Lifted from the comments, another feat of progressive self-admiration:

Jean-Luc Picard remains the single most compelling vision of progressive politics I am familiar with — secular, rational, compassionate, egalitarian; a believer in progress & abundance but also duty, hard work, and a constant battle for self-improvement and improving the world. https://t.co/PQyh0qnouD

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 30, 2026

It’s curious that Mr Yglesias should pick a fictional character from a fictional world where commonplace human motivations have been done away with, simply written out of existence – a world with no discernible economic costs or constraints, and in which, as said character puts it, “money doesn’t exist.”

And as others note in the replies, it’s something of a stretch to imagine the modern progressive as somehow being driven by hard work and duty, or being defined by rationality. It’s almost funny.

Mr Yglesias’ adventures in fantasy have been noted here before.