Huemer, “woke” progressivism “sees contemporary America as a deeply unjust society, filled with prejudice and systematically designed to harm and oppress.” Huemer hopes that, by toppling several popular progressive myths, he will instill general skepticism toward progressive claims.
Toward the end of the book, Huemer goes through various plausible explanations of why “woke” progressivism thrives. It is in part a moving of goalposts following the successes of the Civil Rights era. It is in part a product of group-think in academia and other elite institutions. It is in part a consequence of tribal signaling. And the modern internet just makes such problems worse.
Myths have consequences. “Progressive myths . . . are almost perfectly calibrated to undermine social loyalty and trust,” Huemer writes. This is potentially a huge problem. Huemer continues, “If we undermine our current norms and institutions, the most likely result is not that we will be swept into a paradise of justice and sisterly love. The most likely result is that we will revert to something closer to the natural state of human beings, in which a small cadre of the powerful oppress, exploit, and commit violence against the majority.”
The United States has its problems, as Huemer recognizes. But the progressive tendency to demonize America fails to contextualize (to use typical leftist jargon) not only the widespread problems outside of the U.S. but the many virtues of our country. Huemer reasonably asks, “Can’t we just admit that the U.S. is doing something right?”
Conservatives on the hook too
MAGA cultists looking for cheap thrills probably will not enjoy Huemer’s book. For starters, Huemer often agrees with progressives: “Racism and sexism really are bad, gays should be allowed to get married, global warming is real, etc.”
Huemer did not write a book about conservative myths, bluntly, because they’re just too stupid to be taken seriously. Those are my terms. Here is how Huemer puts the point: “The right-wing myths that I have run into have not generally struck me as persuasive on their face (e.g., ‘the 2020 election was stolen,’ ‘global warming doesn’t exist’), so there seemed less need for debunking.” I suspect that Huemer, given his occupation in the Ivory Tower, is more concerned with the leftist ideology that surrounds him.
Colorado has had no shortage of conservative myths, starting with election conspiracies tied to the likes of Tina Peters and Joe Oltmann. Recently the New York Times addressed the exaggerated claims by some conservatives, and by Donald Trump, that Venezuelan gangs are taking over Republican-led Aurora. Yes, there is some gang activity in Colorado, and authorities have arrested several criminals from Venezuela. But now Republican Mayor Mike Coffman has to go on TV and try to explain why Colorado ought not piss away tourism revenues based on hysterical claims.
Conservatives, no less than progressives, are prone to the sorts of errors that Huemer describes, whether tribal signaling, motivated reasoning, or self-reinforcing dogmas. And conservatives have demonstrated that they can be at least as racially divisive as progressives.
I think most conservatives will love Huemer’s book. But beware: Some of the myths you destroy just might be your own.
Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.
