In this case, not a single event, but it’s the broad sweep of History that Progressives seem to be ignorant of. So writes David Harsanyl over at The Federalist.

If many liberals seem unconcerned about their party’s future after a midterm trouncing, it’s only because many have bought into the comforting notion that history is theirs. Even in defeat, liberals are predestined for victory. The intellectual case for progressivism is unassailable. The potency of their moral case makes them unstoppable. Demography is destiny. Old people die. White people disappear. The trajectory set.

And while this may all turn out to be the case, it’s probably worth considering other factors before accepting the Liberal Inevitability Hypothesis.

The most obvious reason people with high certitude about the future typically end up looking foolish is the volatility of history.

Read the whole thing.

The Progressive movement was vibrant a century ago. It even had a few good ideas, but its essentially Marxist belief in the Perfectibility of Man doomed it to failure in the real world. As Trotsky told the Mensheviks: You are pitiful, isolated individuals! You are bankrupts. Your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!