Modern Day Progressivism - My Point Of View

Merriam-Webster defines a progressive as, "one believing in moderate political change and especially social improvement by governmental action." This definition is wrong based on three words: "moderate political change". Modern progressives want nothing to do with moderation, they want radical political change and they want it now and although it's been around since about the mid to late 1800's, it didn't actually gain momentum until Herbert Croly came on the scene in 1909 with his book, The Promise of American Life.

Progressives do not believe in individual autonomy, they have no tolerance and respect for private property, responsibility and religion. They want to take from the haves and give to the have nots. According to the progressive, Michael Schwalbe, a professor of sociology at North Carolina State University, you might be a progressive if:

* You think health care is a basic human right, and that single-payer national health insurance is a worthwhile reform on our way toward creating a non-profit national health care service.

* You think that human rights ought always to trump property rights.

* You think U.S. military spending is an obscene waste of resources, and that the only freedom this spending protects is the freedom of economic elites to exploit working people all around the planet.

* You think U.S. troops should be brought home not only from Afghanistan and Iraq, but from all 130 countries in which the U.S. has military bases.

* You think political leaders who engage in "preemptive war" and invasions should be brought to trial for crimes against humanity and judged against the standards of international law established at Nuremberg after World War Two.

* You think public education should be free, not just from kindergarten through high school, but as far as a person is willing and able to go.

* You think that electoral reform should include instant run-off voting, publicly-financed elections, easy ballot access for all parties, and proportional representation.

* You think that electoral democracy is not enough, and that democracy must also be participatory and extend to workplaces.

* You think that strengthening the rights of all workers to unionize and bargain collectively is a useful step toward full economic democracy.

* You think that as a society we have a collective obligation to provide everyone who is willing and able to work with a job that pays a living wage and offers dignity.

* You think that a class system which forces some people to do dirty, dangerous, boring work all the time, while others get to do clean, safe, interesting work all the time, can never deliver social justice.

* You think that regulating big corporations isn't enough, and that such corporations, if they are allowed to exist at all, must either serve the common good or be put into public receivership.

* You think that the legal doctrine granting corporations the same constitutional rights as natural persons is absurd and must be overturned.

* You think it's wrong to allow individuals to accumulate wealth without limits, and that the highest incomes should be capped well before they begin to threaten community and democracy.

* You think that wealth, not just income, should be taxed.

* You think it's crazy to use the Old Testament as a policy guide for the 21st century.

* You believe in celebrating diversity, while also recognizing that having women and people of color proportionately represented among the class of oppressors is not the goal we should be aiming for.

* You think that the state has no right to kill, and that putting people to death to show that killing is wrong will always be a self-defeating policy.

* You think that anyone who desires the reins of power that come with high political office should, by reason of that desire, be seen as unfit for the job.

* You think that instead of more leaders, we need fewer followers.

* You think that national borders, while sometimes establishing territories of safety, more often establish territories of exploitation, much like gang turf.

* You are open to considering how the privileges you enjoy because of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and/or physical ability might come at the expense of others.

* You believe that voting every few years is a weak form of political participation, and that achieving social justice requires concerted effort before, during, and after elections.

* You think that, ideally, no one would have more wealth more than they need until everyone has at least as much as they need to live a safe, happy, decent life.

* You recognize that an economic system which requires continuous expansion, destroys the environment, relies on rapidly-depleting fossil fuels, exacerbates inequality, and leads to war after war is unsustainable and must be replaced. Score a bonus point if you understand that sticking to the existing system is what's unrealistic.

It comes across as more Marxism than anything else. At any rate, looking down this list of progressive tenets you begin to see that progressives want no part of individuality, religious beliefs and responsibility.

One tactic they use to fundamentally transform this country, or any country for that matter, is to rewrite its history. This tactic was championed by Herbert Croly when he wrote, “To achieve a better future, Americans had to be emancipated from their past.” They achieve this by targeting the young in our schools and the ignorant Hollywood elite, such as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who recently embarked on a television project titled, The People Speak. If you have ever watched ten minutes of this show, you can definitely see ignorance at its worst, most of it being willful ignorance.

If there ever was a reason to home school your kids, or start a new school charter, then look no further.
Continued...
When the Constitution was ratified, it became the envy of the world. It was a legal document that set forth the limited role of the federal government and its power was given to it by the states, not the other way around. The Constitution, among other things, steps out of the way and allows its citizens to succeed or fail on their own merits. It also leaves room for citizens to pick themselves up and try it again until they get it right and succeed.

Progressives would have you believe that the Constitution is a "living document', meaning that it's supposed to change as society changes, when it's nothing of the sort. For instance, progressives believe that the government is supposed to provide universal health care based on a single payer system. Yet, nowhere in the Constitution can it be found where the federal government is supposed to take on that role. Oh, they'll try to point out the General Welfare clause in the preamble even though that's not what it means. Issues, like universal health care, are left to the individual states; all you have to do is look to Massachusetts and its dismal failure.

So, why isn't universal health care pushed by these progressives in each state? Because they know that the majority of its citizens would reject it, so they push it on a federal scale when the majority of politicians are on their side.

Progressives also believe that the Constitution is flawed because it sets forth a negative Bill of Rights. This is patently preposterous and absurd when you consider, just for a moment, that the Bill of Rights protects citizen's rights and limits the federal government's involvement in individuals states. What progressives are actually saying is that it's negative based on its lack of individual "rights" of owning a home, a car, a job...

Remember that FDR tried to institute a "Second Bill of Rights" that would have done just that. Yet, people don't realize that they do have a right to own a home, but, they must be qualified, they have a right to own a car, but, it's a privilege to drive it, they have a right to a job, but, they must be qualified for that job. These rights are up to the individual states to deal with, not the federal government, but, again, progressives know that attacking these issues on the federal level is much easier.

When it comes to religion, progressives hatred for it is much like the Christian persecutions during the 3rd century that forced them underground in catacombs, progressives have a feral hate of any sort of religion that look upon a divine entity for comfort. In their perverted minds, religion breeds contempt and hate towards others who don't share their beliefs. Yes, it is true that many a war was started in the name of religion, such as the Crusades, but what religion hasn't done this? What they fail to see, or just don't want to, is that people instigated campaigns of destruction by misusing religion. In short, the ends justified the means.

Yet, progressives do what they can to erase the fact that this country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs that started on the Mayflower.

In Defense of Eupraxophy, written by a disgruntled and sallow man by the name of Paul Kurtz, he states that, "Marx was no doubt the greatest humanist thinker of the nineteenth century..." and then bemoans that it was unfortunate that the Soviet Union couldn't erase the belief of God after 70 years. Why? Because tyrannical leaders, when they gain power, take firearms and religion away from the people. They first take the weapons from the people, so they don't have a means to fight back and then they take religion to extinguish hope. History always shows this to be true.

Do progressives have a religion? That depends. I have met some that worship the planet, or what is known as the Gaia religion and I have met others that are devout atheists, even though, by definition, atheism is a religion unto itself because it's based on a core set of principles.

Another characteristic of progressivism is its elitist attitude. They are of the belief that only the educated and erudite should be in any position of political power, because you, the lowly wage earner and commoner are too stupid. The Constitution lays out the prerequisites of who can become a senator, representative and to become president. Nowhere is it stated that the requirement of obtaining any of these political positions require a Harvard degree or being wealthy.

This is a tenet of the philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "It is the best and most natural arrangement that the wisest should govern the many, when it is assured that they will govern for its profit, and not for their own. There is no need to multiply instruments, or get twenty thousand men to do what a hundred picked men can do even better."

A vast majority of these upper/middle class spoiled brats never had a job or never owned a business, but, think they are intelligent enough to tell you what's good for you and what's not. These so-called erudites stopped teaching Constitutional law and started teaching case law in the early 20th century, thus, the progressive movement began to infiltrate deeper into politics and started to change it from the inside like a cancerous tumor. Recall what Woodrow Wilson said about the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble of the Constitution.

Progressives are somewhat like drug addicts and Karl Marx is their drug, or their opiate. They engorge themselves by taking from others, like a parasite does to its host. It doesn't matter if they have an R or a D attached to their name, it doesn't discriminate.

To combat this parasitic infestation called progressivism, you MUST remember who you are and this countries history. How it all started with occupants of the Mayflower and ended after the blood spilled by our ancestors, which allowed our Founding Fathers during the Revolution to give birth to a country envied for its Constitutional freedoms and a limited government.

I end this missive with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves in all cases to which they think themselves competent, or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press."

Do you want this taken from you? At this moment our country is being transformed and if you don't wake up...it will be.