re: I've been calling myself progressive
In my case, it means an openness to new ideas. A willingness to try things out. An urge to examine how to make things better and to do so.
That's a good definition. Wish it was universal.
Unfortunately, most people who call themselves "progressives" do so because they have a rigid belief in a certain set of ideas and solutions, whether they've historically made anything better or not.
You want "openness to new ideas," try talking to a liberal about private retirement accounts, or an environmentalist about nuclear power. A lot of these people have skulls that would stop a neutrino.