Progressives Got Routed

Looking back, historians may see 2024 as the year Progressives got routed in America and globally. Doing a 360, the rise against elitist rulers, throwing off concentrated power, often unaccountable, untrustworthy, and corrupt, was epic. Three-quarters of Europe tips right now.

The next closest thing, aside from individual revolutions, is the year 1848. That year, as in 2024, a democratic wildfire caught and spread the desire to be free of abusive governments.

In 1848, just over 170 years ago – as in 2024 – populations rural and urban collectively revolted. That year, for reasons tied to alienation from those in power, elitism in another time, lack of understanding by monied leaders of average people’s pain, high food costs, and unrest grew.

As economic conditions worsened, protests, uprisings, migration, and civil unease spread across Europe. Economic fears were compounded by tone-deaf governments suppressing free speech, discussion of democracy, liberties, nationalism, and a free press.

People in more than 50 countries found their voice and pushed back. Throughout, their governments learned nothing, not from their missteps or neighbors; they blamed, jailed, and punished the aggrieved, inflaming passions.

Ironically, against this broad effort to suppress liberties, an unlikely coalition formed – among the workers, middle and upper classes who were non-government people, and active reformers.

The power of this alloy was strong, made stronger by deaf leaders, disdain for them crosscutting society. The effects were felt everywhere, and change was solidified as people took power back from the elites. In Austria, Hungary, and soon Russia, serfdom was banished. In Denmark, the monarchy was ended, and the Netherlands representative democracy was established.

The world flipped in France, Italy, and Germany; those in power were driven out, new forms of government were adopted, more accountable to the people, and fortified over time.

In an era with no cars or high-priced gas, food still took half of an urban worker’s wages, while rural workers just starved. You saw the Great Irish Famine and fear and lawlessness across Europe.

As if humanity never learns, governments criminalized those who criticized leaders, jailing, killing, and silencing them while continuing to prevent the discontented from voting.

Unstable systems in nature collapse. They also do so in government. People demanded the vote. One can almost hear inner counsels of leadership calling them deplorables or garbage, but they spoke.

They demanded free speech, the vote, and constitutions – many modeled on America’s, now 55 years old. The movement was powerful, not a ripple or wave but a tsunami. 1848 changed Europe.

Enter 2024. Yes, much revolutionary change occurred in 170 years, country uprisings, and after World Wars I and II and the Cold War. What has not happened is an 1848 moment – spontaneous, whirlwind rejection of many elitist governments.

Yet that is what we are seeing, and continue to see. People are rejecting elitist policies pushed by agenda-driven, tone-deaf leftists who suppress everything from energy to free speech.

The breadth of global rejection in 2024 is breathtaking, forcing governments out, reversals by corporate allies, and the way 1848 nobles worshiped and then rejected government sponsors.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal recently, no reference to 1848 – the heyday of elitism is over. Headline: “The Progressive Moment in Global Politics is Over,” and “weak economic growth and immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists,” i.e., The People. See, The Progressive Moment in Global Politics Is Over – WSJ.

In country after country, not least in the United States, with President Trump’s victory, the tide is turning or turned. The Journal: “This past year showed that the progressive politics that dominated most industrialized countries over the past two decades or more is shifting to the right, fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration, and growing fatigue with issues from climate change to identity politics.”

Truly said. So, what’s next? Right after 1848, reforms across Europe were implemented, and power was restored to the people. But history never ends. From the ashes of 1848, elitists reconfigured themselves as communists and, in time, progressives. Outflanked by the middle, they drove from the left. Expect it again.

For now, rejoice and take stock: America is not the only nation seeking normal power back to “The People.” Globally, progressives were routed, and we may see more in Canada and Germany in 2025. Let us … hope so. Happy New Year!

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).