The delusion of progressivism is structural, not psychological, in liberal democracy

Evidence

Choosing “the least worst” is not making this particular choice, it is also choosing a system which forces you to accept the least worst as the best you can hope for. Naturally, the defenders of the dictatorship of the elite pretend — perhaps they even deceive themselves — that the particular slew of lies, compromise and smarm they are hawking is “only temporary”; that, at some unspecified time in the future, things will improve if only we support the “progressive” wing of the status quo. But Hobson’s choice is no choice, and the delusion of progressivism is not a psychological quirk, it is the structural delusion upon which liberal democracy is based. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1390

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to ch32 on the third way’s real content being bureaucracy, and to capitalism’s defenders justifying it as least-worst in ch28. — connects to: World War I’s disillusionment killed progressivism’s reform mood; Democracy and liberalism can be decoupled and even opposed — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 235; Liberal democracy’s post-Cold War triumph masks deep popular disaffection — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 372
• SEED: The claim that ‘least worst’ voting itself ratifies the system making least-worst the ceiling is an essay-worthy framing of the cheap-vote vs. structural-choice distinction.

Broader Connections

• Democracy and liberalism can be decoupled and even opposed #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 235