Our kind of progressivism

A short reflection on progressives in Italy. First, the name. I call them that for lack of a better term: "left," just like "right," now make anyone who says them sound pathetic.

Their problem, because it's obvious that for a few years now they've had one, is partly about identity and partly about approach.
In a world where the proletarian and working class of the past no longer exists, they've had to, by their very nature, identify new battles, new underdogs whose rights need defending.
This is the source of the first problem, because the groups they've taken up the cause of are heterogeneous, with demands that often clash with each other (for example gender minorities and immigrants from places with an extremely traditionalist and often bigoted cultural background), and that are opposed even by their traditional voters.

I actually agree with some of their positions. First of all because they're often anti-populist, and that alone is a merit.
What I don't agree with is the method they use. And that's where the second of the problems I mentioned comes in.
You can't force views on society that, however right they may be, are still revolutionary compared to old, deeply rooted ways of thinking. People need to be guided toward modernity with humility, understanding, explanations that are easy to grasp. They shouldn't be insulted, looked down on, snubbed, and made to feel backward just because they're hesitant in the face of change. Even where change is necessary or even inevitable.

I've read some reactions from distinguished Venetian intellectuals and artists to the victory of the "right-wing" candidate for mayor. Haughty rants, contempt for the rabble, indifference to the problems of ordinary people, from people who don't realize they don't have the same problems as those folks not because they have a better idea of the world, but only because they're privileged, and think that privilege will last forever.

This isn't working. If this is how they communicate, or rather their very rulebook of conduct, they'll end up more and more detached from an electorate that struggles to understand what they're even talking about. Even when they're actually trying to get a good message across.

Drafted from Italian with Blog Translator, then revised by me.