The philosopher pulverizing 'Progressive Myths'

Welcome to America, the land of systemic racism, rampant sexism, and unchecked white privilege.

This is the propaganda you have been fed for years. I am not happy about it. You're not happy about it. And Michael Huemer is certainly not happy about it.

'After you control for crime rates or rates of violence against police officers, the police are less likely to shoot blacks than whites.'

In "Progressive Myths," Huemer, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, takes aim at the core beliefs of modern progressive ideology, systematically dismantling them with sharp, uncompromising logic. Huemer isn’t afraid to confront the narratives that have deeply embedded themselves in our cultural and political institutions — narratives that have, for far too long, undermined free thought and intellectual honesty.

It's a bold move, especially in a time when facts are often treated as negotiable. Nuance, on the other hand, is now considered a dirty word.

Never mind the gap

The academic’s approach is rather simple: Lay out the facts, strip away the emotional overtones, and let the data do the talking. One of the first myths Huemer tackles is the gender pay gap, the idea that women earn less than men for the same work.

As Huemer tells Align, “That is false; after you control for obviously relevant variables such as occupation, hours worked, experience, and education, the pay gap disappears.”

This is the kind of claim that sends activists into overdrive — because it’s uncomfortable. It challenges the prevailing narrative that American society is an unjust, patriarchal hellscape and that women are perpetual victims of systemic sexism.

The gender pay gap, when adjusted for context, doesn’t support the melodramatic cries of inequality. In fact, it reveals a more complex picture — one in which personal decisions and yes, biology (another dirty word), play significant roles in determining salary.

Systemic nonsense

Then there’s the issue of police shootings and systemic racism — two other sacred cows Huemer is only too eager to slaughter. Relying on evidence rather than emotional accounts, the philosopher debunks this myth with precision: “After you control for crime rates or rates of violence against police officers, the police are less likely to shoot blacks than whites.”

Let that sink in for a minute.

“This,” he adds, “has been corroborated with experimental evidence in simulators, which show that police take longer to shoot black suspects than white suspects and make fewer mistakes, when all other factors are held constant.”

Progressives often depict a land where every cop is a racist eager to pull the trigger and where black Americans live in constant fear of being shot by police. But the vast majority of police interactions do not end in violence.

Yes, racism exists, but the notion that America is a racist dystopia is a gross exaggeration. For instance, 94% of Americans approve of interracial marriage — a statistic that tells a far different story than the one progressives want you to believe. If you listened to the media, you'd think there was a "white supremacist" lurking on every corner, ready to spew racial hatred. But the real America is far more integrated and tolerant than the doomsayers would have you believe.

The world is melting!

Huemer also zeros in on climate change. Unless you’ve been living under a rock on a distant planet, you’re familiar with the dire warnings — melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and apocalyptic forecasts.

As Huemer points out, “Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously claimed the world would end by 2030 if we didn’t address climate change. In 2019, 38% of Americans surveyed believed global warming was likely to literally wipe out the human race.”

Huemer is quick to debunk this hysteria, noting, “These exaggerated claims come from political activists, not the scientific community.” Rather, “Their projections of global warming’s impacts are far more measured. For example, it might increase the death rate by a quarter of a percent by mid-century, cost the world 2.5% of GDP by 2100, and cause ocean levels to rise by a couple of feet.”

Not great but certainly not the end of the world.

Pigeon politics

The problem, as Huemer sees it, is that people want to believe these myths. They feel right.

These people crave ideological certainty, even if it’s built on shaky foundations (or no foundations at all). And that’s where the real danger lies.

When people are emotionally invested in a narrative, objective findings become irrelevant. They’ll latch onto any assertion, no matter how dubious, if it supports their worldview. Media companies and activists are all too happy to provide the material, knowing full well that proof cannot compete with panic.

In the end, Huemer’s book is not just a critique of progressive myths; it's also a plea for intellectual integrity. His willingness to confront uncomfortable truths in an age of comforting lies is both refreshing and, frankly, brave.

It’s no wonder he expects some backlash. “I assume I will receive some hate mail and some personal attacks on the internet,” Huemer quips with the nonchalance of a man who’s well aware that rational debate has become a rarity in our polarized age.

He’s wise to ignore the haters. Arguing with unreasonable people, as Huemer knows, is a lot like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, it’ll just knock over the pieces, defecate on the board, and strut around as if it's won.