Progressing Towards Equality

When asked to define their ideology, progressives often say that they believe in “moving forward towards greater equality” (hence the “progress” in the label). The problem is that there are two concepts here and they might contradict one another. Notice, for instance, that the USA has become more economically unequal since the 1960s—Progressives talk about aligning with trends to be “on the right side of history,” but what do they do with this trend towards inequality? If we want to make our moral stance “aligning with trends” that’s one thing, but if we want to make it “greater equality,” that’s another thing entirely. Society can and does become more unequal so if we tie our morality to fads (if it's a trend it must be good), we can, by their own criterion, find ourselves opposing what is objectively good.