--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By the end of the 20th century…" description: "\"By the end of the 20th century, \"liberals\" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went back to calling themselves \"progressives\" to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg" --- # By the end of the 20th century, "liberals" had again… ![“By the end of the 20th century, "liberals" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went back to calling themselves "progressives" to escape their past, much as people do when they declare bankruptcy.” quote by Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg) > “By the end of the 20th century, "liberals" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went back to calling themselves "progressives" to escape their past, much as people do when they declare bankruptcy.” [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that liberals rebranded as progressives to avoid past failures, similar to a bankruptcy reset. **In simple terms:** Liberals changed name to hide past mistakes. Key Takeaway Beware of rebranding that masks failures. Themes politics branding history ideology reputation Mood skeptical critical analytical Type political historical observational When to use this quote - political analysis - media commentary - public policy debates - election cycles Key Concepts identity rebranding public perception accountability Questions to Reflect On - What does a name change truly signify? - Can rebranding restore trust? A Different Perspective Rebranding may not change underlying policies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bankruptcy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bankruptcy/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Liberals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberals/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Progressives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progressives/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Progress in general seems to hold little interest for people who call themselves 'progressives.' What arouses them are denunciations of social failures and accusations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/progress-in-general-seems-to-hold-little-interest-for-people-who-call/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“As history has also shown, especially in the twentieth century, one of the first things an ideologue will do after achieving absolute power is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/as-history-has-also-shown-especially-in-the-twentieth-century-one-of/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Even if the government spends itself into bankruptcy and the economy still does not recover, Keynesians can always say that it would have worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/even-if-the-government-spends-itself-into-bankruptcy-and-the-economy/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It is amazing how many of the horrors of the 20th century were a result of charismatic quacks misleading millions of people to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/it-is-amazing-how-many-of-the-horrors-of-the-20th-century-were-a/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [One of the bitter ironies of the 20th century was that communism, which began as an egalitarian doctrine accusing capitalism of selfishness and calloused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/one-of-the-bitter-ironies-of-the-20th-century-was-that-communism/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [ “They \[progressives\] are men and women who tend to believe that the human being is perfectible and social progress predictable, and that the instrument… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-progressives-are-men-and-women-who-tend-to-believe-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm a Progressive. Much in the same way our founding fathers - who, oddly enough, wouldn't get elected today - were Progressives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferrell/i-m-a-progressive-much-in-the-same-way-our-founding-fathers-who-oddly/) [Will Ferrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferrell/) > [ At what point do \[progressives\] take off our partisan blinders and start wondering whether a very powerful faction of Democrats actually continues to SUPPORT… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sirota/at-what-point-do-progressives-take-off-our-partisan-blinders-and/) [David Sirota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sirota/) > [Liberals want to burn the flag, but progressives just want to microwave it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/liberals-want-to-burn-the-flag-but-progressives-just-want-to/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Progressives deliver everything except progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/progressives-deliver-everything-except-progress/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [Progressives really do see America as guilty of crimes against humanity, and to them, our 'greatness' must be abandoned to atone for those crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-tancredo/progressives-really-do-see-america-as-guilty-of-crimes-against/) [Tom Tancredo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-tancredo/) > [“When we fight wars, money is no object. When we choose peace, we ration every penny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-berg/when-we-fight-wars-money-is-no-object-when-we-choose-peace-we-ration/) Joel Berg > [“Socialists and Progressives confuse compassion and compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-samaan/socialists-and-progressives-confuse-compassion-and-compulsion/) [A.E. Samaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-samaan/) > [“Again, for Wilson and the progressives, the American founding was simply a historical event distinct to its own moment and condition. Progress requires that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-r-levin/again-for-wilson-and-the-progressives-the-american-founding-was/) [Mark R. Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-r-levin/) > [I'm not ready to give you a clear answer on whether electoral politics holds any particular hope for progressives. It would mean that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/i-m-not-ready-to-give-you-a-clear-answer-on-whether-electoral/) [Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/) ## More by Thomas Sowell > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There is no bigger waste of time than doing 90% of what is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/there-is-no-bigger-waste-of-time-than-doing-90-of-what-is-necessary/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-you-have-always-believed-that-everyone-should-play-by-the-same/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“In 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy, like both Democratic and Republican Presidents and Secretaries of the Treasury in earlier years, pointed out that “it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/in-1962-democratic-president-john-f-kennedy-like-both-democratic-and/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ideological-bigotry-has-become-the-norm-on-even-our-most-prestigious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Bailing out people who made ill-advised mortgages makes no more sense that bailing out people who lost their life savings in Las Vegas casinos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/bailing-out-people-who-made-ill-advised-mortgages-makes-no-more-sense/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“One third of all Scots in the mid-nineteenth century moved from one county to another”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/one-third-of-all-scots-in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-moved-from-one/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. But, for the global warming scenario that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-difference-is-that-we-have-the-hardest-and-most-painful-evidence/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“Just as price fluctuations allocate scarce resources which have alternative uses, price controls which limit those fluctuations reduce the incentives for individuals to limit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/just-as-price-fluctuations-allocate-scarce-resources-which-have/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The greatest danger to the liberal vision are facts about the consequences of liberalism itself and the laws, policies, and ways of life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-greatest-danger-to-the-liberal-vision-are-facts-about-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Do all children have some inherent right to live in America if they have done nothing wrong? If not, then why should the children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/do-all-children-have-some-inherent-right-to-live-in-america-if-they/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [What 'eminent domain' laws mean in practice is that politicians have a right to seize your property and turn it over to someone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/what-eminent-domain-laws-mean-in-practice-is-that-politicians-have-a/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“those parts of the British Isles without the advantage of coal deposits or ports, industrialization was as handicapped as in other countries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/those-parts-of-the-british-isles-without-the-advantage-of-coal/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The whole idea of equal justice under law is completely incompatible with the idea of judges deciding cases according to "empathy".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-whole-idea-of-equal-justice-under-law-is-completely-incompatible/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Explore all 823 Thomas Sowell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. 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Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) Browse all 672 20th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "By the end of the 20th century, \"liberals\" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went back to calling themselves \"progressives\" to escape their past, much as people do when they declare bankruptcy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Sowell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals-had-again-discredited/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "20th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals-had-again-discredited/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4de/thomas-sowell-247_20th-century_by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals_1622447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By the end of the 20th century, \"liberals\" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went…” — Thomas Sowell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Sowell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "By the end of the 20th...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals-had-again-discredited/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-liberals-had-again-discredited/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```