“Progressive” is indeed an excellent name for Leftists, for their value system is based entirely upon moving toward a set exterior goal. Whether that goal is good, evil, possible, or impossible doesn’t enter into it; the progress towards it is the important thing. Thus a ‘Progressive’ is a person who takes a question of relativity for his ultimate principle.
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Serpent's Den 
Progressive is merely a word sometimes given to those who want change from the status quo. Conservative is also a word used for the right by many. Both are misnomers. The right is anything but conservative in their spending right now. The left is anything but progressive in successfully bringing about change.
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I am speaking of philosophies, not political parties. Your definition of “someone who wants to change from the status quo” would mean the name would never apply to the same people or the same ideas from one year or one decade to the next, for the status quo is constantly changing. Moreover, it would apply equally well to people who hold starkly different points of view; since I would prefer to change many things about the current state of society, you would have to call me a progressive, though what I want to change may be the exact opposite of what, say, Bernie Sanders wants to change.
The valuing of ‘progress’ towards a given state of affairs (e.g. equality, revolution, etc.) as the fundamental principle, however, is a consistent factor of the philosophy I am describing, which is often called ‘the left’ (Left and Right, btw, are meaningless and misleading designations even in political matters: any designation that lumps Hitler, Churchill, and Coolidge onto the same side of the fence is useless).
I don’t particularly like the term ‘conservative’ either, though I sometimes use it because I’m hampered by the lack of a good name for the opposing philosophy. ‘Traditionalist’ is generally the one I prefer; designating someone who adheres to the basic principles and beliefs that have generally been held in western civilization.
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