And in your opinion the Progressive movement is nihilistic?
For me, I can’t envision a perfect system, a perfect ideology, because humans are messy. Emotions and wants and animal instincts are messy and we’re a messy race. So I think both sides of the equation are going to be continually battling it out, with some convinced the other side is only concerned with destruction. I know Progressives who think that of Conservatism/LIbertarianism/etc. As such, and because my line of work has me in the midst of many progressives, I see that they aren’t bent on nihilistic destruction. They just have some different values, different world views, and different solutions. In all my years, I’ve never encountered anyone hell bent on perpetual destruction. Only a few anarchists who were really just acting out, honestly. From what I can see, in the same way that you can envision a world where everyone is treated equally and have a fair right to compete to get ahead, so do many others who call themselves Progressives. Oftentimes the ideal vision isn’t what differs, but agreement on how that occurs. Personally, I’m more interested in the commonalities than the differences. Seems more in line with the Christian teachings I admire.
All I can suggest is some reading on the Critical Thinking movement. They are quite explicit about proclaiming the need to criticize society. They however, see no need to provide alternatives or goals for societal improvements.