Moral progressivism’s relationship with politics is complicated. While the progressive political movement tends to embrace a subjective moral code, it cannot sufficiently contain such a radical vision of society. Whatever “new conservatism” is being born may be a vehicle to perpetuate the vision of a morally progressive society, or at least to fulfill the deconstructionist proclivities people have grown accustomed to. Clinton may support what has been previously considered the morally progressive project, but she cannot be the figurehead of this movement because she’s too tied to normative political structures.
In this truly progressive zeitgeist, the “Washington elite” becomes one of the many structures of power that simply must be destroyed. The system must be corrupt. The political process must be rigged. Everything must be overhauled. Asking people to accept the status quo is asking them to operate within an objective system that requires accepting social roles.
As backwards as it may seem, this election marked a casting off of those roles. Trump’s policies may not neatly fit within the larger narrative of most moral progressivists, but the electoral endorsement of his candidacy came from the potent impact of moral progressivism in our society.
Who better to be a symbol of this than a man who emulates the spirit of moral progressivism? A playboy who is drowning in his own excess as he seeks after his own self-fulfillment, first in money, then in sex, and now in political power, is the perfect figurehead. It is understandable that the populist cult which sprung up around him would flourish.
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