Orwell's Nightmare Realized

Natural laws, like the law of gravity, apply whether you believe them or not. One can work within them, but one can never ignore them.

Progressivism is essentially a version of Utopianism - and pursuits for Utopia lead to exactly the opposite of its promises, requiring rigid ideologies or authoritarian attempts to enforce a “perfect” system, as seen in some historical examples like certain 20th-century regimes. In a cruel twist, when utopianism goes wrong, it eventually leads to dystopianism - societies marked by suffering and oppression.

In other words, Progressives claim the only way to true freedom and liberty is coercive control according to their rules. It is Orwell’s “Freedom is Slavery” nightmare realized, complete with O’Brien’s 2+2=5 torture, today represented by elements of society that demands not only compliance with their idea that a man can be a woman if he wants to be – but you must believe it.

I may be oversimplifying things, but my reasoning of our situation comes down to those who ground their thoughts and actions in reality and those who base theirs in myth and fantasy. For lack of better terms, I’ll call the former “conservatism” and the latter “progressivism”.

Conservatism is rooted in respect for the natural world, for natural law, and for what Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, called “Nature and Nature’s God.” It begins not with the fantasy of what mankind might be but with the sober recognition of what mankind is. It acknowledges limits - physical, moral, and civilizational. It honors the idea that reality exists independent of human wishes. Gravity works whether we believe in it or not, and human nature behaves according to its own time-tested patterns. That is why conservatism has always been more durable than its ideological rivals: it aligns itself with the grain of reality rather than trying to sand it down.

Progressivism, by contrast, is rooted in mythmaking and the pursuit of utopia. It begins with the conviction that society can be remade into a perfect world, if only the right people are in charge, the right narratives are told, and the right enemies are silenced. It replaces the God of natural law with the god of secular humanism - a belief that human reason and power alone can bend the world to any desired shape. Progressivism does not ask what is possible. It declares what ought to be and assumes reality will obediently follow.

This is why conservatives often sound like realists and progressives like dreamers. The conservative looks at human history and sees both greatness and depravity, creativity and cruelty, kindness and corruption - all bound together in the permanent nature of man. Progressives look at history and see a series of obstacles to overcome, shackles to be broken, traditions to be discarded. Where conservatives recognize the tragic dimension of human life, progressives promise a New Eden.

The problem with utopianism is not merely that it is false but that it is dangerous - if reality refuses to conform to the utopian vision, progressives do not abandon the vision; they double down. They declare that human nature itself must be re-engineered. They insist that reality is relative, subjective, malleable - a thing to be conquered rather than understood. And if reality resists, then reality must be forced to comply. History offers no shortage of examples, from the gulags of the Soviet Union to the cultural revolutions of the 20th century, all driven by those who sought to transcend the stubborn truths of human nature.

Conservatism, by contrast, builds within the limits of those truths. It does not deny that human beings can be generous, noble, and innovative. It simply refuses to ignore that they are also self-interested, flawed, and prone to corruption. That is why conservative governance emphasizes checks and balances, limited government, and personal responsibility - because it assumes no man is angelic and no institution can be trusted with unchecked power. It sees family, community, faith, and tradition not as shackles but as guardrails.

Progressivism views those same institutions as obstacles to be deconstructed. The family is redefined or dismissed as an outdated relic. Faith is painted as superstition. National traditions are portrayed as oppressive. All of this is done in service of an abstract future world that never actually arrives. The progressive promise is forever deferred, because perfection is impossible.

Meanwhile, conservatism builds what can last. It plants oaks, not weeds. It teaches reverence for the natural order and humility before it. It seeks not to erase human imperfection but to contain it, to channel human ambition through structures that have withstood the test of time. It prefers the messy, imperfect freedom of reality to the sterile, enforced equality of fantasy.

When the storms come - and they always do - utopian ideologies crumble because they have no roots in anything real. Conservatism endures because it grows out of the soil of the human condition itself. It does not promise paradise. It promises stability, order, liberty, and the dignity of individuals who live within a moral framework older and wiser than any bureaucrat.

That is why conservatism is the superior ideology. It respects what is real. It honors what endures. It protects what matters. And it knows that the proper role of humanity is not to play God, but to live wisely in the world that God - and nature - have given us.