Michael Shellenberger: Why I Am Not A Progressive

Most of this describes me, too, and several people I know.

I'd summarize like so: progressivism is illiberal utopianism, and utopianism entails totalitarianism.

To zoom in on perhaps the most crucial bit: political correctness--progressive utopianism subordinates evidence and reason to utopian dogma.

And, hence: progressives live in a web of lies and delusions woven from groupthink.

Most progressives I know are either (a) progressives by default, or (b) liberals who let either inertia or distaste for the right or both take them into an alliance-by-silence with the illiberal progressive left. One smart, reasonable progressive fried of mine recently admitted to me that she didn't actually read newspapers or keep up with current events, she basically relies on her friends to tell her what's going on. I now suspect that's not as uncommon as I'd have guessed. 

The farther you go right on the spectrum, of course, the more problems you run into, too. Some are the same (groupthink, dogma, inertia), some are different (overt religious irrationalism as opposed to politics that resembles religion). But right now--the crazy on the left is the dominant form. By far. The crazy isn't symmetrical. The right isn't the ultimate root of all evil. I usually don't add this because part of the problem, IMO, is that most people I know can't criticize the left without trying to ground it all in criticism of the right. In fact, most can't criticize the left at all. Unless it's to criticize it for being insufficiently, aggressively leftist.

Anyway.